UPDATE #2: Backpedal time!
We do love the media attention, but Robert has never supported a ban on Muslims. He supports going “beyond” Mr. Trump’s statements, which singles out Muslims, to instead equally vetting all factors that could present a threat to American lives…
So, Blaha said he wants to “go beyond just Muslims.” That statement would certainly appear to include Muslims. But definitely, tell every reporter in America that what they can plainly see isn’t true. That approach worked out smashingly for Jon Keyser.
Really, how hard is it to choke out the words “I misspoke?”
—–
UPDATE: The Hill’s Lisa Hagen:
A Republican Colorado Senate candidate said this week that he wants to take Donald Trump’s proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States a step further…
Blaha is part of a crowded GOP field in the June 28 primary to try and unseat Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.). The seat is one of the few GOP targets this cycle as Republicans seek to hold onto their slim Senate majority.
Democrats blasted Blaha’s remarks for taking Trump’s proposal to the “next level.”
“We already knew Robert Blaha was unabashed in his extreme policy positions, but saying banning Muslims from entering the country isn’t taking it far enough is taking extreme to the next level,” Colorado Democratic Party spokesman Chris Meagher said in a statement. “Instead of focusing on real policy solutions, Blaha is adding to the outlandish, offensive, prejudiced rhetoric that is antithetical to our values as a nation.”
—–
Buzzfeed picked up a gem of a tirade from Robert “Bla-ha!” Blaha, a Colorado Republican U.S. Senate primary candidate fighting for relevance in a 5-man race:
Robert Blaha, a Republican primary candidate in Colorado’s Senate race, said on Tuesday that Donald Trump’s proposed ban on Muslims entering the country doesn’t go far enough.
“I want to go beyond just Muslims,” Blaha said at a GOP meeting in Fremont County. “And I’ll tell you why. The issue is not—the issue is partially a religious issue, but the real issue there is—the real issue is security. The real issue is we do not know who these people are. We don’t know where they’re coming from, we don’t know whether a terrorist state. We do not have the ability as a government right now to vet these people…”
“Until we can properly vet people and know who they are and know where they’re coming from and know what their belief structures are they’re coming out of, we cannot afford to take that risk,” he said.
When Blaha says we “can’t vet these people,” we have to assume he just hasn’t heard about all the ways we do “vet these people” right now. We assume Blaha is principally concerned with refugees like other Republicans who find political advantage in demagoguing this stuff, but the fact is, refugees are much more thoroughly screened than other kinds of visitors to the United States–like tourists. Tourists from abroad constitute a large percentage of the 75 million people who traveled to the United States last year from abroad, and while they’re here they contribute billions of dollars to the U.S. economy.
Including right here in the year-round alpine playground of Colorado. Is that what Blaha is trying to do? To hurt Colorado’s tourism economy?
Donald Trump is doing enough to damage America’s image in the world, to include desirability as a vacation destination, with his xenophobic scare tactics. For Colorado’s sake, it would be nice if our Republican U.S. Senate candidates weren’t doing their best to ensure our state has the same problem.
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That must be like some kind of mating-call among the Party of Pridefully Ignorant . . .
. . . "We don't know! We don't know! We don't know!"
The country should admit only fundamentalist Christian white people. People of color and anyone not sharing fundamentalst Christian religion should be deported to wherever their ancestors came from, even if they are currently US citizens.
Yes!
Send those Catholics and Jews back to Europe.
No Irish need apply.
I think Mr. Blaha wants every potential refugee to be formally introduced to a Republican member of the House or Senate, as that is the only way they will "know who they are."
Above, I’m told there are 75 million visitors. Divide by 246 Representatives and 54 Senators … each one will need to meet 250,000, or 1,250 per day (if they worked full time).
I think we know something about the people we are allowing in since they are subjected to a couple of years worth of vetting first. As far as demographcs alone we certainly know that, contrary to what Trump says, only a tiny percentage are men (thoroughly vetted) of fighting age with the largest percentage made up of a combination of women, children and men over 60. If Trump and Blaha don't know anything about the people we've let in it's because they don't want to know anything that interferes with their bigoted hatemongering. Or maybe they're just ignorant blowhards. Of course there's no reason to believe they can't be both.
I gotta go with that "both" thing, Blue Cat.
Darryl Glenn is a Trump supporter.
All of the GOP Senate candidates will support Donald Trump as the nominee.
You can read their nuanced positions in Ciruli’s Aurora Sentinel article.
But Darryl Glenn is particularly simpatico with Trump. On Trump’s “7 positions”, Glenn has identical stances with all except Trump's anti-China trade policy. Not too surprising, considering that China is Colorado’s #3 international trading partner, and plenty of Colorado Springs firms trade with China.
Darryl Glenn, as an EPCO County Commissioner , introduced a resolution opposing the relocation of Syrian refugees unless each one is “certified”.
Then he went further on December 3, 2015, sponsoring a County Commissioners resolution to deny social services to refugees until they are “certified” or “properly vetted”.
Darryl Glenn's talking points from his famous Assembly speech could have been written by Trump: : Defund Planned Parenthood, America must "identify radical Islamic terrorists", take back our country, rebuild our military, take care of veterans, repeal Iran nuclear deal, repeal Obamacare, secure the borders, defund sanctuary cities, President needs to stop “picking sides” because all lives matter, balance the budget, reform personal and corporate tax law because “people are slaves to the administration”, put Hillary Clinton in an orange jumpsuit, God Bless America.
Glenn's latest position on his Facebook page is opposing Obama's rule on transgender people being able to choose the bathroom they use. Plenty of pro-Trump posts there, too.
Wonder if he joins Trump in believing that if HRC is elected the first thing she will do is "abolish the second amendment"? Or is Glenn, apparently unlike the Donald, aware that presidents have no power to "abolish" amendments and that constitutional amendments can only be repealed by a process that requires such a high degree of super majority concensus on so many levels, it's almost impossible to repeal one and adding them doesn’t possible any more either. For repeal, you have to go back to the repeal of of the 18th via the the 21st in the '30s to find an example of any such thing ever happening.
I somehow doubt that he is. He seems to be incredibly ignorant.
Ignorant candidates appeal to low information voters.
For the camaraderie I guess.