Israel Iron Dome Can be Their Asian Diplomat

 

China is spreading their wings blanketing much of Asia in the shadow staring up the claws and talons of the Chinese dragons armed with missiles covering every corner of her neighbors. South Korea, Japan and the Philippines face the combined threat of an expansive reach, possibly overreach from China and the growing ballistic and nuclear potential from North Korea and all from shorter ranged ballistic missiles, just the ones the Iron Dome is so proficient at intercepting. Israel has good relations with much of the Asian nations such as India and also China and could always use a few more friends. The recent test by North Korea of a nuclear device which had the highest yield of any device thus far tested by the secluded and often surly in their relations with the neighboring nations, especially South Korea and Japan , has led to a troubled area with furrowed brows. Israel has the perfect solution for addressing potential threats from North Korea and their rockets, missiles, mortars and even artillery rounds with a highly successful interception rate in the neighborhood of ninety percent. The Iron Dome systems have proven their effectiveness against actual war time footing in the last Gaza conflict. Israel could offer the Iron Dome to these nations in a very affordable and mutually beneficial exchange where for every so many units purchased the nations also finance the production of an additional Iron Dome system for Israeli use. Such an arrangement would be of obvious benefit to all the nations involved in such an arrangement. The United States who had been assisting with the production of the Iron Dome in exchange for access to some of the research and operational data of the system and the production of some of the system’s units by the American company Raytheon has already taken their pound of flesh. Such an arrangement would benefit all involved and would provide Raytheon business in the production of their section of the systems thus also benefitting the United States.

 

Why would Israel seek to offer their most proficient indirect weapons fire interception system to foreign Asian nations when there are presumably agreements with the United States for further production of additional units? The recently signed defense agreement signed between Israel and the United States set into motion a steady reduction in monies reserved for Israeli defense industries. This may reflect on further financing the Iron Dome systems in Israel independent of influences in Washington D.C. Whether Israel will continue to have a friend in Washington D.C. will be heavily dependent upon the results of the coming elections for President as well as for Congress. Israel needs to hope for the best but prepare for the worst. These last eight years have placed relation between the White House and Jerusalem in the most parched regions of the driest and hottest desert known to man and depending on the election the next four years could just as easily be more of the same. Neither candidate for the Presidency has made foreign policy the main theme of their campaigns which is understandable with the American public more focused on the economy and jobs caring little about the rest of the world beyond reducing legal and ending illegal immigration until the economy warrants the need for foreign workers. Both candidates will necessarily concentrate on the economy first and foremost and foreign relations will be a back burner issue unless events cause the American public to sit up and take notice and keep their attentions. The American public has a remarkable ability to look up and see beyond their borders only if the noise is loud enough but even when they do look up, they return to their daily concerns with unfathomable speed continuing as if their attention had never been diverted. The resilience of their ability to focus on everyday life and only passing attention beyond their drive to and from work, their job or finding one, and their family, disregarding the remainder of the world as if it was a bothersome mosquito whose droning wings are but an aggravation is their best coping method and the world’s bane.

 

 

This may be to the detriment of Israel as well as other nations who may depend on the United States government and particularly the White House actually looking beyond their borders when the most pressing problems echoed by the media is jobs, jobs, jobs and the economy and in an extreme situation, immigration. Terrorism, well, only if there are a series of devastating attacks within the United States itself with potential for momentary interruption if there is striking news from abroad, but such news passes from the news and the attention span of the busy Americans is brief for anything not immediately on their view screens. The news networks in the United States spend more time on the weather and even more on sports with little room for international news which they run through as quickly as possible avoiding it altogether when possible as their advertisers know the public and the public cares more about the cat rescued for the little girl from a tree or some viral video than they want hard news. It is no wonder why the United States Congress and the White House are hard pressed to tune into the international front when they are rewarded almost uniquely for taking care of the home front leaving the world to do as it will. The American citizens believe that the two great oceans protect the United States just as much if not more effectively than the military. One would think that the terrorist strikes they have suffered would have disabused them of this notion, but like any normal person, the average American prefers to believe that they are safe and comfortable within their little cocoons with the remainder of the world locked out. Granted the United States is the size of a continent and reach from ocean to ocean and are bordered largely by Canada and by Mexico for a far shorter southern border which most Americans simply would love to see it closed but unless pressed mostly do not place that concern at the top of their to worry list.

