Do you agree with this columnist's opinion of America's political leaders' responses to the Da'esh attacks in Paris this week?

Xenophobic, like so many of the names liberals call conservatives, is just a name. In this case, there is no basis in it. The desire to restrict or temporarily stop large numbers of Syrian refugees is based on evidence of the likelihood ISIS and other bad actors will try to use the influx to send jihadists to America. I bear the refugees no ill will at all, let alone "an intense dislike or fear of people from other countries". But they would be used as a mechanism to kill Americans, so I am with the Congress and the Republican candidates on this one.

COL Sam Russell i feel that more could have been did to prepare for ISIS in Sryria. POTUS, should re-evaluate his foreign policy and make it stronger in defense for the nation.

COL Sam Russell
POTUS is definitely arrogant. As to the GOP, if saying that "Hey, maybe we should stop the influx of Syrian refugees until we can determine who is and is not a terrorist..." makes them xenophobic then so be it.

This poll is a little lopsided considering there are democrats also questioning the vetting process of the invasion force, err refugees.

- No rational analysis of what is going on in the world squares with what the President is saying.
- Republicans have legitimate security concerns that must be addressed BEFORE Syrian refugees are allowed into the US. - I would be interested in seeing the gender and age breakdown of any refugees brought to the US. Yes, I am biased against military aged males without a spouse or children who claim to be a "refugee".

129 dead and its a setback? Tone-deaf indeed.

Instead of going over the same old "America is a nation of immigrants, many of which were fleeing persecution" chestnut, allow me to remind everyone that refugees are perhaps the most scrutinized group of immigrants in America and after the attacks in Paris, you can bet that if they have some much as a passing acquaintance with any extremist faction, that person will be shown the door. It's also our international responsibility to take some of these refugees so that we don't look like all we have to offer is lip service. Nevertheless, trust but verify, err on the side of caution, etc.
Additionally, if we do decide to slip into a xenophobic state, ISIS would have won a crucial IO/PSYOP victory. ISIS could tell the refugees that Americans aren't the saviors they claim to be and would rather have you die on the waters just off of their shores rather than welcome you, that they say that while American politicians don't hate Muslims or Islam, not allowing fleeing Muslims to seek asylum directly contradicts that claim...
(Forgive me, RP. My old PSYOP instincts are kicking in but you should be able to see how ISIS could spin this and make this messaging incredibly effective).
Lastly, what better way to counter this potential messaging that to welcome these refugees to America (Trust but verify, of course). Then, ISIS couldn't use this current fustercluck against us.
I'll leave you all with John 4:20 "If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen".

I love my country, and I love the fact that my home town is now the home of large Somali and Hmong communities that fled persecution and death in their homeland to build a new life here. They have been an asset to the community, although admittedly they bring some frictions and their own issues too. I daresay that if we resettled a bunch of Ukrainians or Swedes a roughly equal amount of issues would arise. The most dangerous thing that has come out of the Somali group has been the occasional youth that wants to go home to fight there and some money being transferred to shady recipients. That keeps the FBI busy. It is manageable, if you are vigilant.
Having said that, I don't understand how the interests of the United States are served by just turning on the yard light and hoping for the best with this group. It has already been well-established that IS is using this group to mask infiltration of their goons. We have seen the result.

I can't help but wonder how many of those decrying not wanting to admit Syrian refugees as being xenophobic would offer to host some of them in their own homes.... According to every survey I've seen, roughly 10% of muslims are radicalized. There's no way to determine 100% who's a terrorist and who's not and one drop of American blood isn't worth 10,000 of these refuhadis.

Its interesting that the two political parties are positioning themselves based on politics. It's also interesting that we take pot-shots on their motives and actions without any knowledge of the information/intelligence they have. I suspect we all realize any candidate (regardless of party) will say whatever will benefit him/her to get elected - especially when they don't have any clue what is really going on or any responsibility for the results. Politics as usual - just my humble opinion.