Marco Rubio has been (sort of) trying to position himself as relatively sane compared to the Trumps and Carsons in this presidential race — a position he does not deserve. For example, Rubio is a fanatical anti-choice extremist who would completely ban all abortions, even if the life of the mother is in danger.

And just like the rest of the Republican candidates, Rubio is spewing unconstitutional anti-Muslim craziness: Rubio On Closing Mosques: We Should Close Any Place ‘Where Radicals Are Being Inspired’.

“Well, I think it’s not about closing down mosques. It’s about closing down any place, whether it’s a cafe, a diner, an internet site, any place where radicals are being inspired,” the senator said. “The bigger problem we have is our inability to find out where these places are because we’ve crippled our intelligence programs.”

“So whatever facility is being used — it’s not just a mosque — any facility that’s being used to radicalize and inspire attacks against the United States should be a place that we look at,” Rubio added.

Rubio is basically parroting Donald Trump, of course:

I didn’t suggest a database-a reporter did. We must defeat Islamic terrorism & have surveillance, including a watch list, to protect America

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 20, 2015

There’s no downside for Republicans in saying these kinds of things; in this season of xenophobia and fear, the voting base eats it up and begs for more.

And by the way, the surveillance of Muslims these people are calling for was already tried in New York for more than 10 years; and while it definitely violated the constitutional rights of the people it spied upon, it never generated a single lead.

Marco Rubio tries to sound like an expert on fighting terrorism, but please note that he doesn’t feel the need to attend hearings or briefings on terrorism.

Looks like @MarcoRubio missing today’s closed Foreign Relations hearing and all-member classified briefing on #ParisAttacks

— Scott Wong (@scottwongDC) November 18, 2015