Published December 8, 2015

 

First, the recipe:  Step 1) find an indisputable societal problem, Step 2)  determine that there exists a sizeable segment of your audience that is uncontrollably, but perhaps understandably, angry about the problem, and Step 3) conceive of and declare implementation of the most extreme measure available to address that problem. Donald Trump once again followed this recipe for gaining attention and maintaining, if not growing, his popularity by suggesting that the U.S. should ban entry of all Muslims.   

What?  Yes, just when you think it could not get any crazier, Donald Trump suggested a measure that would violate the U.S. Constitution and offend pretty much any right thinking person in this country.   Does this nation, and the world, have an understandable fear of terrorism and when the next terrorist will strike?  Does this nation, and the world, have a problem with people who have taken Islam to its extreme, advocating the establishment of an Islam-only land and killing and maiming non-Muslims and anyone getting in their way?  Yes! and Yes!    But, sealing our nation off as Trump advocates, violates countless legal and moral standards upon which our society’s foundational principles rest.

But, yet again, notwithstanding his bombastic remarks, the people that like him continue to like him.   Many have even grown to love him.  The people who hate him, hate him even more with each passing day and offensive remark.  The more fear created by events on the ground, the more Trump exploits opportunities to stir up emotions and bring attention to himself by way of extreme solutions.     Like the “round up all illegals and deport them” declaration, the “no Muslims allowed” fix serves as the easiest answer to placate the lowest common denominator among of our fearful populace.

So, in the end, just like the “rounding up all the illegals” project has pretty much no chance of ever happening, the “no Muslims allowed” initiative is also dead on arrival.  Still, the unanswered questions in my mind are:  1) what is Trump’s overall objective at this juncture, since it surely cannot be getting elected as our President?   2)  how do so many people in our society support a man whose ideas could one day backfire on any one of them, when it is the entirety of their own particular ethnic or religious group that becomes the subject of his target practice?

 

PUBLISHED December, 8 2015– “IMMIGRATION LAW FORUM” Copyright © 2015, By Law Offices of Richard Hanus, Chicago, Illinois