Fifty-one people, including 40 children, were killed when the bus was struck on August 9 in Sadaa province.

The Saudi-UAE-led coalition now says the attack was “unjusitified” and is promising to hold those responsible to account.

But who has the power to hand out punishments for such atrocities in Yemen and elsewhere?

Human Rights Watch called the air raid on the bus an “apparent war crime” and is calling for an end to all weapons sales to Saudi Arabia.

The UN has published several significant reports on conflicts around the world. It’s recommended top military figures in Myanmar to face genocide charges over their campaign against the Rohingya in Rakhine state.

The Assad government has been accused of using chemical weapons on a number of occasions during the Syrian war, and South Sudanese government forces have been accused of potential war crimes for a campaign of rape and killing that targeted civilians in opposition-held villages.

And in one of the UN’s most controversial reports, Judge Richard Goldstone accused both Israel and Hamas of war crimes in Gaza in 2008.

Presenter: Hoda Abdel-Hamid

Guests:

Bill Van Esveld – senior researcher for the children’s rights division at Human Rights Watch

Baraa Shiban – Middle East and North Africa caseworker at Reprieve

Afrah Nasser – senior non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council

Source: Al Jazeera News

What if Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure had a different title? And featured a smart pup named Dogrufus? And introduced Adolf Hitler(!) into its time-twisting adventure?

All of that could have happened in some parallel reality, at least based on Ed Solomon and Chris Matheson’s original notes for the movie pitch. Solomon shared a look at his handwritten notes from 1984 (*great* record-keeping) on Sunday in honor of Bill & Ted star Keanu Reeves’s birthday.

You can thank the “Keanu Reeves TheClub” fan account for Solomon’s generous peek at the genesis of this classic time-travel story. It was a request from there that prompted him to share it.

Let’s start with the title: Bill and Ted’s Time Van. 

That’s what is printed at the top of the first page. Many of the fine details that follow push in different directions than you may remember, but the original synopsis that appears at the end of the document is pretty much a perfect top-level description of Excellent Adventure:

Bill and Ted have a huge history project due. They’re failing. What’ll they do? They go back into history and bring things & people back. They get an “A”. Many complications.

They also still had their band — described in the notes as an “air guitar band” (YES). They called themselves Wyld Stallyns, though the original idea for the band’s logo was a lot more… involved: “A rearing horse w/ a witch face, a phallic guitar, and scores of girls surrounding it, on their knees.”

(Remember kids, this was 1984.)

Some of the story setup was very different in the original pitch. For example: Rufus, the time-traveling futureman so memorably brought to life by the late George Carlin, was initially conceived as a “28-year-old sophomore” with a dog named “Dogrufus” who would’ve been “very smart.”

The titular time van belonged to Rufus, and Bill and Ted would use it to get to school. One night while they’re driving to 7-11 (NO, NOT CIRCLE K) to get some food, they somehow end up driving back in time, right into Nazi Germany.

They cause a bunch of trouble there and end up bringing Hitler back to San Dimas. He ends up being stranded there as the two protagonists go back in time again. If you’re thinking this sounds a lot like what happened in the actual movie with Napoleon Bonaparte, well, you’re right! Solomon himself confirmed it.

Definitely a smart move.

The documents get a little more scattered from there, running through a list of possible ideas to explore and laying out a rough blueprint for the story. Again, some of it is very recognizable: Bill and Ted philosophizing with ancient Greeks and messing with their own recent past, for example.

But there are plenty of surprises, too. In the original idea, Bill and Ted’s schoolmates would have played a larger role in the story. One idea had them bringing Randolph and his football jock friends — bullies, from the sound of it — to ancient Egypt and then getting stuck there with no gas.

Other story points would have seen the guys visit Caesar in his palace, and in the process inadvertently causing his death, then making a speech to the Senate. Another idea would have deposited the van on the deck of the Titanic in what surely would have been an epic “car destroys all the things” scene.

They also would have traveled back to the stone age at one point, befriending a caveman in the process. That would have led to them using the ancient human’s fire to light a joint. After that, they were all going to play charades. L-O-L.

