Gov. Jay Inslee’s Syrian refugee stance makes no sense, Rantz says

Governor Jay Inslee announced Monday morning that Washington State will continue to accept refugees seeking an escape from Syria, just days after the deadly ISIS terrorist attack in Paris. But his statement was more about making cheap political points than staking out some moral high ground.

Consequently, it makes absolutely no sense.

We learned Monday that a number of Governors are speaking against accepting new settlement of migrants, all over security concerns. Though it’s not as “un-American” as Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) claims (though they use that claim so often it’s hard to figure out if they mean it, or if it’s just some Mad Libs press release system they have). For example, as CNBC reports:

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said she would not oppose migrants in the state if they had already been cleared for entrance, but added she would resist settlement if any standards changed.

This stance is hardly unreasonable. Are there people out there who legitimately can claim if the standards of admittance into this country are loosened, we shouldn’t show any resistance?

Related: Terrorism analyst says ‘soft targets’ are a nightmare to defend

Sensing an opportunity to stand on his soapbox to proclaim how much better he is than Republicans, Governor Jay Inslee issued a press release that sets aside any meaningful policy discussion, and instead, reminds us how loyal of a Democrat he is. He said:

I stand firmly with President Obama who said this morning, ‘We do not close our hearts to these victims of such violence and somehow start equating the issue of refugees with the issue of terrorism.’

Washington will continue to be a state that welcomes those seeking refuge from persecution, regardless of where they come from or the religion they practice. We have been and will continue to be a state that embraces compassion and eschews fear mongering, as evidenced so well by Republican Gov. Dan Evans’ welcoming of Vietnamese refugees here in the 1970s.

Fair enough. But his closing remarks make very little sense. He notes that “governors do not decide whether refugees come to their states.” And he claims any Republican governors standing in the way, despite that states apparently do not have a say, shows these “anti-refugee comments” to be “troublesome and of little value except to divide people and foment intolerance.”

But if governors have no say in these matters and statements from governors expressing their analysis of the refugee system, isn’t what Governor Inslee is doing here just a blatant PR campaign?

He says states have no say in these decisions, in the same breath he says he’s going to welcome refugees into Washington. But he has no say &#8212 so, in essence, he put out a press release to say he’ll continue to do what he has no say in doing?

That seems pretty “troublesome” that you’re using our tax dollars to send out meaningless press releases about how good of a guy you are … doing something you have to do, and taking credit for the action.