 

What does this have to do with Israel? Well, their future has been tied to the United States in the defense area since they terminated the Lavi fighter project and went with American aircraft and have remained dependent on the United States for their aircraft ever since. The future of this relationship has been harshly affected for the worse under President Obama and the fear is should Hillary Clinton be elected in November that relations will not improve under her leadership. As far as Donald Trump is concerned, many claim relations would be improved under a Trump Presidency but still there are many unanswered question as Donald Trump is still largely an unknown. The current aircraft Israel is expected to receive from the United States is the F-35 JSF which has been experiencing serious delays and problems. There has been serious concern that the F-35 JSF will not be truly combat ready until sometime in the early to mid-2020’s with 2025 not an unreliable prediction. Israel’s main enemies are able to purchase superior Russian aircraft which are combat ready today such as the SU-35 or any of the newest Chinese aircraft which are also combat ready. This could be a detrimental situation which Israel can ill afford as she is extremely dependent on air superiority. Iran is currently sitting with the ability to purchase entire fleets of these aircraft with the monies they received from the United States from the Iran Deal and the loosening of sanctions, the payments for the release of hostages or repayment for nondelivered arms after the Shah was overthrown in 1979. There have been rumored further cash payments to Iran for undetermined reasons by the Obama administration. How much additional payment Iran has or may receive is unknown and probably the full amounts granted to Iran may never be fully understood. This has created further concerns for Israel as has the recent delivery by Russia of the S-300 anti-aircraft missile and tracking systems to Iran which have seriously upgraded the Iranian air defenses around their nuclear sites.

 

Sukhoi Su-35

 

Israel could seriously upgrade their defenses against rockets fired from their neighboring threats such as Gaza and Hamas and Lebanon and Hezballah who between them have easily over one-hundred-fifty-thousand rockets and missiles. Such numbers are the very serious reason why Israel would be very pressed to increase the numbers of Iron Dome systems and further develop their other systems and deploy them in order to be capable of defending against any missiles fired from Iran or potentially other enemies. This means the manufacture of David’s Sling and the Arrow II systems and further developing of these systems to improve them seeking the impossible, perfection of interception of all range of missiles and other armaments fired at her people, that is what Israel could gain from such deals. Further, Israel could strengthen her relations and perhaps develop closer relations with new nations. Israel recently made inroads sharing a visit with Japan and has good relations with the Philippines after assisting them with their recovery after the horrific typhoon which struck that nation. Israel could also seek to have improved relations with South Korea and with the troubling developments and concerns over North Korean sabre rattling and their close relations with Iran with the two nations sharing scientific and military research developments Israel has more in common with these nations than many might see at first glance. Israel could develop these relations using military trade as an inroad and develop further trade relations as time and relations develop. One can never have too many or too varied friends and with systems such as the Iron Dome Israel has a very enticing calling card.

 

Beyond the Cusp 

 

Final Weeds in the MENA Garden, Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Iran

 

In a nutshell Syria has a fair measure of the powers in play in the Middle East and into North Africa. In addition we will also need to mention areas centered on Nigeria where Boko Haram is centrally located making war on Nigeria and all her neighboring states. Then there is Yemen and two straits, Bab el-Mandeb and finally the Strait of Hormuz which are all parts of the Iranian designs which start with the Shiite Crescent from the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and control of the two most important waterway choke points in the Middle East affecting everything from the eastern tip of Asia to the Western tip of Europe including the British Isles. But it all starts with Syria and the last block to the Shiite Crescent.

