It is All a Debate of Dates (Part II)

Part 1

 

The Arabs refuse to recognize anything anywhere in the world where their feet have tread should ever be ruled by any others and must remain an Arab Waqf for all eternity. This is why in many Arab countries a map of the world does not contain the nation of Spain and instead shows a nation named Andalusia. This name was what the Moors who conquered Spain used to name that area and that was the name until 1492 when Ferdinand and Isabella who reconquered Spain for the Church and initiated the infamous Inquisition. This warring between Christianity and Islam had continued for centuries with the most famous were the Crusades to return the Holy Lands for Christianity with their emphasis on Jerusalem and secondary targets of Nazareth and Bethlehem. The Muslim conquests had reached from Spain into France being turned at the battle of Tours. The invasions in Eastern Europe reached Vienna twice where the Muslims were turned back and the Ottomans returned eventually retreating back into what is today Turkey. World War I brought an end to the Ottoman Empire and in a number of first ever treaties the lands were turned over to rule other than that of the conquerors with most returned to what were believed to be the indigenous peoples. The most striking was the reestablishment of the Jewish State in its ancient homelands. These new nations were to be guided by Mandates assigned to the European allied victors of World War I.

 

Also redrawn were the borders of Eastern Europe with Germany and the Austria-Hungarian Empire being broken into new nations and borders adjusted with the allies and their defeated ally Poland gaining area at the cost of Germany and the Austria-Hungarian Empire. The Arab claims that the Europeans after World War I crippled and altered the Arab world while leaving Europe unchanged is not a valid claim and the reason the Arab world appeared to be more altered was the area of the Ottoman Empire compared to the Austria-Hungarian and German lands combined. The alterations in both lands were relatively equal in their depth and altering of influences. In Europe they set the ground for the remilitarization of Germany and World War II. The problems in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) was caused largely because each of the nations drawn on the map placed several tribes within the same borders and even cut some groups such that their peoples were spread amongst several nations. Probably the biggest losers from these borders were the Kurdish People who, despite being promised their own lands of Kurdistan, they were cheated and their tribes spread between Iran, Turkey, Iraq and the former (and potentially future) Syria. This has caused great amounts of friction especially with Turkey and Iraq where the Kurds were often targeted by their own governments. The Kurds in Syria have been facing an extermination assault by Turkey on top of fighting the Islamic State as well as other independent units and the Syrian government and allies. When reading about the Kurds it often appears that like Israel these people are also fighting the entire world with the main difference is at least the United Nations ignored the Kurds.

 

According to the Arab history of the world there was nothing before Islam. There were no great empires of Persia, Greece, Rome, Babylon and so forth. All these lands came into history upon their conquest by the Arabs and Islam. All the former and undeniable peoples from the bible were all Muslims. This may appear to be an anachronistic view of the world but the way this is established is that Allah founded the universe and gave Adam the perfect faith, Islam and when Abraham was to sacrifice his son, that son was Ishmael and there is little if any mention of Isaak. Abraham was a Muslim, Moses was a Muslim and the Torah he wrote was really the first writing of something resembling the Quran but the Jews altered the writings given them by Moses corrupting it and the Christians took that and corrupted it further all to such an extent that Allah had to provide the original all over again to Muhammad. Thus Islam is the only true religion and thus has been promised to be given the entirety of Earth to rule as the only ones who have truth. This is the reality under which the Arab Muslims perceive the world and insist this is the truth and their truth must be the only truth. Anybody who refuses to accept their truth is a heretic and under Islam such a blasphemer needs to be silenced by all and any means necessary. All of this comes to a head over Israel and the focus of Arab war with the developed world and the Western world and culture. Islam had made a number of offences with their first the most successful and is now at the leading edge of their third surge (see map below). This latest offensive is using numerous efforts including warfare, terrorism, infiltration (refugees) and using democracy against itself and the equality and protections of religion to spread political Islam. Until Western nations realize that Islam is a religious-political system where the political Islam supremacy is hidden within a religion where it retreats whenever challenged demanding their religion be respected and pressing those who propose to tell the truth are then attacked as Islamophobic and thus ridiculed as anti-religious or bigoted haters. Thusfar their methods have been working exactly as they planned and will continue until either the Western World succumbs or wakes up and treats Islam as a political supremacist totalitarian system threatening the developed world.

