Nice read.Trump must explain himself to supporters like me - CNN
Trump must explain himself to supporters like me - CNN.com
Yep, good read. It's also an excellent illustration of bad and selective memory.
For example, she says
"But often it seems that Trump wants to close the door to aspiring Americans [immigrants]. If that is not the case, I think he should say so, explicitly, especially after this weekend, because there is so much hysteria and misinformation. He needs to start separating fact from fiction, because no one else will do that for him."
I can't even count how many times Trump has said, explicitly, that he opposes illegal immigration. He said it all through the campaign, during every one of the debates, since the election, and since becoming President. He's even said it since signing the executive order after this weekend. He's never once said he opposed immigration, much less for aspiring Americans. If you come here legally, you can aspire to become an American. If you come here illegally, you have no shot at becoming an American.
"I'm in favor of people coming into this country legally. As far as the visas are concerned, if we need people they have--it's fine. They have to come into this country legally. We have a country of laws. It's fine if they come in, but they have to come in legally." Donald Trump, Oct 28, 2015.
Then she said,
"The problem is, at one point in his campaign, Trump promised to ban Muslims. He even promised to create a Muslim registry. These proposals are at odds with the man whom I understand Trump to be."
Three problems there. No, he didn't promise to ban Muslims. He suggested, not promised, that we cease allowing Muslims into the country temporarily until such time as we can determine which ones are radicalized and want to do us harm. Second, after saying that about Muslims, which everyone immediately conflated to a ban based on religion, Trump backed off and never said it again. But everything he's said since then doesn't matter, because that's all they want to remember. Third, he absolutely
did not say that he even wanted, much less promised to create, a Muslim registry.
The only registries that he's advocated for is a registry for all refugees, and to reintroduce the National Registry for visitors from countries with active terrorist groups, a registry program that was first installed in 1991 for nonimmigrant travelers entering the United States from Iraq and Kuwait, and over the years was expanded to other countries with a link to terrorism. After 911 the program was revamped into the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System, or Nseers, and was in place until Obama did away with it in 2011. After the election of Trump, when he said he was considering reintroducing the program, Obama freaked. There was big news when a member of Trump's transition team was photographed with a document of first-year proposals that included, under the rubric “Bar the Entry of Potential Terrorists,” a proposal to reintroduce the registry program. Three days before Christmas Obama completely dismantled the legal framework for the dormant program, in an attempt to thwart Trump from rolling back his immigration policies.
I do agree with her, 100%, where she says,
"In real terms, he must be more deliberate with his words and actions. His operating premise should be to over-communicate his exact plans and intentions. He cannot afford to allow others the opportunity to misinterpret what he's doing."
Just the same, if you have been paying attention, particularly to the truth and not to what the MSM has been spoon feeding everybody, his plans and intentions are crystal clear.