"...individual that this was what he wanted to do. The father did not make the decision.
Parents to not take their children by their hands to the military recruiting offices to hand them over, ie, give them to the military, or give them up. This is a choice of the child/person, young adult." Msg #67901
Actually, Mike, if you take a step back and look at what she said (above quote), she is correct. Your interpretation of what she said is incorrect and not at all what she said. She was responding directly to your comments, not Mr. Khan's.
I think we can both agree that Trump should have ignored Mr. Khan's comments (although, I gotta admit, that was one hell of a line and delivery by Mr. Khan). It appears that we might disagree on the reasons we both think Trump shouldn't have said what he said, or really anything.
It appears that you might believe that a member of a Gold Star recipient's family should never be challenged on any public comments (i.e. they are untouchable and can say anything they want, without exception and therefore, should never be questioned by anyone). Just as they have the right to free speech, I so does everyone else.
I think that not only were Trump's comments regarding Mrs. Khan ignorant, but totally uncalled for. That said, my reasons for saying Trump should not have commented on Mr. Khan's comments at all is purely political; "defending" himself (in his eyes) would not have, and has not had, any political upside for Trump.
To be honest, I don't really understand the label/term that is currently associated with family members of Gold Star recipient,
"Gold Star Family" or "Gold Star Mother/Father"; after all, the "family" wasn't awarded the Gold Star. I don't say that to demean or dishonor the memory of any service member, only because words actually matter. I think that calling the mother or father of a Gold Star recipient a "Gold Star ____" actually aids in the misconception that no one should ever question anything they say publicly. I think that if they were referred to as a Gold Star recipient's ______ instead, then they can still be shown respect and honor for their family members sacrifice, however, if such a person were to make some crazy, off the wall, or just plain stupid public comments, anyone who wanted to address such comments might feel more comfortable exercising their own right of freedom of speech.
All that being said, I think Trump should have focused his attention and comments on Hillary and just let Mr. Khan's comments roll off his back. jmo |
