It’s a tale that I might have expected to hear from his parents when they had the chance to address the nation during the Democratic convention. He suggested that the Hillary Clinton campaign had written Khizr Khan’s speech – Khan says he wrote it himself – and Trump traded on the stereotype of oppressed Muslim women by implying that Ghazala Khan was silent because she wasn’t “allowed” to speak.
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Despite a divided polity, the Republican camp has to acknowledge the contribution and sacrifices made by second generation immigrants like the Pakistani American Khans. The spat has grown into a full-blown political mess for Trump. Khan started out criticizing the real estate developer for smearing “the character of Muslims”, disrespecting minorities, attacking fellow Republicans, and vowing to build walls and ban Muslims from the United States.
I’ve spoken at the Pentagon, the State Department, at 10 Downing Street, at NORAD – where has Trump been speaking? After he graduated in 1968, Trump would have become eligible for the draft, except this son of a multimillionaire was granted a 1-Y medical deferment and later 4-F status because, he told The New York Times, he had bone spurs in one of his heels. Hillary Clinton abandoned four American heroes in Benghazi, so I can understand why she wants to divert the attention elsewhere. In fact I believe his insults against the Khans is only the latest example of why I and many others believe that Trump as commander in chief would be a major national risk to America’s national security and those who serve to protect and defend it. Most recent surveys may be ominous for Trump.
Khan made a comment in the article that caught the attention of Clinton’s headquarters in Brooklyn, about the 10 steps his son had taken toward the auto of the suicide bombers as he warned all of the other men to hit the dirt and take cover. Khan was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star for his ultimate sacrifice. “Not religious values, human values”.
Congressman Bill Johnson of OH said: “I spent 26 years in the U.S. air force”.
In an interview previous year, he said he could not recall which heel it was.
Clinton’s December speech, in which she quoted Khan extensively, was well-received.
Today, the Republican Party appears to be coming apart at the seams.
A remarkable number of voters seemed willing to let Trump insult minorities in general, and reporters, political opponents, and even judges specifically, but insulting the quiet dignity of a grieving military family is proving a step too far. As the event neared, they called them.
Khan never was stationed in Kansas, as he was with the division only while it was temporarily headquartered in Germany, Roberts said. “I don’t know what was in their minds, but that is how it came into being”. His wife stood alongside supporting him. That memorable moment when Khan brandished a pocket copy of the Constitution was his own idea, he said.
Pittard added: “I join all those who stand in support of the Khan family”. “At home we have a stack of it sitting”.
We thank them for these warm words. “That’s when the thought came: Why don’t I pull it out” during the speech?
Supporters have voiced their endorsements on the page with comments such as, “Virginia’s house of delegates desperately needs fresh perspectives regarding how to keep our nation safe and free”, and, “I endorse Khizr Khan because he has shown grace, passion, and patriotism in defense of his son, and of our nation’s service members”. This week, arguably his most obscene ever, is a case in point.
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And perhaps most egregiously, after being called out at the Democratic Convention for his anti-Muslim immigration policy by the Muslim parents of an Army captain who died heroically in Iraq in 2004, Trump could not help entering into a six-day war of words with this couple who know a heartache that Mr. Trump apparently cannot even fathom.
