JANUARY 30, 2017
Photo: Getty
For the second weekend in a row, Americans poured out of their homes and into the streets to say “No!” to yet another action taken by President Trump.
This weekend the focus was on his executive order banning entry into the United States by travelers from seven predominately-Muslim countries — Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and, most significantly, Syria, whose refugees, trying to get to freedom and safety, have been most vilified by Trump.
Before anti-Trump activists get on their high horse too much, those seven countries were previously named by President Obama as “countries of concern,” but any restrictions on travelers to and from those countries were nowhere near as strict as the limitations just placed by President Trump. Throughout the weekend, anecdotal information of families being split up has been flying about the internet, and it’s doubtful that such heartbreaking stories will disappear over the next few days.
But there are plenty of other Muslim countries which have been parties to terrorism that are not on this list, such as Lebanon, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and, most pointedly, Saudi Arabia. Why did these four countries escape the Trump edict? Let’s compare the damage that they have done, such as the number of Americans killed by terrorists from their country:
Americans killed by terrorists from the the seven countries on Trump’s banned list: 0
Americans killed by terrorists from the four countries allowed free access to the U.S.: 3,004
That doesn’t seem fair and balanced. There must be another reason why these seven countries are singled out to be punished. Could it possibly be that the four Muslim countries that are exempt from the ban all have Trump-branded hotels and golf courses within their borders? President Trump would never put his own business interests ahead of the country’s safety, would he?
And the list of military experts who feel that this Muslim ban will serve as nothing more than a recruiting tool to attract new terrorists is growing. Whenever a foreign government discriminates against others because of their religion (and despite Trump’s protests to the contrary, this is a ban on Muslims entering the country), the pushback is almost always against the country doing the banning.
That in part was what prompted tens of thousands of Americans over the weekend to descend on airports all over the country as Muslim immigrants, some who were already in the air when the ban took effect were pulled off flights and detained for hours. The protests marked the second straight weekend that U.S. citizens hit the streets in response to a Trump directive.
But they weren’t the only ones — Democrats of course opposed the ban immediately, but, perhaps surprisingly, Republicans had some trouble with it as well — but for differing reasons. Some object to the policy itself — GOP Sens. McCain and Graham denounced the ban as being the best propaganda tool that ISIS can wield — while other decried the process, formulating and signing it in secret without the usual departmental consultation which might have made its rocky rollout this weekend a little less embarrassing.
Reports leaked from within the Trump White House on Friday indicated that the President was taken aback at the negative reaction to his Muslim ban and also at the results at the most recent Gallup poll, one that measured how many days it took for U.S. Presidents to have a majority negative poll rating.
REAGAN 727
BUSH I 1,336
CLINTON 573
BUSH II 1,205
OBAMA 936
TRUMP 8
Facing such dreary news, Trump appears to be doing what he does best: changing the subject. On Tuesday evening at 8pm ET/5pm PT, Trump will announce his pick for the vacant seat on the U.S. Supreme Court. Insiders say his candidates are down to two — Gary Busey or Meat Loaf.
But the week’s not over yet — the hottest D.C. rumor is that he is ready to unveil another executive order later in the week — one aimed against the nation’s LGBT community and at gay adoption in particular. So kids, don’t take off your marching shoes just yet.
