Titanic Blunder

   The latest storm of criticism over the candidate's attacks on those who criticize him is leading more Republicans to abandon Donald Trump.
   So many, in fact, that one wonders whether this will leave the nominee adrift on his own sinking ship.
   Is it possible, then, that the party could withdraw the nomination of Trump as its candidate to be President of the United States in a desperate attempt to save the Grand Old Party?
   The storm intensified over the weekend as Trump continued to lash out at the Muslim parents of an American Army captain killed in Iraq. In a speech at the Democratic convention, Khizr Kahn, father of the slain soldier, challenged Trump to list any sacrifice the candidate may have ever made. And Mr. Kahn asked directly whether Trump had ever read the Constitution of the United States. "I would be happy to lend you my copy," Mr. Kahn said as he displayed the copy that he always carries with him.
   Trump's response: "I have been viciously attacked." Later, he added that Mr. Kahn had "no right" to question his knowledge of the Constitution.
   In fact, as a person and as a citizen, Mr. Kahn has every right to question and criticize anyone -- a right that every person is born with, and that the Constitution guarantees.
   So considering this latest blunder, is it likely that the party is over for Republicans in America? Or only for the current candidate?
   Individual leaders and prominent members of the Republican Party can, and many already have, refused to endorse the nominee, and some have come out against him. After the comments of the past two days, more have repudiated Trump, notably Sen. John McCain of Arizona who was a prisoner of war in Viet Nam and who was called "not a war hero, because he was captured. I like people that weren't captured."
   Sen. McCain pointed out that being the party's nominee does not give him "an unfettered license to defame those who are the best among us."
   Soon, the head of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) said his group would not tolerate "anyone berating a Gold Star family member for exercising his or her right of speech or expression."
   Even before this latest collision, many prominent Republicans have refused to get on board the Trump ship. The Bush family, with two former Presidents and a Presidential candidate, did not attend the GOP convention in Cleveland. Nor did John Kasich, another contender and the current governor of the host state of Ohio. 
   The puzzle for many Republicans now is to decide whether to continue to support Trump or to cancel the nomination.
   Can it happen? Probably not, since a political party is a private club that can set its own rules. Moreover, once a nomination is made, unless the club has a rule in place to deal with a cancellation, the candidate is not likely to give it up.
   The only alternative, then, would be for other members to leave the clubhouse.
   And that would mean the end of the Republican Party as we know it.