American Islamophobia (Tom Ashbrook, On Point)

The US Constitution is crystal clear that there shall be no religious test for public office. Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson said Sunday a Muslim should not be president. At a rally in New Hampshire, a Donald Trump supporter says “We have a problem in this country and it’s called Muslims.” Asks, “When can we get rid of them?” Trump says: “We’re going to be looking at that.” Yes, 9/11 happened. And yes, it’s a messy world out there. But suddenly it seems like political open season on Muslim-American citizens. This hour On Point, Islam, American politics, and Islamophobia in America. — Tom Ashbrook
Interview:
http://onpoint.wbur.org/2015/09/23/ahmend-mohamed-islamophobia-ben-carson

Chris Hedges: The Creeping Villainy of American Politics

The mounting attacks on Muslims, which will become a contagion when there is another catastrophic terrorist attack, are only the beginning.
http://www.alternet.org/culture/chris-hedges-creeping-villainy-american-politics

Brian McFadden on Donald Trump's Recipe for Spreading Hate Across America | Alternet

http://www.alternet.org/comics/alternet-comics-brian-mcfadden-donald-trumps-recipe-spreading-hate-across-america

New Poll Reveals Americans' Double Standard About Religious Violence | ThinkProgress

A Public Religion Research Institute poll released Thursday finds that 75 percent of Americans believe that self-identified Christians “who commit acts of violence in the name of Christianity are not really Christian.” Only about 19 percent of respondents said they believe these types of perpetrators are authentic Christians.
However, Americans don’t extend the same logic to the Islamic faith.
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/12/10/3730520/americans-prri-statistics-christian-muslim/

We stand together. We are better than bigotry.

So when Donald Trump says America should close its borders to Muslim immigrants, he’s not just attacking a fundamental American strength.
He’s attacking us — our community, our neighbors, the rich, diverse fabric that makes up southeast Michigan.
http://www.freep.com/story/opinion/editorials/2015/12/08/free-press-editorial-muslims-trump-bigotry-we-stand-together/76974510/

It Can Happen Here: Trump Call For Excluding Muslims From U.S. Has Disturbing Precedents

Trump’s New Hampshire campaign chair, State Rep. Al Baldasaro (R), agreed with him, saying, “What he’s saying is no different than the situation during World War II, when we put the Japanese in camps.”...
https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/it-can-happen-here-trump-call-for-excluding-muslims-from-us-has-disturbing

Amazon Founder Offers To Send Donald Trump To Space

In a tweet, Jeff Bezos indicated Blue Origin will not discriminate against any American, even a xenophobic demagogue...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/amazon-founder-offers-to-send-donald-trump-to-space_56661ebce4b079b2818fdb14

The GOP Is on the Eve of Destruction

Turn on your TV or computer, pick up a paper or magazine and you can see and hear them baying at the moon... “There’s nothing, no matter how jingoistic or xenophobic, extreme or warlike that can’t be expressed in public and with pride by a Republican presidential candidate.”...
http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/gop-eve-destruction

Trump vows to send Syrians back if elected US president

Republican Donald Trump says refugees coming from Syria could be disguised ISIL members.  Read more

8 Reasons White People Get Suckered by Racial Demagogues Like Donald Trump

Donald Trump has written a virtual textbook about the worst aspects of right-wing American politics.
...  Read more

Trump: My Mass Deportations Will Be Done 'Warmly And Humanely'

Poll-thumper Donald Trump dodged divulging specifics of how he plans to deport the 11 million or so undocumented immigrants during a Thursday morning ... Read more

‘Religious Freedom’ Christian Hypocrites CHEER LOUDLY When City Forbids Mosque For Muslims (VIDEO)

This destroys the Kim Davis "religious freedom" argument. Watch a huge crowd of Christians CHEER LOUDLY when Muslims are denied ... Read more

Seth Takes on English-Only Politicians in Solamente Inglés - Late Night with Seth Meyers

https://youtu.be/07lACeGMgR4

George Takei: Of Course Trump Is Wrong — Problem Is, He's Dangerous

Stereotypes have consequences, especially when they're reinforced by loudmouths like Donald Trump...

Transcript - Donald Trump, 14th candidate for the Republican nomination for president, made the statement that we have a porous border and that rapist and criminals are coming right through the border and that's why we've got to build a fence paid for by Mexico. And he's what, number one in the polls now? Isn't that interesting?

That extreme position, at least with the Republicans, is getting all that support that puts him in the number one position. The fact is the legal emigration rate has gone down by practically a half since 2009. Illegal immigrants are going back to Mexico. We hear the term Ferguson, which represents what's been happening all over the United States and various different cities, Baltimore, Wisconsin, Staten Island where young male African-Americans unarmed are shot down and killed by law enforcement officers. So there's another example.

The racial profiling of Arab Americans in this country because they look like terrorists. That's precisely what happened to Japanese-Americans during the Second World War. We happen to look like the people that bombed Pearl Harbor. We Japanese-Americans are very, very mindful of the power of the media. Right prior to the Second World War, the Asians were depicted as inscrutable, vicious, cunning, and every minority group has been characterized by stereotypes and that's been perpetuated by the media, whether it be television, movies, radio, comic books, all these various forms have strengthened those stereotypes. And when it's inflamed by an individual or a current event then the country is swept up by that hysteria.
Interview:
https://youtu.be/R817OCVfHVE