Trump and Korematsu

I am no fan of Trump and would accept any candidate to win the GOP nomination over him. He is not a political outsider as many claim – he is just on the other side of the bargaining table with politicians winning them over by greasing their pockets with lobbying money. This vicious cycle of money has led to quid pro quo politics which is exactly what is destroying the fabric of this country. Trump is just as divisive as Obama and our country needs a leader who can do a better job uniting instead of insulting everyone in his path. What also makes Trump exceedingly dangerous is his massive ego – which may be worse than Obama’s. Sure, all politicians are full of themselves, but Trump is on another level with his narcissism. Trump’s arrogance is also a huge problem and will get in the way of him being an effective and competent leader. And let’s be clear, Trump is not even close to being a conservative. He is a moderate with many left leaning tendencies.

All week we heard about Trump’s proposal to place a temporary ban on Muslim immigration into the United States. The media, Democrats, and Republicans have all come down hard on him mostly calling him a racist and bigot for wanting to profile based on religious beliefs. Despite all the heat one would have to respect Trump’s willingness to hold his ground. Trump at least has the fortitude to say what others are thinking. Although his ban is a minority point of view, nearly 30% of Americans do agree with him. But when you really get down to it, his proposal is not over the top by any stretch of the imagination.

First, Trump’s proposal is not permanent, it is temporary until the process can be revamped to prevent more terrorists gaining access to the United States through our immigration process. It is obvious that the immigration system failed drastically and led to the San Bernardino massacre. Trump may have been able to avoid the bigotry and racists comments if he suggested to shut down immigration to the United States for everyone until the broke system is fixed.

Second, Trump is certainly right in pointing out that political correctness is a huge problem, especially when it comes to fighting terror. Once again, you got to give him credit for saying what others are thinking. His Muslim immigration ban proposal is certainly not politically correct and that is why the backlash is a bit overrated.

Third, Trump was not completely wrong in citing the FDR internment camps back in WWII to defend his idea. FDR ordered the imprisonment of 120,000 Japanese (over 70,000 were US Citizens). Every Japanese prisoner had all of their personal belongings and wealth confiscated and never returned. In Korematsu v. United States, the Supreme Court ruled that the process of arresting and imprisoning people based on race was acceptable during wartime. Most people do not know this, but the Korematsu ruling is still on the books and has never been overturned. And today, we are at war with radical Islam so precedent is on the side of Trump. And history has been very favorable to FDR, he is rated as one of the top Presidents of all time by most liberal historians (most of which are liberal). It is weird how liberals hail FDR but call Trump a racist or bigot. And what Trump is suggesting is much more moderate than the stunt pulled by King FDR.