 

Iran sits conveniently at the eastern edge just beyond the Arab Muslim Empire and as such is mostly a different peoples east of the Zagros Mountains which have served as a defensive barrier thousands of years. This was the secret of the Persians and why despite falling to Islam they remained separate and distinct. Still, if Iran was ever to claim the right as the head of a Caliphate they were going to need to establish two things, a connection unobstructed to the Mediterranean Sea and thus full access to North Africa and South Europe and a mass alteration of Islam making Shia Islam dominant over Sunni Islam. The first is a major step towards the second. The hope was once Iran had access to the Mediterranean cutting across the Middle East gaining direct or implied control over much of Iraq, Syria and Lebanon they would appear, as Islam claims to be the superior, the strong horse and thus could influence many that Sunni Islam was weak and Shia Islam was dominant and thus start the conversion of Sunni Muslims to Shia Islam and thus become the dominant force reestablishing both the historic Persian Empire and taking over the new Caliphate and the lead position over nearly two-billion Muslims.

 

Iran had taken control of Lebanon when they took sponsorship of Hezballah which initially was a universally recognized terror group which was fighting the Christian militias and had also fought against the IDF using terrorist strikes in an attempt to wear Israel down and force their capitulation and return to south of the recognized international border known as the Blue Line. Eventually a left leaning government bent to the protests and declared an end to what they called a tragic period in Israeli history completely forgetting the reasons, the valid reason that brought Israel into southern Lebanon. Israel replied to the hue and cry of the Christians of southern Lebanon as Syrian troops invaded Lebanon aiding Hezballah who were facing being slaughtered and Israel responded to an intense threat of a human disaster in the making as had already been committed to the initial Christian communities near the Syrian border. Israel, Ariel Sharon in particular, was blamed for a revenge strike on Sabra and Shatila massacring the Muslims which were carried out by the Christian militias and not the IDF. Still the world could not blame the Christian militias as they were irregular fighters and as such were not sufficiently organized with a command structure and as such their silence made finding those responsible became impossible so the work picked the next best thing, Israel. Europe had what seems like a default setting that if it happens in the Middle East, then when in doubt, blame Israel.

 

Once Israel retreated from southern Lebanon the Lebanese military was supposed to move in with United Nations oversight. Neither occurred and in many instances the United Nations aided Hezballah in their efforts to set up a series of tunnels as well as arms caches and command and control bunkers. This eventually led to another Israeli incursion into Lebanon after Hezballah kidnapped, and subsequently murdered three Israeli soldiers and killed five other soldiers at the point of the ambush inside Israel when they caught a patrol vehicle off guard and unsuspecting any incursion across the border from Lebanon. Iran uses Hezballah as their threat against Israel and has armed them to a point which is truly frightening as Iran has stocked Hezballah with at least one-hundred plus long range missiles and uncountable limited range rockets which have as much as a fifty kilometer range. Amongst the longer range missiles are stores of Zilzal-2 and Fateh-110 provided by Iran bringing them into Damascus and shipping them over land often on their own mobile vehicles. This is the threat Iran would threaten to unleash on Israel had Israel actually struck at Iranian nuclear sites and likely will be the first strike against Israel whenever Iran decides that they will attack the Jewish homeland. The total is well over two-hundred-thousand rockets and missiles from ten to twenty kilometer Grads, Fajr series, Shahab series and Ghadr missiles. Then there are the mid-range Scud series of ballistic rockets and then the more advanced guided missiles which the most advanced has two stages and Iran can strike Israel from Iran with these longer range Missiles so Lebanon can not only strike Israel but also northern Saudi Arabia and Egypt as well as all of Turkey and anywhere within Syria or Jordan and much of Iraq. With these longest range missiles stationed in Iran and Lebanon the range brings them to command coverage over the entire Middle East and beyond, a definite threat to the heart of Sunni Islam, exactly what Iran envisioned as their way to claim command over all of Israel. Their problem, Syria collapsed and nobody can claim complete control over Syria as well as over Iraq, the two breaking Iran’s Shiite Crescent in two.