 

Islamic Expansion

 

Concerning Israel, the Arabs have directed their main efforts on the heart of Israel realizing that Israel is the tip of the defense of Western World civilization. To target Israel they are aiming for the heart of Israel which is Jerusalem and targeting the beating heart of Jerusalem, the Temple Mount and Old City all of which is all encompassed in Eastern Jerusalem and thus beyond the Green Line. But what is this Green Line and why is it so important? The Green Line is the line between the IDF and the Arab forces on the Jordanian front at noon of the final day of hostilities. This was an Armistice Line and the Arab League at that time insisted that the Green Line was only to be the demarcation of the end of fighting and never, ever, ever to be considered as a border nor was it to be even used to form or delineate in negotiations a border and Israel was never to have an eastern border. The reasoning was that as long as Israel was denied any of its borders it would not be a real nation and thus the Arab world could maintain that Israel was not a nation and did not exist and was really just part of southern Syria. The Arabs reject the Mandates as having been legal and claim that the Europeans were the longest and most vile colonialists in all of MENA. What they are ignoring is the fifteen-hundred-years of Arab colonialism which continues to this day. The Europeans began any colonialist possession of the areas of MENA during and after World War I in 1914 through 1917 and then took responsibility for nation building as these areas were under Arab and then Ottoman dictatorial rule since the latest around the year 700 up through 1914, 1200 years, and have returned to Arab control as these nations were released from European influences (see map below). Judging from the longest colonial possession by Europeans of MENA lands hangs around half a century with most far less. The biggest lie about European colonies in the MENA lands is that Israel is a European colony, the big lie.

 

Dates that the MENA nations received their independence after colonial rule many since the times of the Persians or even earlier

 

The truth is there is no evidence from the population statistics of Israel by which one can prove it to be a European colony. Approximately forty percent of the Israeli population comes from the MENA nations that forced the vast majority of their Jewish population from within their borders, some with the belief that they could drown Israel with these destitute refugees who were denied their wealth as their valuables and monies were confiscated before they were allowed to depart. Often they were limited to one or two suitcases per person and these suitcases were all inspected for anything of value or desirability. Over half of Israeli population is constituted from non-Europeans within other than MENA Jews there are the Menashe from India, the Ethiopian Jews and many others. Lastly, of the non-Mena populations the largest single population is from the former Soviet Union. The claims are that Israel is made up of Jews from the Concentration Camp survivors that the Nazis did not murder and that they are destined to complete the work of the Nazis.

 

Let us go to the reality for a moment as we have been reporting so much of the strange and untrue, well, a lot of untrue mixed with sufficient truth to make everything have just that taste of the possible. Much of the rest is accepted largely on the mistrust of Jews or outright anti-Semitism. Before the year 600 the Arabs resided almost exclusively along the coasts of the Arabic Peninsula. They were idolaters and Islam was not yet an idea emerging from Muhammad’s experiences in that cave. Meanwhile, the Jews had survived their experiences in Egypt and were led by Moses into the desert where for forty years they prepared the population for becoming a nation and to conquer the Promised Land. Moses led them to the Jordan River and from there Joshua led the assault into the Promised Land. First Jericho then Ai and onto the remainder of the lands (see map below). The conquest took longer than a single lifetime and culminated with King David and King Solomon centered around the year 1000 BCE (see map below). By the time of King David and King Solomon all the Canaanite tribes were defeated and the Israelite enemies now were Greeks, Egyptian and Babylonians. The Israelites were driven from their lands twice, the first by the Babylonians and the second by Alexander the Great and his Greek armies. From that second conquest there came the Roman rule which executed what they considered to be the deathblow being delivered to the Israelites, who by this time were merely called Judeans which eventually became Jew. The punishment the Romans delivered was the scattering of the Judeans (Jews) throughout their Empire and even banishing many Jews to beyond their frontiers expecting they could never survive. This resulted, over time, with Jews living virtually throughout the world. Meanwhile, many Jews also sought home along Northern Africa to escape Roman brutalities resulting in a sizeable Jewish population being spread throughout North Africa when the Arab forces burst from the Arabian Peninsula and conquered this area. Some Jews even followed this migration into Spain where they met Jews who had been dispersed and reached Spain from the Roman frontiers.