I love this. It’s so rare that we get to see the genesis of big ideas, especially ones that have been around for so long and become such an integral part of our pop culture experience. Kudos to Solomon for preserving these papers, and for sharing them with the world in this way.

The Front Runner

type

Movie

Genre

Drama, Biography

release date

11/07/18

performer

Hugh Jackman, Vera Farmiga, J.K. Simmons

director

Jason Reitman

We gave it a C+

These days, a politician having an extramarital affair isn’t exactly the dealbreaker it was not all that long ago. No matter which side of the political spectrum you fall on, the fact is that in the past 25 years your party has successfully put a man into the Oval Office who was an alleged cheater. The press used to make a practice of keeping the extracurricular activities of politicians hidden, but you could argue that the media’s ink-stained wall of silence finally crumbled in 1988 when Gary Hart was running for president.

Hart’s meteoric rise to the national stage and his swift, sordid fall from grace is the story at the center of director Jason Reitman’s solid but slightly disappointing new film, The Front Runner, which premiered this weekend at the Telluride Film Festival. Hart’s journey from being a once-promising progressive Colorado senator and shoe-in for the Democratic nomination, bound to take on Ronald Reagan’s then-vice president, George H.W. Bush, may seem like old news to some, but it’s proof that the more things change the more they stay the same.

Hugh Jackman, underneath the thick, shaggy head of hair that no doubt helped turn Hart into a media darling, plays Hart, even if he doesn’t look much like him. Some will surely have a hard time in the first five minutes of the film, thinking that the resemblance between the star and the real-life politician isn’t very close. But that’s a challenge that’s been overcome before. After all, Anthony Hopkins pulled it off in Nixon, and John Travolta was great as the thinly veiled Bill Clinton of Primary Colors.

RELATED: Why Jason Reitman wanted Hugh Jackman to play Gary Hart in The Front Runner

As the film starts, we see Jackman’s Hart conceding his run for the Democratic nomination in 1984 to Walter Mondale. But while Hart may have lost the battle, his campaign manager, Bill Dixon (played by a delightfully cranky J.K. Simmons), tells his strategists he’s won the war: After getting crushed by Reagan, Mondale’s career will be toast. Hart will then have 1988 sewn up. Jump ahead four years, and Hart is a man on a mission. It doesn’t hurt that he has charisma to burn, big ideas, and a gift for talking straight with both voters and the press. On a charisma scale with 1 being Wolverine and 10 being P.T. Barnum in The Greatest Showman, he’s at least an 8. Unfortunately, he also seems to have a wandering eye that will eventually get him into trouble.

Hart was not a man without ego. Nor was he a man without a seducer’s charm. He was a politician, after all. Combine those two things and you get something like what happened on the Monkey Business. The Monkey Business was a Miami-docked yacht on which Hart, a married man, took an ill-advised trip where he met a young woman named Donna Rice (Sara Paxton). There isn’t a lot of backstory in The Front Runner about the reasons Hart was there in the first place, just that Hart and Rice hit it off and an affair began.

Jackman is one of those rare actors who not only can do just about anything, but he also has a gift in that he can sell you anything with a smile pressed on his face. Still, I’m not sure I ever really bought him as Hart, despite a few tremendous flashes of anger and hurt when his affair comes to light. I think that’s because the film’s writers (which in addition to Reitman include Matt Bai and Jay Carson) have turned him into one of the least interesting characters in his own film. The best moments in the movie more often than not have almost nothing to do with Hart at all, they revolve around the rat-a-tat, Aaron Sorkin-esque volleys of screwball dialogue dripping with arsenic sarcasm that come from Hart’s campaign staff and the press. The problem is, it’s sub-Sorkin Sorkin. And its occasional hints at the more enlightened #MeToo era of discourse in our lives now are too on-the-nose, and feel about as subtle as a jackhammer.

