Joe Henderson
It might be easy to dismiss the harsh comments by U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor of Tampa regarding President Donald Trump’s controversial executive order that called for “extreme vetting” of potential refugees from seven Muslim nations.
As Mitch Perry reported Sunday on SaintPetersBlog, Castor said, “President Trump’s executive order targeting and banning legal permanent residents and refugees from war-torn areas is illegal, immoral and un-American. It has made us less safe. If the president wants to empower jihadists, this is the way to do it.”
I would expect nothing less from Castor. She is reliably liberal. She is from the opposition party, and Trump’s action is right in the Democrats’ you-were-warned wheelhouse. And she was a staunch supporter of Hillary Clinton.
There is something else to keep in mind, though. In my dealings with Castor, I have found her concern for all people to be genuine and deep. She also is extremely smart and usually says exactly what she believes.
I don’t think she was just trying to make political hay here. I think she was trying to make an important point before this deeply divided nation drives off the edge of the cliff and careens into the abyss.
Did I say divided?
For all the notoriety about President Trump’s Twitter habits, his Facebook page is what raised my eyebrows Monday morning.
His statement explaining the executive order had more than 574,000 reactions – most of which appeared to be positive. The statement also had been shared with other Facebook users more than 213,000 times. And he is doing exactly what he promised to do if elected. More than a few people have said they find that refreshing.
There appeared to be thousands of comments under the statement – I didn’t have time to count them all – and most of them (but not all) were supportive of the president.
One reader noted, “If you’re saying you’re doing this to keep America safe, and now you’re saying you’re doing the same thing President Obama did (in 2011, when he restricted visas for refugees from Iraq), then why did you waste all your time during your campaign saying Obama did nothing to keep America safe?
“And if he’s doing the same thing Obama did, then why are his supporters praising him now but trashed Obama during his entire presidency?”
C’mon, we know the answer to that.
President Trump is playing politics.
The reality of his administration is matching his campaign rhetoric, and it puts Florida (of course) in the middle of the maelstrom. Perhaps inspired by Trump’s jingoistic rants, Gov. Rick Scott last week promised economic reprisals against Florida ports that do business with Cuba.
Part of his reasoning: security.
That seems to be a catch-all word when politicians want to pander to jittery voters. Republicans have demanded tighter border security for years and now they will have it. But at what cost?
Go back to what Castor said about this being “immoral.”
President Trump said Christian refugees would get priority for admission to the U.S. I’m no constitutional scholar, but that sounds dangerously like establishing Christianity as the national religion – something expressly forbidden by the First Amendment. And if we turn our backs on refugees driven from their land by war, that’s not exactly the Christian response.
Our enemies will use that as propaganda, so Castor is right that it will empower jihadists. Our friends will think Ronald Reagan’s shining city on a hill has turned dark and foreboding.
Castor is right when she says that is un-American. This is not who we are. If we’re not careful, though, that’s who we’re going to be.
