Something strange happened on the last night of the Democratic National Convention.
After the GOP nominee lambasted the Democrats on Twitter for displaying what he viewed as too few American flags, there was a sea of waving flags as far as the eye could see when Hillary Clinton became the first woman to accept a major party's nomination on Thursday.
A small faction of protesters chanting "no more war" as General John Allen spoke were quicklydrowned out by chants of "USA!" filling the Philadelphia arena. The most notable refrain from the RNC crowd last week: "Lock her up."
The evening also hammered home the stark tonal difference between the two conventions. After Trump painted America as a downcast country in need of a billionaire savior, night after night of all-star DNC speakers preached a sermon of American exceptionalism, with values that unify us all – talking points once exclusively owned by Republicans.
It was enough to give a lot of conservatives whiplash.
And indeed, conservatives know they're done for. The speech of the night before Clinton's belonged to Khizr Khan, the father of a Muslim US Army Captain who died in Iraq.
From the Muslim ban to his open embrace of racial profiling, fearmongering about Muslims has been a centerpiece of Donald Trump’s campaign. But during the last night of the Democratic National Convention, the father of a Muslim U.S. Army Captain who died in Iraq while trying to protect his men during an attack reminded Trump about some relevant passages from the Constitution.
“We are honored to stand here as the parents of Captain Humayun Khan and as patriotic American Muslims with undivided loyalty to our country,” Khizr Khan, father of Humayun, said.
Onstage with his wife, Khan asked whether Trump has “even read the United States Constitution.”
“I will gladly lend you my copy,” Khan said, pulling a pocket-size constitution from his jacket. “In the document, look for the words ‘liberty’ and ‘equal protection of law.'”
Khan also said Trump has “sacrificed nothing and no one” and suggested he take a trip to Arlington Cemetery to see how people of “all faiths, genders and ethnicities” have “died defending the United States of America.”
It was the Democrats who staked out this week that America is a pretty good country, solidly taking over the realm of God, baseball, apple pie and yellow ribbons.
Why this convention is better: It's about loving America. GOP convention was about loving Trump. If you didn't love Trump, it offered nada.— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahNRO) July 29, 2016
Ouch.
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