Supreme Court Accepts Muslim Ban Appeal.
President Trump Visits Poland.
Public Support of Republicans & Democrats shift.

2017-JUN to AUG

Part 14

Image downloaded from Pixabay.com

This topic is continued here from the previous essay.

2017-JUN-26: Supreme Court accepts appeal from a Circuit Court on the Muslim ban:

The High Court accepted the Trump Administration's appeal of the decisions on the Muslim ban from Federal appeals courts. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear the case in October and probably issue its ruling during 2018-JUN.

In the meantime, pending their final ruling, the Court agreed that the entry of some people to the U.S. could not be prohibited. They include people from the six countries listed in the executive order who are coming to the U.S. who had:

"... a credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States."

This would include the vast majority of visitors: individuals who want to come to the U.S. to visit a relative, accept employment, attend a university, deliver a speech, etc.

President Trump called the court's acceptance of the appeal a "clear victory" for national security." He said:

"As president, I cannot allow people into our country who want to do us harm. I want people who can love the United States and all of its citizens, and who will be hardworking and productive."

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Karen Tumlin, legal director of the National Immigration Law Center, said that advocates for refugees and other immigrants would urge the court to terminate the executive order. She said:

"We think it’s repugnant to our values that they might be treated differently because of where they are from or how they choose to pray." ₁

Some refugee advocates expressed condemnation of the court's decision:

• David Miliband, president of International Rescue Committee (IRC), issued a statement saying:

  "The Court’s decision threatens damage to vulnerable people waiting to come to the U.S.: people with urgent medical conditions blocked, innocent people left adrift, all of whom have been extensively vetted. We urge the Administration to begin its long-delayed review of the vetting process and restart a program which changes lives for the better."

• Eric Schwartz, President of Refugees International and former Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration said:

  "There is no reasonable national security justification for these measures. More importantly, the suspension of refugee resettlement will impact the most vulnerable of the world’s populations, including refugee women and girls, survivors of violence and torture, and refugee children, among many other groups [who are] at considerable risk."

• Johnathan Smith, the legal director of a non-profit advocacy group Muslim Advocates, said:

  "We are deeply troubled by the court’s decision to allow portions of the Muslim ban to move forward. The court’s decision sends the wrong message to the Muslim community, the nation, and the world." ₂

2017-JUL-08: President Trump discusses western civilization in Poland:

Ahead of the Group of 20 Summit in Germany, President Trump visited Warsaw, Poland. In a notable deviation from tradition, it was the first time since 1989 that an American president had come to Warsaw but did not visit the Warsaw Ghetto, a magnificent symbol of Jewish resistance to oppression of the Nazis during World War II.

In his speech to the people of Poland he discussed "... the perils of Islamist extremism and immigration. He asked:

"The fundamental question of our time is whether the West has the will to survive."

His theme matched that of:

"... Michael Anton, the director of communications for the National Security Council, [who] suggested that increased immigration into a country is a sign of 'a people, a civilization that wants to die'." ₃

Ishaan Tharoor, writing for the Washington Post, said:

"Trump appealed to the blood-and-soil nationalism and Christian triumphalism that has defined his political brand and that of the far right in Europe. 'We can have the largest economies and the most lethal weapons of anywhere on Earth. But if we do not have strong families and strong values, then we will be weak and we will not survive,' he said.

'I declare today for the world to hear that the West will never, ever, be broken,' Trump said in a closing fit of bravado. 'Our values will prevail. Our people will thrive. And our civilization will triumph'." ... Unlike other presidents who extol the merits of democratic norms and the free press, Trump stood alongside his Polish counterpart, President Adrzej Duda, and bashed America's mainstream media as 'fake news.'

The irony, of course, is that many in Europe see the Polish government itself as a threat to Western values. Last year, the European Union's executive gave Poland an official warning that changes imposed on its constitutional court posed 'a systemic risk to the rule of law.' Critics also pointed to new restrictions faced by independent journalists and the wholesale transformation of the national broadcaster into a state mouthpiece." ₃

AUG-27: President Trump's approval/disapproval rating shifts:

The President is elected for a four year term, and and is limited to two terms during their lifetime. The public's approval/disapproval rating of the President often has a significant effect on the approval/disapproval rating of the two main parties as well.

