Here's an irony about Khizr and Ghazala Khan and their heroic son.
After a year of Donald Trump's bigoted rhetoric, it was a Muslim immigrant's military service and his parents' poise that broke through the hate-filled noise. Their DNC speech provided light and perspective, as effectively as when Army Counsel Joseph Welch called out hatemonger Joseph McCarthy in 1954 for having no decency.?
What did that say about our country?
It says Americans are shaped by the values of the Constitution. It says our freedoms include a Muslim immigrant having a voice in the conversation, which should inspire Muslims worldwide. It proves Michelle Obama right: "We are the greatest country on earth."
It says that truth, no matter the source, can defeat bullies.
As the author of "The Need to Say No: How to be Bullish and Not Bullied" and "Don't Let Death Ruin Your Life," I am struck by how often grieving families try to make sense of a loved one's death, especially a child's. You counsel that there are reasons that can not be explained. Now we know.
The Khans' son, Humayun Khan, a 27-year-old Army captain killed in Iraq in 2004 while saving others, did a great service for his country. His death reminded us that sacrifice and grief have no religion. When his eloquent father, Khizr Khan, spoke at the Democratic National Convention, he fired verbal arrows that finally pierced Donald Trump's malice-based armor.
His moving rebuke may finally help America reject a candidate former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg called "a dangerous demagogue."
Indeed, Khan's words may be taught in future classrooms across America. "Donald Trump, you're asking Americans to trust you with their future," he said. "Let me ask you: Have you even read the United States Constitution? I will gladly lend you my copy."
Then he added the sentences that many believe will likely derail the Trump machine. "Have you even been to Arlington Cemetery? Go look at the graves of brave patriots defending the United States of America. You'll see all faiths, genders and ethnicities. You have sacrificed nothing and no one!"
As someone who writes about adult bullies, it was not surprising what happened next. Bullies don't like to be confronted in public. Bullies surround themselves with lieutenants who are so happy to have the attention of the alpha-bull, they become fanatic followers and forgive all behavior. That is, until that critical moment -- when the bully is exposed.
After Khan's clarion call for the country to wake up, Trump looked for a way to diminish him. He mocked. He couldn't go after the father, who he instinctively realized was popular, so he went after the mother, Ghazala Khan.
"She had nothing to say," Trump said to ABC News. "She probably, maybe she wasn't allowed to speak."
As she wrote later, she didn't want to speak because the image of her dead son pained her too much, triggering yet another avalanche of grief that never ever goes away. "Without saying a thing, all the world, all America, felt my pain," she wrote in an op-ed for The Washington Post.
"I am a Gold Star mother. Whoever saw me felt me in their heart."
It's not surprising that Trump the Bully went after the mother. Did you notice at the Republican National Convention, Trump's children appear to be the sole result of his parenting? Their mothers were ignored. We all know the importance of mothers in forming character and caretaking.
I don't know about you, but I am getting pleasure in the irony of this perfect storm.
First, Khan's family is sacrosanct because of their true service, their true sacrifice. As war hero and former POW survivor Sen. John McCain pointed out, our country is a better country because the Khans could immigrate here.
Now, even the Veterans for Foreign Wars have condemned Trump's attacks on the Khans. "Election year or not, the VFW will not tolerate anyone berating a Gold Star family," said Brian Duffy, commander-in-chief of the VFW.
The speech also helped heal religious divides. Muslims could take pride in the U.S., seeing how the Khans were embraced by the nation. "We have a hero to be proud of who everyone knows," a Muslim friend told me.
Trump is worried about ISIS recruits? Thanks to the Khans, those recruits may be less likely to be blinded by bullies. They see that service, honor and hard work are rewarded in this great country. Isn't part of some of their anger fueled by a frustration of not feeling welcome or having a sense of belonging, no matter how misguided? Here's tangible proof that Americans care for each other, without regard for religion. They see that humble immigrants can speak out against a leader without punishment. They see how heroes are made with deeds and not assaults. We are and always have been a beacon of light, even when darkness surrounds us.