If you have been following this blog for any time you might have noticed that I have been avoiding publishing anything on the American election saga. I hate reality shows and that is what this is. What it is doing to democracy, I can only guess, but I would guess that it is nothing short of complete corruption. But then politics has always been dirty and dishonest, so maybe I'm overreacting.
At any rate I post this article because Donald Trump is proposing the very thing that I have been proposing for some time and that is serious vetting of refugees with regard to how fanatical their embrace of Islam is. For instance, Wahabists would be completely barred, so would many Pakistanis and Afghans who believe, for instance, that a girl in your right hand (ie under your power) is fair game for rape and for sharing with your friends (think Rotherham and many other cities in the UK).
Newt Gingrich called for such a test just a month ago.
I am not endorsing a candidate or a party in this election, merely promoting an idea that should be taken seriously if America wants to still be America, and continue to be relatively safe from terrorism.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump spoke to an enthusiastic audience in Youngstown, Ohio on Monday. (Gerald Herbert/The Associated Press)
Donald Trump on Monday called for a new ideological test for admission to the United States, vetting applicants on their stance on issues like religious freedom, gender equality and gay rights. The policy would represent a significant shift in how the U.S. manages entry into the country.
In a speech in swing state Ohio, Trump also called for "foreign policy realism" and a "decisive and swift" end to nation-building if he were elected president. And he argued that the United States needs to work with countries that share the mission of destroying the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and other extremist organizations, regardless of other disagreements.
"We can't choose our friends, but we can never fail to recognize our enemies," Trump said.
Why can't we choose our friends?
The Republican nominee's foreign policy address comes during a rocky stretch for his campaign. He's struggled to stay on message and has consistently overshadowed his policy rollouts, including an economic speech last week, with provocative statements, including falsely declaring that President Barack Obama was the "founder" of ISIS.
Democrat Hillary Clinton has spent the summer hammering Trump as unfit to serve as commander in chief. She's been bolstered by a steady stream of Republican national security experts who argue the billionaire businessman lacks the temperament and knowledge of world affairs to be president.
Hillary Clinton's campaign slammed Trump's campaign manager for ties to Russia and pro-Kremlin interests, an apparent reference to a New York Times story published Sunday night. (Andrew Harnik/Associated Press)
Clinton spent Monday campaigning with Vice-President Joe Biden in Scranton, Pa., a working-class area where both have family ties. Biden vigorously vouched for Clinton's readiness for the White House and called Trump's foreign policy views "dangerous" and "un-American."
Blame Obama, Clinton for ISIS
Biden also warned that Trump's false assertion about Obama founding ISIS could be used by extremists to target American service members in Iraq. "The threat to their life has gone up a couple clicks," he said.
This is most likely an attempt to shore-up the Republican vote, some of which has gone soft due to Trump's often stupid and outright false statements, like this. Any reasonable-minded person understands that if anyone is responsible for the creation of ISIS, it is George Bush and Dick Cheney.
Questionnaires, social media
Trump said that any country that wants to work with the U.S. to defeat "radical Islamic terrorism" will be a U.S. ally — including Russia.
Under Trump's new immigration policy, the government would use questionnaires, social media, interviews with friends and family or other means to determine if applicants support American values like tolerance and pluralism. The U.S. would stop issuing visas in any case where it cannot perform adequate screenings.
It is unclear how U.S. officials would assess the veracity of responses to the questionnaires or how much manpower it would require to complete such arduous vetting. The campaign has yet to say whether additional screenings would apply to the millions of tourists who spend billions of dollars visiting the United States each year.
It is the latest version of a policy that began with Trump's unprecedented call to temporarily bar foreign Muslims from entering the country — a religious test that was criticized across party lines as un-American. Following a massacre at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla., in June, Trump introduced a new standard, vowing to "suspend immigration from areas of the world where there is a proven history of terrorism against the United States, Europe or our allies, until we fully understand how to end these threats."
I think this is the first time in months that I have seen the 'temporary' aspect of Trump's call to halt Muslim immigration reported by media. Most often they show a clip of Trump saying that he would call for an immediate cessation of Muslim immigration, and then cut it off before he has a chance to say 'until....'
That proposal raised numerous questions that the campaign never clarified, including whether it would apply to citizens of countries like France, Israel or Ireland, which have suffered recent and past attacks. Trump had promised to release his list of "terror countries" soon. But now, aides say, the campaign needs access to unreleased Department of Homeland Security data to assess exactly where the most serious threats lie.
Seeking to beat back criticism of his struggling campaign, Trump and his top advisers have blamed the media for failing to focus on his proposals.
"If the disgusting and corrupt media covered me honestly and didn't put false meaning into the words I say, I would be beating Hillary by 20 per cent," he tweeted Sunday.
