begin quote from:
Now
the Donald wants “extreme vetting” of foreigners to ensure that they
agree with our values. Got me wondering how many Republicans—and how
many Trump voters—would pass. Donald Trump is on to something—he wants …
Noah Berger/Reuters
Just Thinkin’ Out Loud
08.15.16 4:00 PM ET
Trump’s Ideological Vetting Plan Would Banish Most Republicans
Now
the Donald wants “extreme vetting” of foreigners to ensure that they
agree with our values. Got me wondering how many Republicans—and how
many Trump voters—would pass.
Donald Trump
is on to something—he wants “extreme vetting” of immigrants to ensure
that they agree with American values on issues like religious freedom,
gender equality and gay rights. As Trump bluntly put it in his big
foreign policy speech Monday, “Those who do not believe in our
Constitution, or who support bigotry and hatred, will not be admitted
for immigration into the country.”
But
why focus on immigrants? Why not follow Trump’s mantra of “America
First” and apply this test to American citizens? Yes, if you were born
here, you had the luck of the draw. Which is a lucky thing for Trump,
because if the test could be applied to natural-born citizens, the
result would be that over half of the Republican Party—and most of
Trump’s voters—would be banned from the United States.
It’s
irony defined to hear the GOP Presidential nominee complain about
discrimination against gays, the lack of equality for women and the need
for religious liberty for all. Republicans have done everything
possible to enact laws to enable discrimination against the LGBT
community, from so-called “religious liberty” legislation to the past
championing state constitutional amendments barring marriage equality.
They have fought equal pay measures and sought to oppress women. And
they have trampled on religious liberty for Muslim Americans.
Why
don’t we take a look at the views of the rank and file Republicans on
the key issues Trump demanded that any immigrant seeking to enter
America must be vetted on?:
1.
Gay Rights. If you don’t support marriage equality you are not adhering
to American values as enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. It’s that
simple. And that’s not just my view but also the U.S. Supreme Court’s,
from the seminal case last year recognizing marriage equality as the law
of the land. There the Court wrote about same sex couples: “They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.”
Well where does the GOP stand on this right? A May Pew Poll found only 33 percent of Republicans
believe that gay couples should have rights equal to their heterosexual
counterparts. (In contrast almost 80 percent of progressives support
it.) And people like Ted Cruz have gone as far as to exclaim that LGBT
activists who were simply seeking equal rights were waging a “jihad” against people of faith.
That
means bye-bye to over 60 percent of the Republican Party, including
Trump’s vice presidential candidate Mike Pence, because they have not
embraced American values of marriage equality.
2.
Gender equality. Keep in mind that current Republican congressional
Rep. Jody Hice said that a woman should run for political office only if
her husband consents to it since husbands have “authority” over their wives.
Before you dismiss Hice’s views as being an exception, he easily won
his election in 2014 and was vocally supported by well known conservative Erick Erickson.
What about on key gender equality issues? Regarding a women’s right to control her own body, 59 percent of Republicans believe that abortion should be illegal in all or most cases. And on equal pay for women, only 14 percent of Republicans support legislation
to close the gender pay gap where women are being paid on average 79
cents for every dollar their male counterparts receive. (And that number
is far worse when the comparison is white men versus women of color.)
Bottom
line: Gender equality and the Republican rank and file don’t go
together. That flies in the face of the Equal Protection Clause of our
Constitution and again means that under Trump’s own test they shouldn’t
be in America.
3.
Religious liberty. Simply put, every American should have the same right
to worship regardless of their faith. But polls show that Republicans
tend to support that concept only if it involves Christianity, not
Islam. For example, a December 2015 poll found 88 percent of Republicans support religious liberty when it comes to Christianity. But the same poll found almost a third fewer Republicans support religious liberty for Muslims in America.
Even more shocking is that a recent poll found that 40 percent of Republicans
in North Carolina want to statutorily ban Islam, meaning it would be a
crime to practice the faith there. And we have seen countless instances
across the nation by Republicans to stop the building of local mosques.
Looks
like Trump’s “extreme vetting” would end up keeping out a huge chunk of
Republicans. They simply don’t subscribe to American values on key
issues such as gay rights, gender equality and religious liberty.
As
Trump declared Monday, “We have to promote the exceptional virtues of
our own way of life—and expecting that newcomers to our society do the
same.” Well I say why don’t we start with America first and ensure that
Republicans subscribe to those “exceptional virtues? I think most
Americans would agree that it’s time to fix the problems right here at
home first before focusing to issues beyond our borders.
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