Grieving parents stand up to Donald Trump. Who knew it wouldn't end well? |
When is the outrage enough? Ezra Klein wonders:
"Have you ever been to Arlington Cemetery?" Khan asked Trump. "Go look at the graves of brave patriots who died defending the United States of America. You will see all faiths, genders and ethnicities. You have sacrificed nothing and no one."
On ABC this morning, Trump responded to Khan’s speech. I don’t know what I expected from Trump. Maybe he would show some gentleness. Maybe he would show some empathy. Maybe he would refuse to comment. Maybe he would attack Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama’s foreign policy leadership. All of those responses would have been fine.
Trump’s actual response, though, wasn’t fine.
Klein then looks to James Fallows' response:"If you look at his wife, she was standing there," he said, on national television. "She had nothing to say. She probably, maybe she wasn't allowed to have anything to say. You tell me."
Why do I mention this? I am not imagining that even an episode as heartless as this will necessarily change any committed Trump supporters’ minds. Although the accumulation of Trump’s offenses should increasingly shame the “respectable” Republicans standing up for him. Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell, this starts with you.
But it is important to document the starkness of the two conceptions of America that are on clear view, 100 days before this man could become president. The America of the Khan family, and that of Donald Trump.
“Until this moment, I think I never really gauged your cruelty.” Joseph Welch, 1954.The Washington Post's article about this latest Trump "media event" has more than 13 thousand comments, the vast majority of which express shock and disgust at Trump's reaction to the Kahns' speech.
Will this finally be the moment the Republicans acknowledge that Trump is beyond the pale and support should be withdrawn? Who knows? Who the hell knows?