I have stayed away from commenting on Trump because I prefer to address issues rather than individual politicians. But Trump’s call yesterday to block the entry of all Muslims into the US requires a broad based response. Even Dick Cheney came out saying that this “goes against everything we stand for” (and this from the man who supported torture).

I am an immigrant to the United States and one of the things that most attracted me was the profound sense of freedom. The freedom to study where and what you want. The freedom to try and fail and try again as an entrepreneur. The freedom to hold and speak beliefs that are quite different from the mainstream.

Our freedom of speech includes the freedom for Trump to express his views. But as he is running for the Presidency it behooves all of us as citizens to push back when it comes to broadly curtailing the rights of an entire group based on religious beliefs. And I say this even though I am not religious and am deeply skeptical about all religious claims.

We have all the makings of one of those awful episodes in American history where fear grips the country with massive overreactions. This happened with the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II and the Blacklist during the Cold War McCarthy period (the Second Red Scare). I just saw the movie Trumbo about that time and tweeted after seeing it that it was a timely movie. That was before Trump’s announcement and is now even more true.

So if you have been like me, mostly trying to ignore Trump and not giving him additional undue airtime, now would be a good moment to speak up calmly and clearly against a hot headed demagogue.