 

Cities Conquered by Joshua as Recounted in Kings
In the Hebrew Bible the Old Testament

 

Eretz Yisroel as formed after the conquests by the Kingdoms of King David and King Solomon; both of whom allowed the Principalities of Edom, Moab and Ammon to be semi-autonomous as long as they and their armies supported Eretz Yisroel

 

The history of the Western Jews and the history of the Jews under Islam had many similarities where the forms of government and names of the rulers were different but the results identical. In Europe the Jews were chased from nation to nation and even from kingships to kingship and baron’s lands to baron’s lands and even from town to town. The plight of the Jew was well told in Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice where the Jew is a moneylender whose client has refused payment. For the rest, read the play or go to the theater for the full story, dinner at 11:00 PM. Jews were permitted a select few professions and were forbidden to own land, what was considered the ultimate sign of wealth. This placed Jews as the initial provisionors and retailers. This would grant the Jews great advantage in a much later time while others were just first reaching the cities where the Jews were already established. The Islamic world was ruled locally in many ways similarly to the European world with the main difference being that the entirety was under the rule of one person who seldom ever visited much of their lands. This left the rule and tax collecting from which they often took a great cut for themselves. Often these local leaders would enact Islam only laws pressing the Christians and Jews to flee with little or nothing more than they could hastily gather and carry. Sometimes these restrictions and persecution were targeting Jews alone; it is so much fun to be the chosen people. The areas under each Sheikh, Emir and other titles whose moniker would change depending on the Caliph and the ruling Islamic branch would each make decisions which affected the non-Muslims, especially the Jews, residing within their territories. The similarities between the lives of Jews under Islam and Christianity were far greater than were the differences as far as the average Jew and their security, or lack thereof. The problem for the Jews is we were seldom permitted weapons when we most would need them and never had the numbers of population to provide ourselves with much hope of protecting ourselves beyond taking flight when trouble brewed. With Israel things are different as now we have equal footing though our numbers are limited, our determination is not and we will not be driven from our lands ever again, and that is our intent.

 

Beyond the Cusp

 

Things We Need Know for After Inauguration

 

The mainstream media does have some useful information if one can stand reading long enough to glean something useful. What one need remember is the mainstream media is also the playbook, play caller, coach, quarterback, message board, megaphone and the best comical future picture painter imaginable for the extreme left and Democrat Party, though we repeat ourselves. Despite great agony and struggling through as many typos and misspelled words, we would like to think even more than we miss here at BTC; these are a few of the items we found.

 

The most important item which has been made clear in so many ways is that the Presidency of Donald Trump will have been the greatest disaster in American history. Once in office, President Donald Trump will have wasted the talent, what little there may be, of his Cabinet and anybody who is worth a plug nickel will have quit within the first six months, if not weeks or days, because they will find they cannot work with such a megalomaniacal dunce whose brightest ideas will be which club to use when playing miniature golf as he will not even be capable of playing real golf as well a President Barack Obama had. The American people will find that they miss having President Obama in the White House with his steady hand guiding the nation through peril after peril while a President Trump will be have been causing peril after peril. The predictions of disasters continued with the statement that President Trump will have started a war with China, Mexico, most of Europe, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, much of South America, possibly Canada and will be in bed with the Russians serving the demands and at the beck and call of Putin and being led around through Russian hackers feeding him information through Twitter posts. These were some of the highlights but there was far more.

 

The Congress will revolt against President Trump as the legislation he sends them will appear to have been written by one of the beauty queens from his pageant days or one of the fired apprentices. Congress will be forced to be the adult in the government and the Democrats are prepared to prevent President Trump from causing any real or serious damage to the standing of the United States in the world. The Democrats will follow through magnificently in their promise to protect the high standards set by President Obama in his dealing in foreign policy. The Democrats will have found many the Republican allies who also understand the need to protect the United States from President Trump and are prepared to block everything sent to Congress by President Trump (this one almost has a ring of validity even we must admit). There will prove to be many Republican lawmakers who will be adult enough to admit their party sent a man-child to do the grown-up job of president and will work to message this childish egomaniac’s feelings of self-worth by stroking his self-image while rewriting any legislation making it work for the people and help those who require government to assist them in managing their lives rather than giving the rich more wealth taken from the backs of the most needy. The idea that the wealthy can be enriched by taking wealth from the most needy has always baffled us as the most needy do not have sufficient wealth to even make the average American wealthier by any actual measure, let alone the wealthy. Of course we realize they really mean giving largess from the government coffers to the wealthiest rather than giving it to the most needy, though the government does appear to do a great amount of both. This can be seen in the fact that many on welfare have a decent apartment with air-conditioning, at least one television, more often than not at least one computer or game console, a microwave, cable television feed, Internet access and most have at least one vehicle. This is about average for a middle class family back in the 1970’s had with obvious changes due to technological advancements. Let us return to what we found in the media, mostly online versions of print media.

