GOP Presidential candidate Donald Trump has played the demagogue on countless occasions throughout his campaign. Appealing to middle-class traditions and values, he has toed the hard line in polarizing liberals and conservatives across the nation. Slowly eradicating the gray areas that have given way to the censorship of political correctness, he has voiced opinions that most Americans dared not speak. Only this time, the entire world asks whether he has finally crossed a line too far.
What he has done is pushed the envelope farther than many of his supporters dare reach. Suggesting that America suspend Muslim entry into the US has infuriated Muslims across the globe. Considering their majority percentage of the world population, the multitude of nations they govern and their financial influence, he has tackled what may prove an indomitable foe. The media and political leaders throughout the country are joining ranks against him, and it may form a pattern to be seen worldwide.
Most Trump watchers realize he is just venting, and allowing his supporters to vent along with him. What he suggests is a legal, moral and logistical impossibility. We can no more ban Muslims than we can ban guns, tobacco, abortion, gays, drugs, pollution, or any other controversial persons, philosophies or practices that affect our society. This is a free society and our battle against radical Islam is all about preserving that freedom.
What he has done is raise the issue of political correctness to a new level. Anyone who takes his side for whatever reason does so under threat of being declared racist or prejudiced. This puts one at odds with all minority groups by default, which is the scariest ground to stand on in this day and age. Trump has put his supporters in the trenches, and any who dare raise their heads will almost certainly have them shot off. This commentator chose to write this article rather than send out a Tweet or Facebook post which might have been misconstrued and result in the loss of countless cyberspace supporters.
Whether or not this has shipwrecked his 2016 election campaign remains to be seen. The pressing question is how our freedom of speech will be reinterpreted and if political correctness is going to become a new form of censorship that will render the Silent Majority mute for the rest of this decade.
Good article and so true.
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