Keller @ Large: Anyone Facing Danger To Protect Others Is A Hero
BOSTON (CBS) -- This campaign has already brought out a lot of ugliness in our culture, and I bet we haven't seen the worst of it yet. But the bottom-feeders who pollute the internet with their hateful swill will have to work overtime to beat the tweets I saw yesterday from an online talk-show host who will go nameless here.
This cretin went after the memory of Humayun Khan, the Army captain who was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart for his actions in Iraq, where he was killed by a car bomber after putting himself in harm's way to protect other soldiers.
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Captain Khan's story became part of the campaign when his father denounced Donald Trump during a speech at last week's Democratic National Convention, a moment that would already have been forgotten had Trump not jumped in with disparaging comments about the parents of the slain soldier.
Eager to join his hero in attacking these gold star parents, our clueless tweeter wrote: "Hate to spit in the politically correct punchbowl but getting shot or blown up in the line of duty makes you a soldier, not a hero."
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He now claims he wasn't referring to Captain Khan, which is an outright lie. But even if he didn't, his comment is vile and absurd.
People take on dangerous jobs protecting the rest of us for a variety of reasons, not all of them necessarily heroic. And not all of them perform heroically on the job. But when they take an unusual risk to perform their duties—as the first-responders who rushed into the towers on 9/11 did, and as Captain Khan did in Iraq—they are the very definition of heroes.
And there's a special place down below reserved for those who claim otherwise.
You can listen to Keller At Large on WBZ News Radio every weekday at 7:55 a.m. You can also watch Jon on WBZ-TV News.
