Roanoke Mayor Makes the Most Appalling Argument Yet for Rejecting Syrian Refugees

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Autocratic forces are ascendant.

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Autocratic forces are ascendant in America. But truth-telling independent media is one remaining bulwark against the unrestrained exercise of power. At a time when billionaire owners of corporate media are making accommodations to political leaders, our nonprofit newsroom cannot be bought or broken. Please stand with us.

Here is Mayor David Bowers of Roanoke, Virginia—a member of Hillary Clinton’s Virginia Leadership Council—making perhaps the worst argument we’ve seen yet for rejecting Syrian refugees:

A take so bad that it prompted this member of Congress to weigh in:

Can’t believe this needs clarifying, but the internment of Japanese-Americans (including my parents) was not a model policy.

— Mark Takano (@RepMarkTakano) November 18, 2015