The strong and sprawling supporting cast — Alfred Molina, Molly Ephraim, Kevin Pollack, Alex Karpovsky, and Mamoudou Athie are standouts — gives the movie its snap, crackle, and pop, and its sharpest observations. But too often even that snap, crackle, and pop feels like it’s been sitting in a bowl of milk too long. As Hart’s long-suffering and publicly humiliated wife, Vera Farmiga does what she can with not very much. At least, not very much that we haven’t seen dozens of times before in movies and on TV. Kaitlyn Dever is equally appealing as Hart’s daughter, albeit with an even thinner part.

What The Front Runner seems to want to ask is whether Hart’s fall was the fault of Gary Hart, the press, or the rest of us who ate the sex scandal up. But it doesn’t answer that question with anything that feels nuanced, new, or particularly revelatory (Reitman lands on the press, by the way, who are mostly made to look like mouth-breathing stooges). There’s no denying that Hart was his own worst enemy — too proud, with too much self-regard, and too naïve about the ways in which America was changing (when, as a man running for president, he should have theoretically known better than anyone). But The Front Runner has a lot of sympathy for him. Maybe more than it should. Twenty years ago in Primary Colors, Mike Nichols tackled an almost identical topic, but his film had much more on its mind about the sausage-making realities of retail politics, the electoral process, and the early days of tabloid mania — and in much more granular detail — than this one does. Actually, here’s a suggestion: Watch that movie instead. C+

Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press
Published 1:00 p.m. ET Sept. 2, 2018 | Updated 2:46 p.m. ET Sept. 2, 2018

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The cast of “Crazy Rich Asians” gathers around the dinner table to talk about their favorite dishes growing up.
USA TODAY

LOS ANGELES – “Crazy Rich Asians” isn’t slowing down at the box office, even in its third weekend in theaters.

Studios on Sunday say the romantic comedy, based on the books by Kevin Kwan, has topped the domestic charts again. The film added an estimated $22.2 million through Sunday, down only 10 percent from last weekend. To date, the film has grossed nearly $111 million from North American theaters, passing the lifetime domestic total of 2015’s Amy Schumer’s “Trainwreck,” one of the last big studio rom-com success stories.

Should the pace hold through Monday, “Crazy Rich Asians” could also have one of the biggest Labor Day weekends ever. The existing four-day Labor Day record sits with 2007’s “Halloween” which opened with $30.6 million. Some are projecting that “Crazy Rich Asians” could hit $30 million.

Opinion: Why ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ made me cry

Review: Spectacular ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ clinches a win for Hollywood representation

More ‘Crazy Rich Asians’: The 5 biggest book-to-movie changes

“Crazy Rich Asians” easily won out over the holdovers and a few newcomers. The Nazi war crime film “Operation Finale,” starring Oscar Isaac, made its debut in fourth place with $6 million. The sci-fi thriller “Kin,” with Zoe Kravitz and Dennis Quaid, opened poorly with $3 million.

“The Meg” took second place with an additional $10.5 million, bringing its global total to $462.8 million. “Mission: Impossible — Fallout,” in its fifth weekend, added $7 million for a third-place finish.

And the John Cho-led computer screen mystery “Searching” performed better than expected in its expansion to 1,200 screens, bringing in an estimated $5.7 million through Sunday and rounding out the top five.

“Pretty much every summer ends with a whimper … that’s very typical,” says comScore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian. “But this is going to be a very strong Labor Day weekend.”

The weekend closes out the fruitful 2018 summer movie season. Box-office tracker comScore is projecting that the summer box office will net out with around $4.39 billion, up more than 14 percent from last year when the summer didn’t even hit $4 billion. Year to date, the box office is up 9.9 percent.

The success of “Crazy Rich Asians’” also propelled an especially lucrative August, up almost 30 percent from last year. But September is likely to take a bit of a hit, Dergarabedian warns.

“We’re going to see a downturn in the year-to-date advantage. Last year ‘It’ propelled a record-breaking September,” he says. “I don’t think there’s anything of that magnitude this September.”

Final numbers are expected Tuesday.

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Defending champion Rafael Nadal’s progress into the US Open quarter-finals was far from smooth as he needed four sets to beat unseeded Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili.

The 32-year-old Spaniard led by two sets to love before Basilashvili, ranked 37th in the world, recovered to take a third-set tie-break.

But the top seed broke twice as Basilashvili faded physically in the fourth to win 6-3 6-3 6-7 (6-8) 6-4.

He faces ninth seed Dominic Thiem next.

Nadal has reached at least the quarter-finals in all four Grand Slams the year – the first time he has achieved the feat since 2011.

Austria’s Thiem knocked out South African fifth seed Kevin Anderson – the man who lost in the final to Nadal at Flushing Meadows last year – in three sets earlier on Sunday.

For Thiem, Tuesday’s quarter-final offers a chance to avenge a defeat by Nadal in his first Grand Slam final at June’s French Open.

How much has Nadal got in the tank?

Nadal had to dig deep to beat powerful Russian Karen Khachanov in the third round, fighting back from a set and a break down – also overcoming a slight knee injury – to win one of the most thrilling matches of this year’s tournament so far.

Two days later Nadal, who played without any strapping on his right knee, needed another three hours 19 minutes to overcome Basilashvili.

“I’ve had tough matches in a row,” said Nadal, who is chasing an 18th Grand Slam title. “This was a physical one but I feel good.”

After needing four hours and 23 minutes to beat Khachanov, it means Nadal has spent more than seven-and-a-half hours on court and could face a physical encounter against another heavy hitter in Thiem.

“It’ll be a tough one against Thiem. He hits the ball strong and has a big serve,” Nadal added.

Nadal tested again by improved Basilashvili

The problems Nadal faced came virtually out of nowhere.

The three-time US Open champion cruised into a two-set lead in little over an hour – ominous signs for Basilashvili, who had won one game against Nadal in their only previous meeting at the 2017 French Open.

This time, the 26-year-old Georgian coped much better with the intensity of facing one of the world’s greats.

Basilashvili’s approach was all or nothing against the world number one, although unforced errors outstripped winners in the opening two sets before he began to find his range in the third.

Twenty-three winners from his racquet forced Nadal to face some uncomfortable moments.

Despite fatigue appearing to kick in before the breaker, Basilashvili found some energy reserves to outfight his illustrious opponent and take the match further.

“He was hitting the ball very strong, it felt like I wasn’t controlling the points,” Nadal said.

However, Basilashvili could not maintain this level in the fourth set as Nadal broke for a 4-3 lead which he would not relinquish.

Novi, US – At the Michigan State Fair in Novi, about a 35-minute drive northwest of Detroit, ask any woman what she thinks of US President Donald Trump and opinions are mixed.

“Disappointing,” says Alice Lashbrook, 44, a school principal who isn’t affiliated with either the Republicans or the Democrats.

“I think he has a personal agenda to advance himself personally at whatever cost.”

But Erica Huston, 39, a registered Republican and Trump supporter disagrees. “I think he puts up with too much crap,” she says. “I think he’s doing amazing as a president.” 

It’s Labour Day weekend across the United States, which culminates in a holiday on Monday for most Americans.

But for politicians, it’s typically the time they launch their final surge of their campaigns – especially this year, with about two months to go before midterm elections.

Still, the current cycle already looks a lot different. A record number of women are running for Congress.

“There’s an old saying in politics that says if you’re not at the table you’re typically on the menu,” says Lara Brown, director of the Graduate School of Political Management at the George Washington University. 

“I think women feel that it’s time for them to have a seat at the table.”

‘He needs to clean up his mouth and his Twitter”

On November 6, Americans go to the polls to decide the fate of Congress.

Trump’s Republican Party currently controls both the House of Representatives and the Senate. But with one third of the Senate seats and all of the House of Representative seats up for election, Republicans will need all the support they can get to maintain control.

More importantly, the president will need all the Republicans he can get to head off any Congressional attempts to investigate him and his White House any further. Trump is already under a microscope as the FBI investigates his campaign’s ties to the Russian government during the 2016 presidential election. Five people, three of them with ties to his campaign, have already pleaded guilty in the probe. On August 21, Paul Manafort, Trump’s campaign manager, was found guilty on eight counts of financial fraud.

History is not on Trump’s side. The governing party has maintained both chambers in a midterm election only twice in the past century.

So, women could play a big role in the president’s future. A recent ABC News-Washington Post poll shows 57 percent of female voters want Congress to impeach Trump, compared with 40 percent of men.

Currently, there are a record 251 women running for a seat in the US House of Representatives, according to Rutgers University’s Center for American Women and Politics. The overwhelming majority of them are running in opposition to Trump’s Republican Party, as Democrats.

Among them is first-time candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who shocked the Democratic establishment in June by upsetting longtime congressman Joe Crowley in the primary, as well as Democrats Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar who will be the first Muslim women ever to hold a seat when they are sworn in to the House of Representatives next year.

Tlaib once called Trump’s election “very painful” for women.

Trump’s uneasy relationship with women is well-documented. In 2016, his presidential bid was rocked by a leaked audio recording on which he was heard bragging about sexual assault. It was the only time Trump apologised publicly for something he said. He is still accused by at least 19 women of sexual misconduct.

Still, many women in the US aren’t bothered by those accusations.

“He needs to clean up his mouth and his Twitter,” says Chris Shively, 57, a Michigan voter who backed Trump in 2016. “But I respect the office more with him in there and trying to get around all the crap that’s been going on.”

Huston agrees. “Everybody makes mistakes in their life,” she says. “Nobody’s perfect but God and he’s [Trump’s] made his mistakes as everybody else who’s human has.”

‘Prove Trump wrong’

Although the increase in female participation follows a 30-year trend, Trump is one of the biggest reasons in this year’s candidate surge, according to Brown, from the Graduate School of Political Management.

“There’s this longtime sense that President Trump has not cared about women, has not spoken to women, has denigrated women,” she says. “So I think that there are women on the Democratic side of the aisle who are wanting to prove him wrong.”

Alexandra De Luca, press secretary for Emily’s List, an advocacy group supporting Democratic female candidates, agrees.

She argues Trump, coupled with the #MeToo movement where women began speaking more openly about sexual harassment and assault by powerful men, has given many people the confidence to step into the political arena.

“Women don’t traditionally raise their hand and say they want to run,” says De Luca. “Men look in the mirror and they see a Congressman.”

That changed after Trump’s election, De Luca says. In the month following his victory, she says they had 1,000 women sign up for training.

“We realised we had tapped into something,” De Luca adds. Since then, Emily’s List says they’ve had 40,000 women approach them. The vast majority of them are involved in local or state politics.

Gallup polling shows that while Trump’s support among female voters has fluctuated, it hovers around 37 percent.  

Women continue to attend his rallies and events which have been packed to the rafters, evidenced recently in Evansville, Indiana.  

Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, a White House adviser, has appeared more frequently in recent weeks at presidential events in an attempt to appeal to women. “She’s considered by many as a role model and I think she should be,” Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s former campaign manager, told Al Jazeera.

Expect Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara, to be campaigning regularly in the next few months, he adds, in an attempt to motivate female voters.

Republican women could make history, too. In both Arizona and Tennessee, states that have never had a female Senator, Martha McSally and Marsha Blackburn are running to fill an open seat.

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Thirteen KKK members cooked hot dogs, gave poorly-heard speeches as hundreds protest them in Madison, Indiana.
Matt Stone, Louisville Courier Journal

MADISON, Ind.— A Ku Klux Klan “kookout” at a park along the Ohio River Saturday drew hundreds of protesters carrying signs, giving speeches and heckling the Klan members themselves. 

The roughly 300 protesters who vastly outnumbered 20 or so people attending the two-hour KKK event in Jaycee Park appeared split on how best to counter the racist group. One element spoke about the need to fight darkness and hate with light, before turning their backs and marching to a separate park.

“There’s no place for hatred in this community,” said Hanover College student Nick Vaughn, who called for peace, love and understanding, as well as a “tactful” approach.

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But others faced the “kookout” head-on, hurling insults and chants from across a barrier — at times riling up some KKK members, through the small group largely seemed disinterested in engaging with protesters beyond chanting “white power” in response.