 

By the end of President Trump’s first year even the most stalwart Republicans will have fallen in line with bringing impeachment against the President simply out of abject fear he is on track to force the next world war, had proven dangerously reckless with threats of using nuclear weapons and the Joint Chiefs of Staff will have reportedly had to step into the breach and invalidate Presidential orders to launch nuclear missiles. The similarities of the accusation for President Trump once in office to start wars, infuriate adversaries and allies alike and threaten the future existence of the world through madly wild and careless use of nuclear weapons as a threat and actually attempting to launch nuclear missiles to be similar but even more over the top than the predictions made about Ronald Reagan after he won the election and both before and while he was in office. The madness the mainstream media is predicting can only be found in rare old movie plots where somebody goes off their rocker and orders nuclear weapons use such as in the movies “Failsafe” and “Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.” The ever more hyped predictions of doom are only exceeded by the forlorn lamentations over the fact that President Obama is not permitted to continue in office and remold the United States as had the nearly four terms of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. These discussions almost universally then diverge into discussions of how had President Obama run against Donald Trump how Barack Obama would have won in the largest and most humiliating landslide even beyond President Reagan. Some even add how had Bernie Sanders won the primaries, then he too would have cleaned Donald Trump’s clock easily gliding to victory. And then we get the Russians stole the election for Donald Trump and from there we find ourselves back in the Donald Trump will simply be the puppet of Vladimir Putin and he will be the Manchurian Candidate preprogrammed by Russian hackers to do Putin’s bidding. Those Russian hackers are good if they can reprogram people wirelessly, or is it Donald Trump is a Russian built android sent to run the United States for their needs? That is about the only stories not found in the mainstream media, yet.

 

Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

 

With all this, there will be wild speculation on how the world and the nation of the United States will be dependent upon Congress, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and just about every proper-thinking American working tirelessly to protect the nation from the inevitable debacles which will be coming from the White House and raining ruin everywhere if not checked. This presumed future is then compared with the glory which was President Obama who for eight long and challenging years arduously and tirelessly worked to prevent the economic collapse of the world (or was it universe) and prevent ever more wars and so gloriously earned that Nobel Peace Prize and was worthy of so many more honors. We are forewarned how we will be shell-shocked by the bald faced incompetence of the incoming President and how his Cabinet will resemble a three ring circus after the initial appointees realize that President Trump is merely using them as window dressing and targets on which to place the blame when President Trump’s harebrained ideas explode on contact with reality. I guess that hope that things would return to normal with the United States playing a steadying role in the world are simply pipe-dreams as the media has explained in gruesome details. The United States presumably is about to crash and burn under President Trump as compared to the glorious years under President Obama’s tutelage.

 

All this pessimism demands we give our idea as to what is coming after January 20, 2017. Unfortunately, the initial actions of a Trump Presidency are dependent upon what outgoing President Obama does in the next days leading up to noon of Inauguration Day. We really do mean up until noon on that day and perhaps past if the ceremony takes place minutes late as is usually the case. Should President Obama take a Paris conference accord proposal for the establishment and invention of an Arab state called Palestine carved from the lands legally belonging to Israel and without Israeli consent and signature on a treaty, then President Trump will have a difficult task facing him immediately after taking office. Should President Obama have his co-conspirators bring a Chapter Seven Resolution declaring Palestine a reality with full Statehood recognized by the UNSC with the Green Line (the 1949 Armistice Line between Jordan and Israel demarking the front lines and the Israeli lands illegally occupied by Jordan) then President Trump will need coordinate with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu a response and course of action to overturn the decision. This will be possible and an eventuality as such a resolution, Chapter Seven or any other manner of resolution, is illegal as it breaks the United Nations Charter Article 80 which recognized all the demarcations and wordings of the Mandate System and all other resolutions in effect from the League of Nations. This makes the Jordan River the eastern border of the Jewish State of Israel. That is the international law recognizing the Israeli eastern border and there is no mention whatsoever of any Arab entity or Nation west of the Jordan River. This was also the reason behind an Egyptian Justice who sat on the International Court of Justice when the UNGA requested a ruling on the Security Barrier Israel had erected to prevent further suicide bombers and other terrorism. The barrier accomplished much of what it was intended to accomplish and the ICJ did not demand it be removed. As noted yesterday, the Honorable Justice El Araby warned the UNGA and others that filing further ran some risks, as he stated,

 

“The international legal status of the Palestinian Territory (paras. 70-71 of the Advisory Opinion), in my view, merits more comprehensive treatment. A historical survey is relevant to the question posed by the General Assembly, for it serves as the background to understanding the legal status of the Palestinian Territory on the one hand and underlines the special and continuing responsibility of the General Assembly on the other. This may appear as academic, without relevance to the present events. The present is however determined by the accumulation of past events and no reasonable and fair concern for the future can possibly disregard a firm grasp of past events. In particular, when on more than one occasion, the rule of law was consistently side-stepped. The point of departure, or one can say in legal jargon, the critical date, is the League of Nations Mandate which was entrusted to Great Britain.”

