Keller @ Large: Donald Trump's Proposed Muslim Ban Is Un-American
BOSTON (CBS) – Yesterday was Pearl Harbor Day, the 74th anniversary of the deadly Japanese military attack on a US naval base that widened the scope of World War II. It was "a date that will live in infamy," in the famous words of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
December 7, 2015 may well live in infamy too – if enough of us allow our legitimate concerns about Islamic terrorism to override our common sense and decency. Because that's what has to happen for anyone to take seriously Donald Trump's vulgar, irresponsible call for a "total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States."
Tough luck, I guess, for the thousands of patriotic American Muslims serving their country on active military duty who won't be able to spend their leave at home, for the many US businesses run by Muslim executives and the scores of prominent Muslim doctors who won't be able to use their US passports like other citizens.
Too bad for the many businesses that rely on the spending of Muslim tourists, one of the fastest-growing sectors of the tourism industry.
But the stupidity and illegality of Trump's mindless proposal are the least of its problems.
Its reactionary ugliness is reminiscent of what President Roosevelt did three months after the Pearl Harbor attacks, approving the incarceration of more than 100,000 innocent Japanese, including nearly 70,000 American citizens, along with thousands of Germans and Italians, in internment camps, even though he knew they posed no threat.
Jeb Bush immediately called Trump "unhinged," and that's an understatement.
I think another adjective fits well also: un-American.
Listen to Jon's commentary:
