Tuesday, August 2, 2016

THE KHAN FACTOR IN US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

Trump's totally unacceptable comments regarding the short appearance of the Khans--who lost their son during combat in Iraq--in the Democratic convention, went one step too far...or can he go even further? The Republican nominee disguises his ignorance in insult. Since the space for faux pas grows with every Tweet he sends out, more lies and mayhem will likely follow.  It is time for the Khans to return to their privacy, otherwise they risk being manipulated by others. Their genuine grief and indignation created a shock-wave larger than the more personal outrage and emotion they so convincingly conveyed.  The Republicans are trapped by the doings of their candidate, who starts to act like a wounded animal, biting in all directions. The contortions of the party are painful to watch.

Instead of talking about the economy, the first concern of the celebrated white male blue-collar voter, Trump continues to indulge in personal attacks, showing how immature he is to genuine thought.  The Democrats are having, for the time being, a go forod time and ride. The Benghazi/email sagas will nevertheless pop up again, with the hidden support of Wikileaks and others (who not shall be named). Unproven assertions stick, whatever Mrs. Clinton's answers or defense might be. The nativist, dark right-wing in the GOP will never stop waging war against the Democratic contender, who is in their eyes a hybrid of Lady Macbeth and the devil.

Mrs. Clinton should not waste too much time trying to convince the "brown shirts".  She had better appeal to the Sanders/Warren camp, the Independents, and the "thinking' Republicans. The Khans' words will have staying power but the short-term issues regarding an economy which is good in macro terms, and unconvincing on the micro level are the Republicans only attack line left. Trump, who never showed any sympathy for the working class, suddenly tries to be their ultimate savior and defender.  He will link Mrs. Clinton to the Obama policies. She better be over prepared with facts and numbers, since her opponent will present some US Gotterdammerung.  She will need Obama and the likes of Warren Buffet to show Trump the exit door.

Thanks to the Khans, the Constitution, Arlington Cemetery, and respect for pluralism have been injected into a conversation which otherwise might well have been hijacked by profanity. It is time to definitively come to terms with the psyche of a man, prisoner of inner voices and of an inferiority complex, disguised in the mantle of an inflated, faulty ego. America is not Il Duce territory.  

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