 

Beyond this, President Trump has already indicated he will work towards repeal of UNSC Resolution 2334 recently passed under Chapter Six due to the United States efforts behind the scenes and their blatant determination to injure Israel punishing her because she refused to roll over and die when demanded to do so by President Obama and his team during the Iran farce of negotiations on the Iranian nuclear program and their drive for nuclear weapons parity with the United States or, at the least, Israel as well as only complying with most but not every demand for concessions to the Palestinian Authority (PA) while the PA simply sent more requests for concessions for the President and State Department to draw out of Israel. This was payback for the lack of subservient compliance with edicts from upon high, or at least the second floor of the White House.

 

Then there are the promises made by candidate Trump which a President Trump will need to deliver. The first and biggest is tax reform. Trump made some bold statements for initiatives for tax reform. His plans realize that all taxes are actually paid by the people and that such taxes as sales tax and taxes on businesses and industry are simply folded into the price of products which serves two counterproductive results, first the increased price makes United States products priced from the world market where if the prices were more competitive with the other nations, especially those which subsidize their industries generously making United States products unaffordable by comparison and second the higher price hurts the middle and low income people the most as they are paying the taxes and fees. Removing taxes on industry and businesses will make for lower prices on products and slower rate of inflation as sales beyond the border will increase simply due to this one tax being eliminated thus allowing for increased production to meet the new demand which will provide more jobs and eventually rising wages as employment reaches higher percentages as there will be increasing demands for workers. Second the simplification of the income tax levels making them generally lower across all salary ranges and the reduction of claimable deductions will make taxes more fair as with fewer deductions the wealthy will have fewer shelters from income taxes and thus will be paying tax on greater percentages of their income though the lower rate will make this reality less painful for most. Finally, lowering Capital Gains taxes will result in more fluidity in the investment business which will allow the movement of investments to more promising industries and will subsidize innovations. The resetting of Capital Gains such that it does not penalize investors moving funds from one investment to another facilitates start-up companies as there will be more funds available from which to get seed monies invested. Hopefully the congress will resist any urges for recalcitrance and the Republican majorities can show spine and certitude of their convictions and enact the changes to the tax codes and systems.

 

Repeal of Obamacare will be another big challenge as there are some vested interests and too many of those sit in congress. Obamacare grants power over healthcare and its being provided to the people and despite the refusal of Democrats to admit there are established committees which will decide when a person is no longer a viable contribution to society and thus will receive only the most marginal of healthcare and will not receive any life prolonging treatments which are expensive as such high priced care is out of the question. These health panels are not referred to as death panels but that is one of the functions they provide. Still, there are some provisions of the Affordable Care and Patient Protection Act (ACPPA) such as the provision which makes denial of insurance due to preexisting conditions is liked by most as the provision for retaining children under their parents’ insurance through age twenty-six appeals to young adults as well as parent with children in college or graduate school seeking advanced degrees. On the other hand, insurance companies are finding the ACPPA to be a disaster and many are pulling from providing insurance under the law. What need be is return much of the pricing of insurance and the setting of levels of coverage by different plans instead of a one size out of three or four is all you get. The ACPPA also demands certain items be provided coverage and everyone must include such items in their plans. Prenatal care is no more universally necessary as people over sixty have little use for prenatal care just as people who will be having children usually do not need assisted living coverage. Allowing for the tailoring of insurance plans to fit the individual would allow for greater coverage at reasonable prices. All that is actually required for near universal coverage would be a few simple requirements. First and of great importance is all plans covering hospital care past two or three days of being hospitalized with full coverage costing additionally, what used to be called major medical care while leaving routine care payments the responsibility of the patient, prescription drug minimal plan which would cover the price of medications after a minimum is cleared or a set percentage and priced accordingly, and there have to be other such items which would represent minimal coverage or the base plan. Then insurance companies can offer different plans or even a cafeteria style insuring where you choose exactly the parts you desire with price breaks for say every five items granting a percentage in savings. The final item is portability, the ability to take your health insurance across state lines, from one job to the next and other similar challenges. By having employers provide a healthcare bonus if they desire rather than their providing their idea of a great plan for their employees, this too would bring down the general cost of health insurance and could also slow the increases in healthcare costs.

