Hey Mr. Trump: Is A Muslim War Hero's Father American Enough For You?

Turns out the Bundy family isn't the only one with pocket Constitutions

The final night of the Democratic National Convention belonged to Hillary Clinton and her speech accepting the party's nomination, but it was  owned by Mr. Khizr Khan, the father of Army Captain Humayun S.M. Khan, who died in Iraq in 2004:  

Captain Khan was killed just north of Baghdad on June 8, 2004. A car approached the gates of the base he was tasked with protecting. As soldiers under Khan’s command prepared to inspect the vehicle, his father told us, Captain Khan screamed for his men to “hit the dirt” and walked towards it himself and demanded the driver stop. Inside the car were two suicide bombers and a large amount of explosives. As the car reached the gate, the bomb was detonated, killing Khan and wounding 10 U.S. soldiers. His father believes many more men might have died without Khan’s warning.

Capt. Khan was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart.

Khizr Khan and his wife Ghazala were introduced by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, one of those Muslim sports heroes Donald Trump didn't think existed. Abdul-Jabbar introduced himself with a fine little jab at Trump: "Hello, everyone. I’m Michael Jordan, and I'm here with Hillary. I said that because I know that Donald Trump couldn’t tell the difference.” Nicey played, sir. It was his best comedic performance since Airplane, although he quickly moved on to the serious business: If an entire presidential campaign is going to be based on labeling vast groups of people as potential criminals and terrorists, you're going to hurt a hell of a lot of people. Like, lets' say, the families of war heroes. 

</center> <p/><blockquote>"We are honored to stand here as the parents of Capt. Humayun Khan," the elder Khan said at the Democratic convention, "and as patriotic American Muslims with undivided loyalty to our country."</blockquote> <p>He spoke of his son's dream of becoming a military lawyer someday, and noted those dreams were cut short when he instead sacrificed himself to save his comrades. And then he turned to the consequences of smart policy and stupid policy: </p><p/><blockquote>Hillary Clinton was right when she called my son the best of America. If it was up to Donald Trump, he never would have been in America. Donald Trump consistently smears the character of Muslims. He disrespects other minorities, women, judges, even his own party leadership. He vows to build walls and ban us from this country. Donald Trump, you're asking Americans to trust you with their future. <p/></blockquote> <p>And then he got seriously badass, in the way that a father has every right to be on behalf of his son, who died a hero: </p><p/><blockquote>Let me ask you: have you even read the United States Constitution? <em>[cheers as he removes a copy from his suit pocket]</em> I will gladly lend you my copy. In this document, look for the words "liberty" and "equal protection of law." <p>Have you ever been to Arlington Cemetery? Go look at the graves of brave patriots who died defending the United States of America. </p><p>You will see all faiths, genders and ethnicities. You have sacrificed nothing and no one.</p></blockquote> <p>Khizr Khan, we'd submit to you, is a far better patriot than any of the morons who think a patriot's job is to take over wildlife refuges or keep an eye on scary Muslims as they attend their mosques. And what you really need to keep this country free is equal protection under law and the First Amendment, not an AR-15. </p><p>Khan's speech blew up on social media, although not everyone was a fan. Spite-fueled rageparrot <a href="https://twitter.com/AnnCoulter/status/758834407931203584" target="_blank">Ann Coulter,</a> for instance, didn't think much of a guy whose son merely saved the lives of a bunch of The Troops, and she had excellent reasons: </p><p><a href="https://wonkette.substack.com/p/hey-mr-trump-is-a-muslim-war-heros-father-american-enough-for-you/coulter-khan-tweet" rel="attachment wp-att-604931"><img id="c447d" data-rm-shortcode-id="e79addbbc59746274e48f17dfbd2008f" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" class="rm-shortcode " loading="lazy" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xNzY3MzIzMC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTcwNzgxMzY0NX0.dQbxn2glf0IqbFc0tlyu9YhJuWbIkv0kwSkvKHapmm8/img.jpg?width=980" /></a> </p><p>It's worth noting that even conservatives <a href="http://www.rawstory.com/2016/07/im-ashamed-to-have-known-you-conservatives-rip-ann-coulter-for-ugly-smear-of-hero-marines-dad/" target="_blank">ripped Coulter</a> for being A Idiot: </p><p><a href="https://wonkette.substack.com/p/hey-mr-trump-is-a-muslim-war-heros-father-american-enough-for-you/coulter-khan-tweet-reax" rel="attachment wp-att-604932"><img id="19bf7" data-rm-shortcode-id="ad21a1156b4335d8d48ddac94dc1fb88" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" class="rm-shortcode " loading="lazy" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xNzY3MzIzMS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTcyMDA5MjUxNH0.mA8Dh3WbZbfRLcd55cdkYH6K8J7rtTED1RLPx4-cOMA/img.jpg?width=980" /></a> </p><p>The potential cognitive dissonance between "support the troops!" and "Fear the Muslims!" was never even an issue for viewers of the Fox News Channel, however. <a href="https://mediamatters.org/blog/2016/07/28/fox-news-plays-benghazi-commercial-over-khazir-khans-anti-trump-speech-democratic-national/212012" target="_blank">Fox simply cut away </a>from Mr. Khan's speech altogether. And instead of hearing the father of a Muslim American war hero condemning Donald Trump's smears against Muslims, viewers of <em>The Kelly File</em> were treated to commercials -- including a PAC's pro-Trump attack ad condemning Hillary Clinton for Benghazi -- while part of the speech (with no audio) showed in a small window: </p><p><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="video-embed" frameborder="0" height="480" scrolling="no" src="https://mediamatters.org/embed/clips/2016/07/28/48179/fnc-kf-20160728-khan" width="640"/> </p><p>Following the ads, not a word about the Khans -- but there was a nice discussion of the danger Muslims pose to America. Fox viewers literally got an alternate reality that completely erased the sacrifice of an American war hero who was a Muslim. Nicely done, Ms. Kelly. </p><p>Oh, and Donald Trump? The <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/07/28/the-father-of-muslim-soldier-killed-in-action-just-delivered-a-brutal-repudiation-of-donald-trump/" target="_blank">Washington Post</a> notes that while Mr. Khan spoke of his son's patriotism and sacrifice, Donald Trump "was speaking at an event in Iowa, <a href="https://twitter.com/Bencjacobs/status/758833167335772166" target="_blank">complaining</a> that America was not allowed to waterboard terrorists[.]" </p><p>Sometimes the moral arc of the universe bends toward bitter irony. </p><p>[<a href="http://www.vocativ.com/259159/the-father-of-a-muslim-war-hero-has-this-to-say-to-donald-trump/" target="_blank">Vocativ</a> / <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/07/28/the-father-of-muslim-soldier-killed-in-action-just-delivered-a-brutal-repudiation-of-donald-trump/" target="_blank">WaPo</a> / <a href="http://www.bustle.com/articles/175633-who-is-ghazala-khan-khizr-khans-wife-her-muslim-american-son-died-fighting-for-this-country" target="_blank">Bustle</a> / <a href="http://www.rawstory.com/2016/07/im-ashamed-to-have-known-you-conservatives-rip-ann-coulter-for-ugly-smear-of-hero-marines-dad/" target="_blank">RawStory</a> / <a href="https://mediamatters.org/blog/2016/07/28/fox-news-plays-benghazi-commercial-over-khazir-khans-anti-trump-speech-democratic-national/212012" target="_blank">MediaMatters</a>]</p>