http://www.nola.com/opinions/index.ssf/2017/02/trumps_bigotry_fearmongering_w.html#incart_river_index
So, what does this mean for the United States under Trump?
First, Trump's policies aren't about making us safer, but about pandering to the racists, bigots and xenophobes in his base.
Second, members of Congress and others who enable or who tacitly approve these policies will bear the indelible stains of the hate and ignorance that inspired them.
Third, a nation that crafts foreign and domestic policies out of fear, hatred and ignorance is a nation in decline.
Fourth, the ban (and the White House has repeatedly called it a "ban"), endangers our people and emboldens our enemies by targeting a specific faith.
Retired Gen. David
Petraeus, a finalist for Trump's secretary of state, told the
House Armed Services Committee on Feb. 1, "We must also remember that
Islamic extremists want to portray this fight as a clash of civilizations, with
America at war against Islam. We must not let them do that."
With his ban, Trump is
encouraging them to do just that.
The choice is ours. We can abide hateful
policies that erode our democracy and threaten our moral standing -- or we can
defend American values. Trump hopes we'll do the former. To save our country,
we must do the latter.
Robert Mann, an author and former U.S. Senate and gubernatorial staffer, holds the Manship Chair in Journalism at the Manship School of Mass Communication at Louisiana State University.