 

This should be sufficient start of ideas to chew upon. Our final item is about how the atmosphere and entire mood of the media has changed since the election. First we have the panicking over the rise in “fake news stories” which have appeared of late. What is most amazing about the “fake news stories” is that many are carried by the mainstream media and not alternative media as much. Another anomaly is that much of the “fake news stories” come from leftist sources and are amplified as they spread across platforms and blogs take these “fake news stories” as being real news and thus making themselves less credible for using what they thought was actual vetted news as they found it in the New York Times, Salon or other such news sources. The uproar over “fake news stories” coming from the media was confusing until we found that there have been a number of nations, the United States and Germany, which have set in place a Department of Information which is designated the ultimate source for real news and for debunking “fake news stories” printed and placed before the public. We gave this deeper coverage in a recent article titled, “The Emergence of Departments of Official Government Truths”. There has also been a resurgence, a rediscovery even, in the fact that there are homeless people and greater care for our mentally challenged citizens who all too many are left out on the streets. Crime rates have become an issue as has any even hint of hate crimes. The greatest fake news and hate crime combination has been the Great Hijab Crime Wave we discussed where a series of Trump supporters attacking, taunting or otherwise belittling and intimidating young college women on university campuses who were wearing a hijab which apparently caused these white males to turn into vicious and demanding monsters. All of the stories proved to be unsubstantiated and were retracted by the very women who brought them forward. Then there are all manner of societal ills which we have not seen coverage of for the past eight years which are creeping back into the new and we can expect the floodgates to fly open on January 20, 2017 in such ferocity that these reports will seem to be as manufactured as the “fake news stories” have struck. Hold on, it is going to be a wild ride going forward, but let us hope we actually do go forward and not flying off into some dark hidden side track which leads to someplace nobody knows for sure.

 

Beyond the Cusp 

 

Trump Trumps Clinton Now What? (Electoral College 279 to 259)

 

The total as of this writing was Trump with 279 Electoral votes from approximately 59,441,968 (47.5%) popular vote while Clinton held 259 Electoral votes from approximately 59,649,606 (47.7%) popular votes. Once again the election goes opposite the popular vote, something often criticized as are the men who designed the Electoral College such that the big state numbers have their advantage but face it being slightly marginalized by the setup of the Electoral system. First let us indulge in a quick review on how the Electoral College works and the reasoning for it being used by the United States. The system is easily broken down. Every state and the nation’s capital, Washington D.C. all get two electors for what is their Senatorial representation (Washington D.C, is treated as if it were a small state with representation of a single delegate in the House of Representatives and two Senators). After this each state receives an elector for each Representative they hold in the House of Representatives. California receives fifty-three Electors for their fifty-three Representatives plus two more for their Senators for a total of fifty-five Electors. Wyoming receives a single Elector for their sole Representatives plus two for their Senators for a total of three Electors. This allots greater representation per person for Wyoming over California by a ratio over five-to-one and it is this type of disparity which causes many to loathe the system. The reason the Founding Fathers went with this seemingly convoluted system was identical to the reason for a bicameral Congress with one side, the House of Representatives, set by population thus favoring the larger states and the other side, the Senate, with two per state providing the states themselves with equal representation regardless of population size or land mass. The Founding Fathers realized that should they have permitted straight democracy that this would have produced mass rule, followed soon by mob rule and then collapse as had every democracy throughout history, and they desired building a nation which would be more stable. The main difference came about when the House of Representatives ceased being based on one Representative per set number of people to a set cap of four-hundred-thirty-five Representatives and the States receiving a minimum of one Representative and the remainder allotted proportionally. This also capped the Electors in the Electoral College at five-hundred-thirty-eight once Washington D.C. was allotted three Electors despite not having any actual representation in the Congress.

