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             Trump, Carson Ratchet Up Heated Rhetoric About Muslims

   by Associated Press

   Top Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump and Ben Carson are
   ratcheting up their rhetoric about Muslims, with Trump calling for a
   mandatory database to track Muslims in the United States and Carson
   comparing Syrian refugees to rabid dogs.

   The comments follow the terror attacks in Paris that killed 130 people
   and wounded hundreds more. The Islamic State group has claimed
   responsibility for the carnage, elevating fears of attacks in the U.S.
   and prompting calls for new restrictions on refugees fleeing war-torn
   Syria.

   Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush was the first Republican rival to condemn
   Trump's call for a Muslim database, calling the proposal "abhorrent."

   "You're talking about internment, you're talking about closing mosques,
   you're talking about registering people, and that's just wrong," Bush
   said Friday on CNBC.

   Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton took to Twitter Friday and
   challenged all Republican candidates to disavow Trump's comments.

   "This is shocking rhetoric," she wrote. "It should be denounced by all
   seeking to lead this country."

   Trump's comments about a national database for Muslims came Thursday
   night while he was campaigning in Iowa. In a video posted on MSNBC.com,
   Trump was asked whether Muslims would be required to register. He
   replied, "They have to be."

   He said Muslims would be signed up at "different places" and said the
   program would be "all about management."

   Religious and civil liberties experts said Trump's idea is
   unconstitutional on several counts.

   "Individuals cannot be singled out for government surveillance and
   monitoring based on their religious beliefs," said Steven Shapiro, the
   legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union.

   Marci Hamilton, a Yeshiva University legal expert on religious liberty,
   said requiring Muslims to register appears to be a clear violation of
   the U.S. Constitution's protection of religious freedom.

   "What the First Amendment does and what it should do is drive the
   government to use neutral criteria," Hamilton said. "You can use
   neutral criteria to identify terrorists. What it can't do is engage in
   one-religion bashing. That won't fly in any court."

   The campaign trail comments come amid a debate on Capitol Hill about
   refugees from the Middle East. The House passed legislation Thursday
   essentially barring Syrian and Iraqi refugees from the U.S. Senate
   Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican has slotted the bill for
   possible Senate consideration, though it's unclear whether the chamber
   could get enough votes to override a veto by Obama, who opposes the
   measure.

   Carson, the retired neurosurgeon who has challenged Trump's standing
   atop the Republican field, raised eyebrows Thursday when he compared
   blocking potential terrorists posing as Syrian refugees from entering
   the U.S. to handling a rabid dog.

   "If there's a rabid dog running around in your neighborhood, you're
   probably not going to assume something good about that dog," Carson
   told reporters at a campaign stop in Alabama. "It doesn't mean you hate
   all dogs, but you're putting your intellect into motion."

   The Council on American-Islamic Relations condemned both Trump and
   Carson's comments as "Islamophobic and unconstitutional."

   "Donald Trump and Ben Carson are contributing to an already toxic
   environment that may be difficult to correct once their political
   ambitions have been satisfied," CAIR's Robert McCaw said in a
   statement.

   Trump's comments in particular are expected to force his rivals to
   weigh in on whether they support or oppose his proposal. Republicans
   have vacillated in their handling of other inflammatory comments from
   the bellicose billionaire, wary of alienating the front-runner's
   supporters but also increasingly concerned that he's managed to
   maintain his grip on the Republican race deep into the fall.
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/trump-carson-ratchet-up-heated-rhetoric-about-muslims/3066860.html