Presidential candidate Donald J. Trump has been widely maligned and excoriated by his fellow Republican,Democrat, and Socialist candidates for suggesting that if he were elected President, he would close the US borders to Muslims until our government gets its … stuff … together to protect the country.
“Illegal! Unconstitutional! Betrays American values! He can’t do that! ” they proclaim loudly and authoritatively.
Actually, he probably could.
The law which appears to allow it is the McCarran-Walter Act of 1952. It appears in the United States Code as 8 USC 1182. It was invoked by President Jimmy Carter in 1980 in response to Iran’s seizing the US embassy in Tehran and taking American hostages.
This information has been all over Facebook today. I hope some of the screamers will stop screaming about the unconstitutionality of it now, especially when the law was signed by a Democrat and Pres. Carter used it, and I think Eisenhower did too.
Comment by reddy — December 9, 2015 @ 10:16 pm
reddy,
Thanks for the comment.
I believe in his often-cited quote, Trump said he would “ban” Muslims from entering. He then went on to qualify the period of his “ban.” He would have been wiser to use the word “suspend”, because that it clearly what he meant. Nevertheless, there is law and precedent for what he proposes. It is unsurprising that the skewsmedia have generally failed to explain that in their concerted efforts to villify Trump.
This op-ed piece in today’s Washington Post goes a long way toward explaining Trump’s popularlity with an increasing number of voters.
Comment by Bill — December 10, 2015 @ 6:57 am
The media are very selective in what they quote. You’ll notice they all leave out the word “until”.
Yes, “suspend” would have been a better word, but then again Trump isn’t known for his eloquence in speaking, but he does get his point across. I wish some of the other candidates would have some backbone.
Comment by reddy — December 10, 2015 @ 10:20 pm
I agree, Trump is definitely not a contender for the Toastmasters as he appears to irritate folks who prefer a rehearsed or more formal speaking style. However, it really is the way he is … he does get his point across, which may seem crude and abrasive to some, but really it is just brutally honest. A mastered game of semantics does not necessarily give a country a leader. It might give us a polished speaker, who dazzles us with pretty rhetoric that eventfully translates into nothing but bullsh**.
Comment by Stebbijo — December 11, 2015 @ 8:02 pm
Stebbijo,
Good analysis.
Part of Trump’s appeal to so many people is that he publicly acknowledges what many people have clearly recognized for years: Both major political parties and their stooges/masters in the skews media are more interested in controlling the people than in conscientiously and honestly representing us and informing us. For all their highfalutin’ promises about how their particular political party is superior to the other one and about how a free press is essential to liberty, the national parties’ political poseurs and the purveyors of propaganda are functionally united in their quest for control and power. That Trump won’t sit up, lie down, roll over, and play dead on command has them concerned, and that he is able to generate so much public support has them completely losing control over their sigmoid colon.
Comment by Bill — December 12, 2015 @ 6:53 am
Bill, I like yours better! LOL.
Comment by Stebbijo — December 12, 2015 @ 10:33 am