Previously: Anti-ICE rally surges in face of ‘patriot’ militia group counterprotest

Though Madison has drawn similar rallies in the past, this was the first such event for the Southern Indiana community since a white power rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, last year left a counter-protester dead and made international headlines. A heavy police presence on Saturday and the closure of a street bordering the river reflected concern about safety in Madison.

“We may not agree with the message, but people — all people — have a right to protest,” said Jefferson County Sheriff John Wallace.

More than 30 officers from his department, Indiana State Police, Madison Police and the Indiana Conservation Office monitored the scene on Saturday.

The officers looked on, but took no significant action, as some protesters and KKK members came face-to-face from across a fence, yelling curses and shouting at one another but avoiding physical contact. 

The event was an effort for the Honorable Sacred Knights, a KKK chapter that claims members in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, to spread its message and drum up new members.

In that, the group’s leader said he saw success. About eight newcomers joined 13 members, many of whom wore bandannas, hats and sunglasses to conceal their faces but donned vests with KKK symbols, for soda and hot dogs under a picnic shelter. 

In order to access the picnic space, people were asked to express support for KKK ideology, which self-identified Imperial Wizard Derek Noble called an effort for people to keep themselves safe. 

“I’m not going to let the ones that are screaming obscenities come over here to set here and break bread with us,” Noble said. “… We don’t care about the protesters. We’re just peacefully sitting at a public park. … Changing their minds is as impossible as changing our minds.” 

‘It’s traumatic’: Louisville residents, officials rally after violence in Charlottesville

The protest was blown out of proportion, Noble said, as the event wasn’t intended to be a publicity stunt. News that the KKK had reserved the shelter had spread across social media along with a photo of the KKK “kookout” flier, which Noble said wasn’t intended to spark a protest. 

At about 3 p.m., Klan members packed up their flags — one American flag, one reading “Don’t tread on me” and one bearing the KKK insignia — and departed the park. Police formed a line to prevent protesters from swarming cars as the “kookout” attendees dispersed. 

The Ku Klux Klan has appeared in Madison a few times in recent years, though past events were held by different chapters, Noble said. When asked why Madison was chosen as the location, he cited the town’s drug problems, which he blamed on minority groups. Plus, he added, the town about 50 miles northeast of Louisville is a central meeting spot for several members. 

Madison Mayor Damon Welch couldn’t be reached for comment Saturday, but city officials previously said they were developing a plan to avoid injuries. 

“Our goal is to make sure everybody’s safe, has the ability to speak with what they want to say and that all of our other events won’t be impacted,” said Andrew Forrester, Madison’s community relations director. 

The park near the Ohio River Bridge is just blocks away from the town’s historic downtown business district, where one sign read, “Help me not despise or oppose what I don’t understand,” in an apparent reference to the Klan. 

The Rev. Forrest Gilmore, a protester who traveled to Madison with about a dozen others from Bloomington, Indiana, said it was worth the two-hour trek to stand up to white supremacy and racism. 

“It’s an important statement: the ideology is un-American, it’s un-Christian,” Gilmore said, clutching a sign that read, “God loves everyone (but is really mad at RACISTS!!)” 

Meanwhile, Albert Running Wolf Ortiz, co-chairman an American Indian Movement chapter that includes members in Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio, called for protesters to pray for the KKK members, adding that “peace is what we want.”

Opinion: Calling out white supremacy does not make us heroes

And Tony Davis, an Indianapolis resident, made several attempts to engage one of the more outspoken KKK members in conversation. He and a man who identified himself as Jack Noble, a “nighthawk” security monitor with the Honorable Sacred Knights, spoke briefly and shook hands. 

Davis said he doesn’t agree with the KKK’s message and said the group has a “fragmented understanding” of history, but it is important to try a civilized approach.

Changing their minds won’t happen through yelling, he added.

“If we keep this up, all we do is stay divided. We’re never going to solve the issues out here,” Davis said. “…We’re so divided, and that’s why we can’t get past this hate and (make) progress. Real progress.” 

