The word "ironic" is horribly over-used in our jaded culture. It seems ironic to Chappie that just as Capt. Humayun Khan died while drawing fire (putting himself in a position where the enemy had no choice but to engage prematurely--in his case detonate the car bomb--thus saving others) his parents have been drawing fire for the Democratic Party and, truth-be-told, the entire nation in causing Donald Trump to reveal in glaring and daily detail what a nasty, compulsive and frankly stupid charlatan he truly is. Anyone who thinks that Trump's continuing attacks on the Khans (who are drawing his fire) have not and do not continue to diminish him and cost him the votes of those not too damaged to perceive his awfulness...anyone who doubts that hasn't been noting the prominent Republicans announcing their temporary defections. These people are profiles in courage at the moment, but one mustn't forget that the party they have supported for many years IS responsible for ginning up the tempest of obscene nonsense we have come to think of as national politics.
Thanks to Mr. Khan's brandishing of a deadly weapon in the face of live TV, his vest-pocket copy of the U.S. Constitution, sales of that document (in it's concealed-carry form) have soared. Americans have found something substantial to care about. Or maybe they're just looking to accessorize? In any case it can't but be a good thing. The fact that the 1787 Constitution is actually a counter-revolutionary document that reversed many of the goals and gains of the 1776 revolution and the raucous democracy that ensued is beside the point. For better or for worse, the Constitution is our second founding document, and until we improve it, it is to all intents and purposes,,,sacred. Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Khan, for your example.
Those who take exception with the degree to which I praise the Khan's intervention in our national nightmare-in-the-making need only recall the last words of cinema icon James Dean as he approached the intersection of CA 466 with CA 41in his Porsche Spyder about 6:45PM on the last day of September, 1955. He saw an oncoming car ahead signaling to make a left turn across Dean's path: “That guy’s gotta stop… He’ll see us,” Dean said to his friend, Rolf Wütherich... But Don Turnupseed, the other driver, turned left into his path and Dean died at 23. Just because it seems unreal that something terrible, something uncharacteristic and unimaginable could happen, doesn't mean that it won't. Too often it does. The Khan's know this too, too well.
Finally, it seems clear to the Chapster that the Trump phenomenon raises a practical question for political parties to consider: should political parties have codes of ethics/behavior that enjoin people of certain extreme behaviors and demonstrated base values from representing them in elections? This would normally not be much of an issue, but during the brief period between receiving a nomination until election day, any candidate may be caught in a cycle of vile lies or assertions (or even a criminal act of which he is presumed innocent) but which call into question the nominee's suitability and electability. The time between nomination and election can be as little as 10 weeks, which is insufficient to allow the law to weed out the grotesque. If such a candidate, dishonored and exposed, lacks the ability to resign for the good of the party, the party's governing committee should have the option of withdrawing the nomination and offering it to the runner-up or to whomever they want.
Captain Kahn could never have been President, given his foreign birth, but the conjunction of his sacrifice, his family's tragedy and the purest love of country may have led this Muslim family to help us pause in mid air...
