Un-American But Not Un-Republican

Rick Klein: “The speed with which the Paris attacks went from a national-security debate to an immigration one says more about the perceived state of today’s Republican Party than it does about today’s perceived security threats. The Republican contenders have sought to one-up themselves with letters, bills, demands, and sound bites aimed at blocking the Obama administration from allowing Syrian Muslim refugees into the United States. Half the nation’s governors – almost all of them Republicans – are threatening not to welcome them into their states, even though there’s little they can do to bar them if the federal government accepts them as refugees. Jeb Bush and Ted Cruz have offered differing (and mostly non-specific, so far) proposals to make it easier for Syrian Christians to enter the US as refugees, while potentially blocking Muslims.”

“The rhetoric brought a harsh rebuttal from President Obama, who called it ‘un-American’ to impose a religious test on refugees. It does not, for now, look un-Republican in this primary season.”