The right splits, and the nature of our democracy is up for grabs - By Jennifer Rubin

January 30 at 11:30 AM

The schism in the GOP could not be more obvious: On one side stands “blood and soil” nationalists bent on stirring the passions of working-class whites who have been convinced that all Muslims are dangerous. They decline to look at the outcomes of the policies; rather, they seek to bond with and channel the irrational anger of their base. The justification for an outlandish policy becomes: That’s what President Trump ran on. (Put differently, the more closely you look at Trump’s executive order on immigration, “the more clearly un-serious it is in addressing any real problem. It’s Breitbart-like boob bait for the bubbas,” Link to tweet
" target="_blank">as Bill Kristol tweeted.) The order is both under- and overinclusive in scope, substituting immigration exclusionism for national security policy. (Or is it using national security to justify immigration exclusionism?)

When it comes to Trump’s executive order on immigration — which he facetiously declares is not a Muslim ban (didn’t he chide President Obama for ignoring the identity of our enemy?) — the nativists do not care that refugees are the most well-vetted immigrants or that the seven countries from which immigration is halted do not include any from which the 9/11 hijackers (or any other jihadist attack on the homeland) emanated. They remain indifferent to the real possibility that the order could do real and material harm to our military efforts. (The Post quoted former CIA director Michael V. Hayden as saying: “We’ve got good people who will work hard at it, but there is no question that this has already created an irretrievable cost. … (The order) inarguably has made us less safe. It has taken draconian measures against a threat that was hyped. The byproduct is it feeds the Islamic militant narrative and makes it harder for our allies to side with us.”) Together with those that malevolently fan the flames of hysteria and xenophobia are Republicans who have lost their nerve and moral bearings, who imagine their careers or agendas will be bolstered by avoiding confrontation with Trump. That sadly includes such former conservative darlings as House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.).

On the other side of divide were lawmakers — including Sens. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) and Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) — foreign policy experts, former officials and the former independent conservative candidate (and former CIA officer) Evan McMullin, all of whom understood how unnecessary, counterproductive and morally offensive was the directive which anti-immigration zealots Stephen K. Bannon and Stephen Miller cooked up. Appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Portman matter-of-factly said that while security measures are essential, “we have to do it in a way that’s consistent with our values and consistent with our national security. We are this beacon of hope and opportunity for the rest of the world. That’s our self-image and it’s also an important part of our foreign policy. So we have to do it in a way that makes sense.”

The two halves of the party differ on priorities, sensibilities, tone and values. The Trumpkins have put aside rationality and democratic norms; the other side of the GOP resists. The divide also separates those who already serve in the administration and those who refuse to. Among the latter are Trump critic, former State Department official and scholar Eliot A. Cohen, who wrote:

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2017/01/30/the-right-splits-and-the-nature-of-our-democracy-is-up-for-grabs/?utm_term=.def141e21b0a&wpisrc=nl_popns&wpmm=1