Darcy Costello: 502-582-4834; dcostello@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @dctello. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: https://ift.tt/2BY3VIE.

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Rob Tibbetts, Guest columnist
Published 3:37 p.m. CT Sept. 1, 2018 | Updated 5:12 p.m. CT Sept. 1, 2018

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Never one to seek attention, father Rob Tibbetts says his daughter Mollie Tibbetts has an ability to connect with everyone she meets.
Luke Nozicka, lnozicka@dmreg.com

Mollie was nobody’s victim. Nor is she a pawn in others’ debate

Ten days ago, we learned that Mollie would not be coming home. Shattered, my family set out to celebrate Mollie’s extraordinary life and chose to share our sorrow in private. At the outset, politicians and pundits used Mollie’s death to promote various political agendas. We appealed to them and they graciously stopped. For that, we are grateful.

Sadly, others have ignored our request. They have instead chosen to callously distort and corrupt Mollie’s tragic death to advance a cause she vehemently opposed. I encourage the debate on immigration; there is great merit in its reasonable outcome. But do not appropriate Mollie’s soul in advancing views she believed were profoundly racist. The act grievously extends the crime that stole Mollie from our family and is, to quote Donald Trump Jr., “heartless” and “despicable.”

RELATED: Tibbetts’ father says daughter would not want to be face of immigration debate

Make no mistake, Mollie was my daughter and my best friend. At her eulogy, I said Mollie was nobody’s victim. Nor is she a pawn in others’ debate. She may not be able to speak for herself, but I can and will. Please leave us out of your debate. Allow us to grieve in privacy and with dignity. At long last, show some decency. On behalf of my family and Mollie’s memory, I’m imploring you to stop.

Throughout this ordeal I’ve asked myself, “What would Mollie do?” As I write this, I am watching Sen. John McCain lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda and know that evil will succeed only if good people do nothing. Both Mollie and Senator McCain were good people. I know that both would stand up now and do something.

The person who is accused of taking Mollie’s life is no more a reflection of the Hispanic community as white supremacists are of all white people. To suggest otherwise is a lie. Justice in my America is blind. This person will receive a fair trial, as it should be. If convicted, he will face the consequences society has set. Beyond that, he deserves no more attention.   

To the Hispanic community, my family stands with you and offers its heartfelt apology. That you’ve been beset by the circumstances of Mollie’s death is wrong. We treasure the contribution you bring to the American tapestry in all its color and melody. And yes, we love your food.

My stepdaughter, whom Mollie loved so dearly, is Latina. Her sons — Mollie’s cherished nephews and my grandchildren — are Latino. That means I am Hispanic. I am African. I am Asian. I am European. My blood runs from every corner of the Earth because I am American. As an American, I have one tenet: to respect every citizen of the world and actively engage in the ongoing pursuit to form a more perfect union.

Given that, to knowingly foment discord among races is a disgrace to our flag. It incites fear in innocent communities and lends legitimacy to the darkest, most hate-filled corners of the American soul. It is the opposite of leadership. It is the opposite of humanity. It is heartless. It is despicable. It is shameful.

We have the opportunity now to take heed of the lessons that Mollie, John McCain and Aretha Franklin taught — humanity, fairness and courage. For most of the summer, the search for Mollie brought this nation together like no other pursuit. There was a common national will that did transcend opinion, race, gender and geography. Let’s not lose sight of that miracle. Let’s not lose sight of Mollie.

Instead, let’s turn against racism in all its ugly manifestations both subtle and overt. Let’s turn toward each other with all the compassion we gave Mollie. Let’s listen, not shout. Let’s build bridges, not walls. Let’s celebrate our diversity rather than argue over our differences. I can tell you, when you’ve lost your best friend, differences are petty and meaningless.

My family remains eternally grateful to all those who adopted Mollie so completely and showered us with so much care, compassion and generosity. Please accept our desire to remain private as we share our loss. We love Mollie with all our hearts and miss her terribly. We need time. 

Rob Tibbetts is the father of Mollie Tibbetts.

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