Donald Trump, the Football and the Biscuit

Donald Trump's bullying tactics that he had used to great effect to take the Republican nomination against a pack of 16 others despite the Party being opposed to him has finally hit a dead end. Hillary Clinton has already widened her gap with the Republican candidate by double digits. Hillary Clinton has 49 per cent against Donald Trump's 39 per cent in the latest Fox news polls with many other polls showing bigger gaps.
The Republican Party could have spared itself from getting seriously worried about Hillary Clinton's lead even though it is more than its comfort zone because, with nearly 100 days left until the election, time is not against it to catch up. Normally, both political parties gain a few percentage points after their respective Conventions. The Republican Party could have explained to itself Hillary Clinton's good showing in the polls as the outcome of the Democratic Party's successful Convention and move ahead.
But the widening gap is not the major worry of the Republican Party. Donald Trump has finally landed himself and the Party into a black hole that many, even some in the Republican Party itself, had expected all along. But, the Party bullied by the candidate did not dare to confront him earlier to stop him from winning the ticket. Donald Trump did not just bully his way to the top of the Republican Party, on the way he insulted some of the crucial groups that would decide the fate of the election, as for instance, the Hispanics/Latin voters and women.
The Republican Party leadership did not confront Donald Trump because it had hoped that once he became the nominee, he would sober down and reach out beyond his narrow base of extreme right and white blue-collar workers towards the national constituencies. The leadership had also hoped that he would extend his hand to the Party after becoming the candidate as they thought it inconceivable that a candidate could hope to win a presidential election by insulting and bullying his own Party leaders and telling them to submit to him or to get lost.
The Republican Party in dismay found that their hopes were totally misplaced because Donald Trump is more than a bully. They also realised what President Obama had pointed out in his speech at the Democratic Convention - that Donald Trump is neither a Republican nor a conservative. Perhaps the Party could still have found some ways to adjust with Donald Trump had he not picked the feud with the Gold Star parents Khizr Khan and his wife Ghazala Khan whose son Captain Humayun Khan was killed in Iraq in 2004 and the way he handled it thereafter. (Parents who have lost a son/daughter fighting for the USA are proudly referred to a Gold Star parents).
Khizr Khan had in his powerful statement at the Democratic Convention said certain things about Donald Trump that he should not have. He questioned Donald Trump's sacrifice for his country and also further questioned if he had read the Constitution. But for someone seeking the highest political office who had insulted everyone or every group he wanted or felt would be helpful for his objectives, Donald Trump did not show the minimum of tolerance. He also did not show decency by the way he insulted Khizr Khan's wife. He also failed to realise the consequences of insulting individuals proudly respected by all Americans on a bipartisan basis.
Instead as he has done ever since he entered the race, Donald Trump chose to bully and insult the Gold Star parents instead of giving himself some time to respond to Khizr Khan's accusations. If he had done that without the insults, he may even have scored some points. But Khizr Khan had touched Donald Trump's narcissist character and humungous ego and exposed the worst in his character, his knack for insulting people at will over which he has no control. In the process, he also exposed his utter lack of temperament to lead the country together with his bullying nature and cruel and insulting ways towards Gold Star parents.
The feud shocked the nation and angered his own party leaders whom he had already bullied and insulted beyond limits. Thus not one of these leaders uttered one word to defend him. Many were openly critical of him and ashamed of what he had done. Sally Bradshaw, a leading Republican from Florida, in disgust left the Party. The reasons she gave for her decision were significant because in these she has articulated the dangers for America in electing Donald Trump. She said that the Republican Party is " at a crossroads and have nominated a total narcissist -- a misogynist -- a bigot." She further added: "This is a time when country has to take priority over political parties. Donald Trump cannot be elected president."
It is obvious to almost everyone in the country that Donald Trump has hit political dynamite with the Khans - to everyone except Donald Trump and his inner circle, of course. When it required calm and intelligent response for managing the devastating consequences, his campaign team went to ABC's George Stephanopoulos for damage control. That was like sending the lamb to the slaughterhouse. George Stephanopoulos, once a top aide of President Bill Clinton, clinically destroyed Donald Trump, the candidate.
George Stephanopoulos encouraged Donald Trump to equate his building buildings and creating jobs to Gazala Khan's sacrificing her son for the service of the nation. He trapped Donald Trump to insult Gazala Khan more, describing her as someone dumb who has no views. And George Stephanopoulos finally led Donald Trump up the garden path into foreign affairs where he exposed him as one who did not even know that the Russians had invaded Ukraine in 2014 and had annexed Crimea!
The post-Khizr Khan-Donald Trump feud has brought American voters face-to-face with the question whether they could have some one as President with such lack of temperament and other negative character traits with the Football and the Biscuit. The Football is the code name for the 45-pound briefcase that contains the country's nuclear codes that remain by the side of the President 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year and one the outgoing President carries to the inaugural of the new President to hand it over to him/her. The Biscuit is code name for the personal identifier that allows the President to open the Football and launch USA's nuclear weapons either to defend the country or as offensive weapons.
In the case of a nuclear attack on the United States, the President's reaction time is six (6) minutes if the attack came from the land of its known nuclear enemies and three (3) minutes, if the attacks were launched from submarines. In using USA's humungous arsenal of nuclear weapons, its fate and with it, the world's, is inexplicably placed in the hands of its President. He alone is empowered to decide to launch US' nuclear weapons because in the three and six minutes he has for response, he has no way to consult anyone else! On his campaign trail, Donald Trump has questioned why the US keeps its nuclear arsenal if it does not use them and has urged Japan and South Korea to go nuclear.
Americans are thus deeply worried about Donald Trump becoming President because of serious doubts about his temperament. His own Party leaders more than others are now exploring ways to replace him. Meanwhile, as polls show the gap between him and Hillary Clinton widening, Donald Trump is totally oblivious of it as he is of the dangerous and developing consequences of his feud with Khizr Khan and his wife. Instead, he has asked his supporters not to believe in the polls because he is leading Hillary Clinton by substantial numbers and that the Party has never been so united as it is now - the claims that are raising questions in many minds if he is "plain crazy".
As if he has sensed his future in the polls, Donald Trump has asked his supporters in a recent rally to be prepared for massive vote rigging against him. This raving only enhanced the concern in the country over the prospects of the Football and the Biscuit being in the possession of such a person if he ever became the President.
The writer is a retired Ambassador.
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