 

NBC News Final Electoral College Election 2016 Map

 

Next we need talk about the polling data being so skewed throughout the campaign and only closing in the final thirty-six hours though the lead did narrow slowly before the rush to even the night before Election Day. There are numerous claims as to why the polls consistently favored Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump. One claim was that their intent was to press the idea that Trump could not win, period. This would, in theory, berate Trump supporters with so much bad news wearing them down such that they would give up and not bother to vote. The problem with this tactic is the vast number of Trump voters fell into two main categories, those who believed that a President Trump was the answer to America’s woes and those who were voting to emphasize their view that America was failing them and its Constitution. The first group was true believers with many voting for their first time despite having been registered for years. This was evidenced by the record number of voters in Republican primary elections. These people would have walked over burning embers to have voted Trump just as Hillary Clinton’s true believers were voting for her no matter what. The second group was making their voice heard loud and clear as they had a message for America and thus were determined to vote. A majority of Trump voters were with him at the start when he was one amongst seventeen and stayed the course. The third group of Trump supporters was the “stop the Hildabeast” and would stop at almost nothing to prevent the catastrophic consequences of Hillary Clinton being coronated President. Trump was not their choice, he was their life raft and these people were highly motivated to vote but were also motivated not to tell pollsters the truth about their vote choice. There was a minimum number of people who were pulling the Trump lever in the voting booth who were not firmly entrenched in the ranks of Trump supporters though for many a varied and different reason but were all there for the whole four quarters and would have remained just as committed should the race have gone into sudden-death overtime, which it came close to doing.

 

Then there is the fact that the media is skewed to the left end of the political spectrum. When one considers that Fox News is touted, even victimized cast as a reactionary, right-wing, extremist, conservative to the point of reactionary news station where every anchor and host must prove their ultra-conservative bonafides in order to get in the door, then it becomes obvious that the remainder of the news is far more liberal and even leftist by comparison. What then pushes the rest of the news syndicates even further left is this definition of every and any-body of note at Fox News is, by definition, ultra-pure reactionary-conservative which presumably includes, wait, wait, wait for it, Chris Wallace (see image below). As per the link, Chris Wallace worked at ABC News for 14 years where he served as the senior correspondent for Primetime Thursday and a substitute host for Nightline. Before that Chris Wallace served a NBC’s Chief White House correspondent from 1982-1989. Chris Wallace moderated Meet the Press from 1987-1988. Chris Wallace also anchored the Sunday edition of NBC Nightly News from 1982-1984 and 1986-1987. Chris Wallace began his career with NBC at WNBC-TV (NBC 4) in New York in 1975. Chris Wallace is, at the most extreme of his leaning right, a moderate of impeccable discernment. Fox News is considered to be so far to the right because the rest of the news groups live with the academics in unassailable Ivory Towers found only in the extreme leftward climes. Fox News is to the right of almost all news services with the exception of CBN (Christian Broadcasting Network) and a few select others and many on-line commentators most of whom have their following and limited audiences. Like in all things political, it is all relative to where you yourself choose to stand. Us, well, we stand so far off to the outside that we fall Beyond the Cusp.

 

Chris Wallace

 

Meanwhile, let’s get back to the election. Donald Trump did win, so stop pinching yourself. Hillary Clinton gave an honest and worthy concession speech in which she expressed her hopes that though she was not fated to break that glass ceiling, that perhaps one of her many supporters, possibly one in the hall listening as she spoke, would be the woman to break through shattering that glass ceiling once and for all. Trump was gracious as well in his victory comment where he praised Hillary Clinton for her determined and high pressure campaign which had pushed him to strive and become a better person in response. Trump thanked and congratulated the Republican candidates and politicians who backed him for their support. He thanked Dr. Ben Carson, Chris Christie, Rudy Giuliani, his family including parents, brother, his other brother who has passed on, his wife, children and so on and thanked a number of workers he noted in the crowd. He was the real Donald Trump, the Donald who stops and talks with the guys digging the ditches at a construction site and the carpenters, brick layers, crane operators all before, after and even during holding higher level talks with the foremen, supervisor and engineers. This is one trait which makes the Donald who he is and why so many speak so highly of him, he actually takes the time to recognize everyone and give all a piece of the praise and credit. We will need to wait and see how this translates to the insular nature of the Presidency and life in a bubble, a very nice bubble, but a big white mansion style bubble called, remarkably, the White House. One thing for sure, being President is far more challenging than running for President and we are about to watch a capable man try and meet the biggest challenge of his life and starting out with two outs, man on second base, a three balls two strike count down five runs in the top of the third inning. It will be vital to equip himself with a top notch team as he cannot, nor would we here at Beyond the Cusp wish, run the effort almost singlehandedly. His pick for running mate showed good judgement and was wise but it will have to wait for more trust, let alone praise, to be lauded upon Donald Trump. He will have an excellent chance to prove his metal right out of the box filling the huge gaping hole left by the late Justice Antonin Scalia in the Supreme Court bench. This selection will act as an initial window to Trump’s soul, an entity which was called into suspect early on by some stalwarts of the Republican Party. Should this choice not fully measure, up these suspicions are very likely to reappear and do so very quickly.