Donald, if you didn't keep saying stupid, inflammatory things, the media might actually look at your platform. Ah, but then, that's show biz.
At any rate I post this article because Donald Trump is proposing the very thing that I have been proposing for some time and that is serious vetting of refugees with regard to how fanatical their embrace of Islam is. For instance, Wahabists would be completely barred, so would many Pakistanis and Afghans who believe, for instance, that a girl in your right hand (ie under your power) is fair game for rape and for sharing with your friends (think Rotherham and many other cities in the UK).
Newt Gingrich called for such a test just a month ago.
I am not endorsing a candidate or a party in this election, merely promoting an idea that should be taken seriously if America wants to still be America, and continue to be relatively safe from terrorism.
Republican candidate lays out new immigration policy in campaign speech
The Associated Press Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump spoke to an enthusiastic audience in Youngstown, Ohio on Monday. (Gerald Herbert/The Associated Press)
Donald Trump on Monday called for a new ideological test for admission to the United States, vetting applicants on their stance on issues like religious freedom, gender equality and gay rights. The policy would represent a significant shift in how the U.S. manages entry into the country.
In a speech in swing state Ohio, Trump also called for "foreign policy realism" and a "decisive and swift" end to nation-building if he were elected president. And he argued that the United States needs to work with countries that share the mission of destroying the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and other extremist organizations, regardless of other disagreements.
"We can't choose our friends, but we can never fail to recognize our enemies," Trump said.
Why can't we choose our friends?
The Republican nominee's foreign policy address comes during a rocky stretch for his campaign. He's struggled to stay on message and has consistently overshadowed his policy rollouts, including an economic speech last week, with provocative statements, including falsely declaring that President Barack Obama was the "founder" of ISIS.
Democrat Hillary Clinton has spent the summer hammering Trump as unfit to serve as commander in chief. She's been bolstered by a steady stream of Republican national security experts who argue the billionaire businessman lacks the temperament and knowledge of world affairs to be president.
Hillary Clinton's campaign slammed Trump's campaign manager for ties to Russia and pro-Kremlin interests, an apparent reference to a New York Times story published Sunday night. (Andrew Harnik/Associated Press)
Clinton spent Monday campaigning with Vice-President Joe Biden in Scranton, Pa., a working-class area where both have family ties. Biden vigorously vouched for Clinton's readiness for the White House and called Trump's foreign policy views "dangerous" and "un-American."
Blame Obama, Clinton for ISIS
Biden also warned that Trump's false assertion about Obama founding ISIS could be used by extremists to target American service members in Iraq. "The threat to their life has gone up a couple clicks," he said.
This is most likely an attempt to shore-up the Republican vote, some of which has gone soft due to Trump's often stupid and outright false statements, like this. Any reasonable-minded person understands that if anyone is responsible for the creation of ISIS, it is George Bush and Dick Cheney.
Questionnaires, social media
Trump said that any country that wants to work with the U.S. to defeat "radical Islamic terrorism" will be a U.S. ally — including Russia.
Under Trump's new immigration policy, the government would use questionnaires, social media, interviews with friends and family or other means to determine if applicants support American values like tolerance and pluralism. The U.S. would stop issuing visas in any case where it cannot perform adequate screenings.
It is unclear how U.S. officials would assess the veracity of responses to the questionnaires or how much manpower it would require to complete such arduous vetting. The campaign has yet to say whether additional screenings would apply to the millions of tourists who spend billions of dollars visiting the United States each year.
It is the latest version of a policy that began with Trump's unprecedented call to temporarily bar foreign Muslims from entering the country — a religious test that was criticized across party lines as un-American. Following a massacre at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla., in June, Trump introduced a new standard, vowing to "suspend immigration from areas of the world where there is a proven history of terrorism against the United States, Europe or our allies, until we fully understand how to end these threats."
I think this is the first time in months that I have seen the 'temporary' aspect of Trump's call to halt Muslim immigration reported by media. Most often they show a clip of Trump saying that he would call for an immediate cessation of Muslim immigration, and then cut it off before he has a chance to say 'until....'
That proposal raised numerous questions that the campaign never clarified, including whether it would apply to citizens of countries like France, Israel or Ireland, which have suffered recent and past attacks. Trump had promised to release his list of "terror countries" soon. But now, aides say, the campaign needs access to unreleased Department of Homeland Security data to assess exactly where the most serious threats lie.
Seeking to beat back criticism of his struggling campaign, Trump and his top advisers have blamed the media for failing to focus on his proposals.
"If the disgusting and corrupt media covered me honestly and didn't put false meaning into the words I say, I would be beating Hillary by 20 per cent," he tweeted Sunday.
Donald, if you didn't keep saying stupid, inflammatory things, the media might actually look at your platform. Ah, but then, that's show biz.
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