Editor,
It’s unfortunate that Max the movie critic is infuriated that anyone would feel that Donald Trump has disqualified himself from the Presidency by calling for a “temporary” ban on all Muslims from entering the U.S. In an otherwise thoughtful and well-reasoned opinion piece, Max seems to think that xenophobia and racism are okay because they don’t directly kill people.

Unfortunately if he really thought about it he would need to remember that these “soft crimes” are necessary and effective precursors for the very tragic and systemic realities of mass incarcerations and internments and “final solutions” which have decimated individual lives and entire cultures.

It’s also interesting that Max chose to essentially ignore the candidacy of our own Bernie Sanders. While the writer hints that Trump’s quote could have come from Sanders, he conveniently sidesteps the fact that

Bernie has been a critic from the start of the Iraq wars and of terrorism without ever resorting to Islamophobia.

And to declare that a billionaire “… has no choice but to make outlandish public statements…” because “That’s the only way he can get on TV.” is puzzling to say the least.

Robert Fisher