 

Iran is not the only outside power with an interest in Syria. The most straight forward national interest belongs to the Russians who have one main port at Latakia and potential other locations along the Mediterranean shoreline which provides them a warm water port with easy access to the Atlantic Ocean. The Russian plan is likely to reposition a fair share of their Black Sea naval forces to the Syrian ports thus placing them beyond the Bosphorus which could easily be closed any time that Turkey might decide they are upset with the Russians. The teetering of the relationship between Turkey and Russia became very evident a few months ago when Turkey shot down a Russian fighter jet claiming it had flown into Turkish air space, something very likely as Russia has been bombing locations in support of Bashir al-Assad who has lost control over much of the nation he once ruled unchallenged. Now there are a number of militias and terror groups each commanding their own parts with Assad, the Kurds and Islamic State have the largest locations under their control. Other areas are controlled by the al-Nusra Front, an al-Qaeda offshoot, Free Syrian Army, Jaish al-Izzah, Levant Front, Alotfecat Brigades, and offshoots divided into Syrian Opposition-al-Qaeda network, Federation of Northern Syria, Muslim Brotherhood and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant or Islamic State. Each of these groups have so many offshoots that it becomes cumbersome to even begin to list them but for those who desire a detailed list one can be found here With al-Assad opposing these groups are the remains of the Syrian Army, Russian Naval and air support, Hezballah and some Druze militias are fighting in support of Bashir al-Assad whose control is limited to the westernmost areas of Syria including Damascus and the port cities which the Russians are defending with occasional air attacks flown against the terror forces but usually avoiding the Kurds and Islamic State and striking the weaker forces which al-Assad might be better poised to defeat.

 

Military Situation in the Syrian Civil War Areas of Control
by Major Force Divisions as of June 3, 2016.

 

The Kurdish Militias are holding the northernmost areas largely against the Islamic State. Turkey has provided bombing targets used for the United States air strikes as President Obama micromanaging their actions by putting their orders for strikes to Turkish intelligence. This has resulted in many of these strikes instead of targeting the Islamic State side of the conflict line are instead striking the Kurdish side making the situation more favorable for the Islamic State. The saving grace was that the Russians protested the NATO air strikes as interfering with Russian air strikes and set where the United States and Turkish fighter jets are restricted to a corridor which has actually favored the Kurdish forces. This became serious after Turkey shot down the Russian Fighter Jet. What is not discussed publically is the agreement between Russia and another air force in the area allowing for Israel to conduct tactical strikes in response to any attacks against Israeli forces on the Golan Heights. This was negotiated between President Putin and Prime Minister Netanyahu in Moscow early in the Russian intervention. This has proven necessary a number of times as the different forces have intentionally fired on IDF troops damaging vehicles and causing some injuries which required at times a more serious response than a couple of artillery or tank shells as a position required removal. These strikes barely make comment even within Israel but there have been some reports in a few of the smaller nationalist and Zionist sources online and in print.

 

Likely the most notable forces have been those of the Islamic State due to their early success largely in Iraq. They took control of the Sunni northern and central areas bordering southern Syria as the mostly Shiite Iraqi army forces simply fled or attempted to melt into the public. Their difficulty was that many of the Sunni civilians who these troops had tormented got their revenge turning over those Shiite soldiers who were guilty of such inter faction fighting. The Islamic State after their fast conquest of largely open areas and a few key cities in Iraq have now settled into defensive posture as they were close to overextension which had allowed for some key cities and towns being reclaimed. The Islamic State holds large open areas in Syria which are mostly desert and open scrublands which were sparsely populated. Their supposed massive victories were somewhat overblown in the hyperventilating Western media as they were hungry for a big story so every gain of the Islamic State, even those which were made in areas where they were unopposed were claimed to be grand expansion of their military control. The main story they should have never strayed from was the Islamic State’s brutality. This alone is the reason that the Islamic State deserves being liquidated by whatever means are necessary and this fight should be carried out largely by indigenous troops. Any support by Western forces should be limited to providing air support and precision strikes on such targets as command and control facilities and fixed positions as well as taking out the Western armor and other Western equipment. Other than such air support and potential cruise missile or drone strikes the Western ground forces should not be placed in harm’s way as such assistance is more often not appreciated and often used as reasons for protests and resentment. They should not risk being dragged into what may prove to be a prolonged number of operations in order to clear out pockets of resistance. As far as Syria, that too should not require any Western ground forces and be left to indigenous forces with support from Turkey, Jordan, Iraq, Iran and potential financing from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States.

