Extreme, extreme vetting

Recent events have demonstrated that there is a serious flaw in the workings of our constitutional democracy: Namely, no matter how uneducated, misinformed or stupid they may be, everyone who is a U.S. citizen over the age of 18 can register and vote. (Felons, not so much.)

To prevent voter fraud – the chance that a random idiot might take valuable time off work to vote in the place of another random idiot — notoriously patriotic Republican-leaning states have attempted to add stringent voter photo ID requirements. They apparently did so on the questionable logic that if a camera cannot capture enough light from a would-be voter’s face to form a clear image, that person is either (a) one of the Undead, and therefore not really a person, or (b) black, and therefore not really a person.

But we must nonetheless credit the GOP for highlighting the problem that comes with letting just anybody vote: Its voters nominated Donald Trump as their presidential candidate. No one is more aghast at that than the GOP itself, many of whose adherents did not have him on their dance card as their first choice. With the election only weeks away, ‘normal’ Republicans are now flocking to disavow him, endorse his opponent and/or throw up in their breakfast.

They, too, understand that the country has gotten a lot more complicated since its founding, when the only facts voters had to know were: Slaves = Good, Injuns = Bad. It was a simpler time, when those entitled to vote (white, male property owners) were not disadvantaged by being un-schooled as long as they were well-churched. Those times are long gone, but the GOP nominee vows to Make America Great Again.

To that end, his latest teleprompted promise is that in order to protect America from foreign terrorists, he will impose “extreme, extreme vetting” – a “screening test” — on all persons who want to enter our country.

Said he: “We should only admit in this country those who share our values and respect our people.”

Whether his test would be pencil & paper or online he doesn’t say. Neither has he revealed the test questions, presumably so they won’t be leaked to would-be foreign terrorists before they board a plane. But there is certainly no shortage of questions. Here are just a few that readers have posed:

~ When Congress cannot agree on the time of day, who will decide which of Our Values – from sausage-crust pizza to gender-free bathrooms — are really Our Values?

~ Historically, half of all Americans have not respected the other half (e.g., Cowboys v. Injuns; Rebels v. Yankees; Protestants v. Catholics, Republicans v. Democrats, etc.). Q: Which half must immigrants ‘respect’ in order to get in?

~ The right of gay marriage has been affirmed by the Supreme Court. Q: Will Muslims who do not believe in that value be banned? If so, what about the Pope and evangelical Christians who agree with them?

~ If a group of Syrian refugees swears to value our 2nd Amendment right to bear a carload of AR-15’s, will they get visas?

~ If America values 1st Amendment religious freedom, can we deport a president who bans Muslims from the country?

Presumably, the latest in an unending line of the nominee’s presumably extremely well-vetted campaign managers is working on the answers.