 

The main Cabinet appointments will come at the State Department, Secretary of Defense, Education Secretary and United Nations Ambassador. For this last office returning John Bolton, should he decide to be available, would be a strong start. Rudy Giuliani would be a strong choice for any high profile position but might be best used to either lead the deconstruction of the Department of Education returning virtually all power down as locally as possible and keep almost nothing in Washington D.C. which could save many a school system as they would be liberated to spend all their time on teaching and none on meeting testing requirements, indoctrinations ordered from Washington and meeting near endless paperwork requiring additional staff who are not in any manner connected to teaching. They simply document compliances and send the forms to their school district, county, city, state, Washington D.C. and file copies with the office, every vice Principle, the Principle(s), Advisors, required teachers, required parents and whomever and whatever else is demanded. Some of these forms are actually daily reports and that is what many school systems have become, report generators which produce endless streams of paperwork and uneducated graduates whose school years are documented thus presumed productive. Donald Trump’s choice on who leads the Veterans Administration will be carefully watched as will any changes which are implemented. Here is another place where paperwork takes precedent over actual work. Hopefully Donald Trump will be able to bring a fair number of real administrators and managers from the real world into government positions where they can do some real good for the government and its ability to serve the people. Needless to go further than to simply say his appointments will speak very loudly and hopefully be armed with Teddy Roosevelt style big sticks. Tell the truth, not only do the people of the United States await Donald Trump’s important appointments’ names, but many around the world are also waiting to see who he is able and desires for top spots, especially his inner circle which includes but may not be limited to the Foreign Affairs Advisor, Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, Security Advisor, Joint Chiefs of Staff amongst others. What will be another indicator is who a President Trump calls to the White House from the Republicans in the House of Representatives and the Senate as well as who, if any, he invites from the Democrat side of Congress. These choices could prove to be greatly tactical as it may establish who a President Trump feels will best work with him on his agenda.

 

Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick

 

In conclusion, it will be educational once we start to see the choices Donald Trump makes officially sending to the Senate for their review and vote and those he keeps close under his vest and does not seek the Senate’s approval. Will a President Trump continue the underhanded and unethical practice of having “Czars” who actually perform an identical function as the Secretary over a department who the Senate passed review such that the President had two advisors for all too many departments and the actual Secretary was often left out of the loop and the Czar would actually run the show dictating policy and decisions to the actual Secretary serving the Cabinet. This was simply the means President Obama appointed some controversial people granting them the power equal or higher than the Cabinet Secretary while avoiding Senatorial oversite as per the Constitution. Ending this practice and setting up even a Constitutional Amendment which would define people with certain powers and responsibilities regardless of their title requiring Congressional oversight and be vetted and approved by the Senate as does any other appointee with such powers. Such a move might not prevent a future President from acting in a similar manner but it will empower Congress to then act having the Constitutional leverage to do so. Remember that the first hundred days often set the tone between a President and the Congress, people, national leaders and the world in general. Trump’s initial steps in the Middle East and North Africa will reveal his true foreign policy outlook. The man will be walking into the middle of a forest surrounded by swampland with an angry beehive just over his shoulder and a bear coming for the honeycomb sure to disturb the hive. It will likely be a dark and threatening sky with a hard rain approaching and tornado sirens blaring in all directions. Welcome to happy old Washington D.C. where this is the standard start of a day with a bright outlook and do not ask how a bad day starts, just hope you never find out but as a hint, it usually follows a night where you did not sleep and will be making a speech to the nation the coming night to explain that which you are not totally sure you understand, but make that speech and speak of the solution and whatever you do, do not let them see you sweat and make sure you are dressed appropriate to the news and pray that you get to sleep more than three hours the next night. Mr. President; President Trump, welcome to the world where real people play the game of risk with real wars full of intrigue and always an unknown factor lurks just beyond the cusp out of view arising only at the worst possible time, and we have not even spoken about the media. Media has a single rule you must always remember, they are not your friend, your buddy or somebody you should ever trust because you are the biggest story they have even if they need make up two thirds, they will do so thus be ever vigilant when speaking and they are visible as that places them within hearing that one-third out of which they can manufacture a scandal, and they get paid to do just that. Good Luck and may Heaven assist and guide you throughout your Presidency.

 

Beyond the Cusp