 

Yemen Battle Map

 

The other front that needs addressing also has an Iranian contingent in Yemen. Iran is also attempting to gain the ability to completely disrupt all maritime trade by holding military threat over two of the most sensitive straights in all of the Middle East, Bab el-Mandeb and finally the Strait of Hormuz. The Bab el-Mandeb cuts off Israeli maritime access from the Red Sea on the way to the Indian Ocean and on to the rest of Asia and the Pacific as well as blocking any use of the Suez Canal by cutting off its southern access. The Strait of Hormuz has a large portion of the world’s crude oil shipping. Iran already holds threat over the Strait of Hormuz as one side of the entire Persian Gulf borders Iran (a huge ‘no duh’). This threat Iran has had and used since the Islamic takeover in 1979 requiring the United States to intervene as well as to bring in minesweepers to clear mines which Iran had strewn as part of their cutting off of the Strait of Hormuz. The Bab el-Mandeb sits off the southwestern most border of Yemen which borders the southernmost Red Sea. This is the other choke point other than the Suez Canal itself. The Suez Canal is safely within the borders of Egypt between the Sinai Peninsula and main body of Egypt which has only faced a force other than Egyptian when Israel held the Sinai briefly in 1956 and for a number of years after the Six Day War in 1967 until Egypt and Israel made peace in 1979. Israel never threatened to close the Suez Canal though it may have been risky using the Suez Canal during the 1973 Yom Kippur War as initially Egyptian troops were pouring across into the Sinai and within a few days after Israel mobilized and struck back were crossing the Suez Canal and for a while held both shores but withdrew back across the Canal into the Sinai after the world demanded Israel cease winning the war and immediately stop advancing on Alexandria and Cairo. Funny, there was no call for Egypt to stop their advance across the Sinai intending to strike into Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. I guess Egypt advancing and defeating Israeli defenders is completely different than Israel advancing and defeating Egyptian forces. Should Iranian Houthi rebels take control over sufficient areas of Yemen and a peace leave the areas in the southeastern end of Yemen then Iran would have access to blocking the Bab el-Mandeb and blocking the Suez Canal which would end all oil and maritime trade with Europe forcing those hardy enough to try having to circle the south end of the African Continent. That used to be a difficult and dangerous route before the canal and the main reason the Suez Canal was built. Iran desires to hold a stranglehold over maritime trade and oil trade thus being able to threaten the world and especially threaten Europe. That is why Egypt is assisting in Yemen and the West had best have an interest in what happens in Yemen, even if not as much in Syria.

 

Beyond the Cusp

 

General Election General Feelings Deadly Deal

 

If one goes by the normal general election numbers and stick to what the election gurus and political pundits all know is the gospel truth, then Donald Trump and any Republican Presidential candidate is a lost cause. This is because if one takes the “known” and steady trended Democrat and Republican states electoral vote Hillary has a definitive advantage which would be near impossible to topple. Here are a few examples you can check for yourselves:
This excerpt was taken and quoted from In A Clinton-Trump Race, Just How Much Could The Map Change?, which contains numerous other statistics and suggestions of alternate paths other than ours which follows.

 

It’s the number of electoral votes of 18 states (plus the ever-blue District of Columbia) that have voted Democratic in each of the last six presidential elections. And it leaves a Democratic nominee just a Florida-shy (29 electoral votes) of winning the presidency.
Those 18 states (worth a collective 242 electoral votes): California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.
Meanwhile, only 13 states (worth a collective 103 electoral votes) have voted Republican each of the last six times: Alabama, Alaska, Idaho, Kansas, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.

 

Additional information, numbers and stock predictions and analysis can be read in Trump seemed impervious during the primaries, but forecasts for electoral votes paint a bleak picture.