Fivethirtyeight.com analyzes recent polls from major polling companies, such as YouGov, Quinnipiac University, Public Policy Polling, Morning Consult, Lake/Tarrance, Marist College, etc. They compute an "updating estimate of the generic ballot."

Over the four months between 2017-APR-27 and AUG-27 polls indicated:

• Support for Democratic Representatives and Senators rose from 45.8% to 46.9%.
  
  
• Support for Republican Representatives and Senators fell from 40.7% to 36.7%. ₄

The gap doubled from 5.1% to 10.2% in favor of Democrats!

If this trend were to continue, then the midterm elections would probably swing very heavily towards Democrats. All 435 seats in the House and one third of the 100 Senators are up for election in 2018-NOV. The Democratic Party could gain control the House for the first time since the 2010 elections. If President Trump chose to not run in 2018, then the Democrats might capture control of the White House as well.

2017-AUG-30: Fox News poll about President Trump and the state of the U.S.:

Fox conducted the poll between AUG-27 and 29. Results were:

• 56% believe that he is "tearing the country apart."
  
  
• 33% believe that he is "drawing the country together"
  
  
• 11% were undecided or refused to answer.

When asked how "things are going in this country:"

• 64% are dissatisfied (an increase of 11 percentage points since April.)
  
  
• 36% are satisfied (a decrease of 10 percentage points.)

These data appear strange because they indicate that 0% of those polled had no opinion, or refused to answer. We have never seen a poll result like this.

This topic continues in the next essay.

Related topics that you might find of interest:

• President Trump to pull the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement on climate change

References used:

The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.

1. Michael Shear & Adam Lipak, "Supreme Court to Hear Travel Ban Case," New York Times, 2017-JUN-26, at: https://www.nytimes.com/
2. E.A. Crunden, "Supreme Court’s Muslim ban decision sparks anger from refugee advocates," Think Progress, 2017-JUN-26, at: https://thinkprogress.org/
3. Ishaan Tharoor, "What the idea of civilization does (and doesn’t) mean to Trump," Washington Post, 2017-JUL-07, at:https://www.washingtonpost.com/
4. "Are Democrats Winning The Race For Congress?" FiveThirtyEight, 2017-AUG-27, at: https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/
5. Carlos Garcia, "Is Trump tearing the country apart? Here’s what a Fox News poll says," The Blaze, 2017-AUG-31, at: http://www.theblaze.com/

Former essays about President Trump that might interest you:

• Part 1: Inauguration. Muslim ban. Mosque burning.
• Part 2: Court injunction on Muslim ban. Mass murder in Canadian mosque
• Part 3: Muslim ban. U.S. Flag defaced with a Nazi Symbol.
• Part 4: "What would Jesus Do" about Muslim refugees?
• Part 5: Reactions to President Trump's Muslim ban.
• Part 6: Mulsim ban. President's approval rating sinks.
• Part 7: Bomb Threats. Reaction to Trump's ban of Muslims.
• Part 8: Reactions to 1st Muslim country ban. Fake news. Second Muslim ban.
• Part 9: U.S. Bomb Threats To Jewish Community Centers Continue:
• Part 10: Bomb threats extend to Canada. Federal courts stop 2nd Muslim ban.
• Part 11: Federal Courts stop 2nd Muslim ban. Trump's approval rating.
• Part 12: Courts' Injunctions on Muslim Ban. Marches on Earth Day 2017.
• Part 13: Trump changing Washington? Travel ban rulings. approval ratings.

Later essays:

• Part 15: Being written

How you may have arrived here:

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Copyright © 2017 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Originally posted on: 2017-APR-21.
Most recent update: 2017-AUG-28.
Author: B.A. Robinson

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