Speaking to steaming bag of badger innards Stuart Varney on the Fox Business network, walking slug farm Donald Trump explained…that he would happily revoke U.S. passports for Americans accused of traveling to fight for ISIS, and that he’d consider closing down mosques in America if they are too sympathetic to radicalism. What’s a little religious freedom when Our Nation’s Security is on the line? As Varney reviewed steps the British government (which is not burdened with a bothersome First Amendment) has taken against citizens who went abroad to fight for ISIS, Trump said he would “absolutely” revoke passports so that ISIS fighters couldn’t return to the U.S.[.]
Anyone who knows me at all understands that I lend to Donald Trump roughly the same credence I’d afford a serial killer with daddy issues. That the festering pussbag currently sitting at or near the top of most polls tracking the GOP Presidential beauty contest is taken seriously by the media is laughable in its own right. That Trump thinks he has anything worthwhile to add to the public discourse merely displays an astonishing lack of self-awareness.
What disturbs me most about the Varney-Trump exchange isn’t their junior-high level grasp of and commitment to the Constitution. I’ve come to expect a certain minimum level of Stoopid from the GOP field, especially for a Fox network is involved. No, what gets me is that two Very Serious People can without a trace of embarrassment seriously discuss violating the Constitutional rights of those they find objectionable. To begin with, someone should really define “too sympathetic to radicalism.” Does such a definition mean actually being a card-carrying, America-hating, Jihad-loving Islamofascist? Or are we talking about something as benign as having someone with a Muslim name on your Christmas card list? Or in your White House?
Yes, terrorism is a terrible, horrible, very bad thing, something we should endeavor to combat whenever and wherever we encounter it. If we’re to do that, though, it would stand to reason that we should be fighting said battle based on actual threats, not on the way people, look, talk, act, or who they associate with.
Shutting down mosques will do nothing to lessen the threat of terrorism. If that’s the approach we choose to take, though, then we should be honest enough to recognize where the real threat lies- and shut down Christian churches. Americans are far more likely to be attacked domestically by angry white male Christians than by radical, Jihad-swearing Islamofascists. Of course, it’s far easier to demonize those who look different; “they” can always be picked out of a crowd. Angry white people…well, they just kinda look like us, knowhutimean??
Oh…and lest I forget- White people by definition can’t be terrorists. They’re Christians with anger control issues.
If you presume that bears are the biggest threat we face, then being prepared to face a bear would be a good thing- but to be effective, you’d want to be certainly you were properly equipped, trained, and ready to fear an actual bear. If you were to take the Trump-Varney approach, you’d be closing zoos…which won’t do anything to alleviate the threat of bear attacks. Trump is smart enough to know he’s not going to be able to unilaterally decide to take passports and/or close mosques, but he also knows that his views and simplistic solutions appeal to the fears and prejudice of low-information voters. He’s running for President, not Chief of the Inquisition. Still, he knows that he needs to Sound Tough in order that the American Sheeple will believe he possesses the cojones to protect good and decent American patriots from Those Who Hate Us For Our Freedom ©.
Unfortunately, your average Republican primary voter lacks the desire- and perhaps the wherewithal and mental agility- to think critically about how to effectively address some of the truly and seemingly intractable issues facing this country. It’s SO much easier when someone will tell you whom to hate, offer facile and simplistic solutions, and appeal to your fear and prejudice. If he/she can do that while waving a Bible…well, that there’s a real ‘Merican, amiright??
As to the question of whether the U.S. is actually revoking passports of suspected ISIS fighters, it looks like we’re not, since California Congresschmuck Scott Peters introduced a bill to require it.
We also found an interesting American University article suggesting that doing so would be of questionable constitutionality and, more significantly, of little utility, since most Westerners who go to Syria or Iraq to join ISIS “are either killed in action, remain abroad, or promptly arrested either en route to Syria or as soon as they return home.” Imagine that: yet another measure that sounds like it would Get Tuff on Terror but would be of limited value compared to current law enforcement methods, which are already keeping us safe.
Too many on the Far Right are all about making noises and pointless, futile gesture that suggest they’ll Get Tuff on Terror ©. There are no easy, simple, and/or surefire solutions to defeating terrorism; that’s what makes terrorism so insidious. Demagogues like Trump would have us believe that there’s an easy fix…and he’s the man for the job.
It’s just too bad something incovenient like the Constitution has to get in the way, right?
