Bear with me. I’ll get to the connection between my daughter, muslims and the Republicans seeking their party’s nomination for President. I promise. But first, some context.
Last night, I watched the Rachel Maddow show as she discussed the recent racist and xenophobic pronouncements by Donald Trump and other GOP contenders/pretenders, or as her guest, Dan Rather noted, their use of the bullsh*t pulpit. It was a rather depressing commentary, because as Rather also noted, each time Trump’s poll numbers seemingly “soften” he says something so outrageous that sane people naturally assume that finally the tipping point that will end his candidacy has been reached. Instead, the exact opposite occurs — his poll numbers strengthen.
Indeed, that was the case again after Trump came out with his recent remarks, around two thirds of likely Republicans polled stated they “favor” Trump’s call to ban Muslims from entering America, and a third of of them said they are now more likely to vote for him. Worse, overall, thirty-seven percent (37%) of all likely voters in this poll by this Bloomberg Politics/Purple Strategies PulsePoll supported Trump’s ban. I have no idea as to the accuracy of those numbers, but I feel confident that far too many Republicans agree with Trump and his bigotry.
And as Rachel Maddow noted, though many members of the Republican establishment are scared to death that Trump will end up winning the nomination, few of them are willing to openly come out and oppose Trump’s hate-speech. The truth is that rather than run away from Trump, many of his fellow Republican candidates are following his lead by also ginning up the hate against Muslims. A few examples:
Ted Cruz
"We will carpet bomb them into oblivion. I don’t know if sand can glow in the dark, but we’re going to find out," Cruz said at the Rising Tide Summit in Cedar Rapids. [...]
“Let me tell you right now, radical Islamic terrorism is evil. … Let me say, beyond that, in the United States, we will not enforce Sharia law. And Madam Attorney General, if you want to come prosecute me for executing my First Amendment rights, come and get me. I'm right here.”
Rand Paul (specifically responding to Trumps "Muslim Ban")
"I think it’s a mistake to base immigration or moratoriums based on religion," Paul said. "But you know, I’ve called for something similar, which is a moratorium based on high risk." [...]
"And so we have examined where the high risk of terrorism comes from and it’s about 34 countries," he continued in the radio interview. "And I would put a pause on all immigration from those 34 countries.”
(I suspect Paul’s proposed ban, which is based on the country the person comes from, is effectively a distinction without a difference)
Mike Huckabee
“I don’t know of any other group of people uniquely [i.e., Muslims] that are targeting innocent civilians and committing these acts of mayhem,” Huckabee said.
(Huckabee obviously doesn’t consider the victims of the Colorado Springs killer innocent civillians)
and more Huckabee
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said Monday that President Obama sounds like he’s more interested in protecting the reputation of Islam than he is in protecting the American people and that the State Department has been “infiltrated” with “pro-Islamic staff and is filled with people who are “very anti-Israel.”
“It sounds to me that the president is more interested [in] protecting the reputation of Islam than he is in protecting the American people,” Mr. Huckabee, a 2016 GOP presidential candidate, said on “Fox and Friends.” “It’s the most inexplicable thing for a president of the United States not to want to identify.”
Marco Rubio
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) seems to be going further than even Republican frontrunner Donald Trump in advocating the crackdown of U.S. Muslims. He doesn’t just want to consider shutting down mosques, as Trump says, but wants to shut down “any place where radicals are being inspired.”
“It’s not about closing down mosques. It’s about closing down any place — whether it’s a cafe, a diner, an internet site — any place where radicals are being inspired,” Rubio said on Fox News’ The Kelly File on Thursday night when asked if he agreed with Trump.
Well, you get the idea. Too many people around the country are responding with enthusiasm to these calls by Trump and other republicans that demonize and scapegoat American Muslims. Indeed, many are taking action to ruin the lives of other Americans based solely on their religion. Pretty depressing stuff, made all the more depressing by seeing how much support Trump’s bigoted call to target Muslims is generating among millions of our fellow Americans.
I stopped watching Maddow at that point. Feeling low, I needed something to cheer me up. For whatever reason, I decided to checkout my Facebook page instead, and check on the Facebook pages of my family. Which leads me to a post I found on my daughter’s page, something she wrote on December 5th after it was confirmed that the mass murderers in San Bernadino were indeed Muslims whose actions were motivated by their extremist beliefs.
What she said did more than cheer me up, it reaffirmed my conviction that no matter how many people in this nation surrender themselves to hateful, racist appeals based on fear, there will always be those among who will openly proclaim their rejection of the demagogues, such as Trump, who deliberately inflame the the worst passions among us to advance their political ambitions.
Here’s what my daughter had to say (sorry, no link)
I Read so many horrible things today. I saw comments saying that there is terrorism in all mosques and that Islam is not compatible with democracy and that Muslims should be deported. The thing is just individual people making these comments isn't that scarey but what is scarey is the hundreds of likes these comments have received. In this country more acts of terrorism are committed by Christians than Muslims that's a fact but would it be ok to say those things about Christians? Of course not! Because it's wrong to make generalizations about a whole religion based on the actions of crazy people that associate themselves with that religion. I just wish people would understand that is is just as wrong to make these statements about Muslims as it would be to make them about Christians. It's so discouraging that even educated, smart, kind, and loving people can't understand this.
It is wrong to make generalizations about an entire group of people based on the actions of a few “crazy people” to use my daughter’s phrasing. And while I normally would proof my daughter’s work (something she hates by the way), I decided to leave her spelling and grammatical mistakes alone. And she is right, it is “scarey” that so many people support racism and advocate for the oppression of American Muslims based on nothing more than their own fear of the “other.”
But its important for those of us who see through the lies and the propaganda and the bullsh*t from Trump and all the other Republicans running for President to stand up and speak out against these blatant appeals to our deepest, darkest emotions at times like these. Especially at times like these. It’s not only the right thing to do, it is the only humane response to fear-mongering.
Fear leads to hate, and hate leads to violence. We are seeing that play out across our country every day, thanks to those who stoke the fears and anger of our fellow citizens and then direct that anger toward innocent people who are nothing more than scapegoats. It’s ugly and it’s dangerous. And it’s up to those of us who recognize this danger to support anyone attacked by Trump and the others in the Republican clown car. Because it isn’t just Muslims who are at risk, it’s all of us.
Ps. Please vote in the poll I’ve added to this diary, er I mean blog post. Thanks.