 

Presidential Electoral Map 2016

 

Now, let us return back to the more unseen elsewhere BTC analysis and path forward. We do not doubt any of these dire predictions and numbers analyzed from trends and other variables, and that is the main word, variables, as they vary. Change is the one guarantee in politics. President Reagan changed the trending tides in the 1980 elections. William Jefferson Clinton took on an impossible to win challenge and changed the tide back followed by George W. Bush and then President Obama who has placed us at this election, one with no actual candidate running for their reelection to the Presidency, with President Obama being prevented running by the Constitution as Amended in Amendment XXII. Finally, a Constitutional limit President Obama appears to be stuck fulfilling. So there is Queen Hillary the Prevaricator and Clown Trump the Irreverent as the two main party candidates essentially from which to choose. Conventional wisdom predicts that Hillary has the election in the bag with her automatic Democratic Party states all but guaranteed while Trump is seen as vulnerable in even the most conservative and natural strongholds of Republican power such as Oklahoma and Wyoming. Our suggestion is adapt a campaign for Trump to win while those coaching Hillary will send her mostly to four or maybe five states with the top three being Ohio, Pennsylvania and the most crucial, Florida. It is said that no candidate can win without Florida. But is all this as sewn up as the mainstream pundits and analyzers and even campaign chiefs claim. If that is their thinking then the United States had best become very comfortable with the sound of President Hillary Clinton for eight years and Democrats into the future as far as anybody can predict. We all know that politics are a whole lot more volatile than that prediction or the Whig Party would still be in the White House and almost all the Presidents would be from Virginia as that was the trend early on.

 

Donald Trump, who is the candidate we will mostly address as his is the more difficult Presidency to wring out electorally, will need to challenge the punditry and experts from the start. Sure the first state he could talk from might be Florida following the wisdom that no candidate wins without Florida. If he does his next two stops should be touted as his message to America on how to unite everybody around a true moderate who will choose solid middle of the road people for his advisors from New York and California. He could list people such as Ben Carson for Surgeon General and other such calm, intelligent and well established and accepted experts in a number of second tier Cabinet Posts. Trump should easily know of people who would accept an appointment to Secretary of Labor, Commerce and Health and Human Services and even Secretary of Defense, a top tier position where he would have any number of retired military people from which to choose. The rationale behind naming these people and appointments with them present would calm the populace and defuse the claims that he is impossible and would be wild and out of control where these appointments would show reason and solid advice. That along with a more restrained and intelligently packaged Trump, with the same bravado, but this time turning top these appointees as his Brain Trust would settle his picture for those watching, and would be gobbled up by an ever hungry media, as this would be against all past trends for a campaign to name appointees early in the campaign. Such names would also point out the due diligence Trump had to have used in making these choices and planning ahead. Something he is claimed to not possess is such planning which is how he built skyscrapers across his properties. He plans, that should have been obvious, but apparently voters are a suspicious lot or totally clueless and need to be spoon fed, neither is a positive assessment.

 

Clinton vs Trump

 

Actually it would be these challenges in New York and California that once either of these states races tighten in polling, and trust us, they would, then Hillary would have to run there and campaign in frantic and shrillary tones for which she is famous. Watching her changing to adapt to match the location and often slipping into the wrong ones, would be great entertainment. The thinking is that with his business connections and dealings he could challenge Hillary in New York as the northern three-quarters of the state is fairly conservative and it is just New York City that tilts the state Democrat and he could crack that open as there must be a large number of middle of the road normally Democrat voters who could be swayed from Hillary with a decent effort. Even New Jersey might be playable though that is highly doubtful but a few trips into the northern end of the State might bleed support across in The City.

 

California, on the other hand, has a sizeable conservative area of voters who are likely sick of the water wars played by President Obama on the state when they were in a dire need and he all but cut off water to the state. Add in the numbers of Hollywood actors, directors, producers and the like who Trump could get to campaign for him and this along with Trump’s affability on the stump would put California in play. Face facts, no Democrat wins the Presidency without both New York and California in this modern era and both have more than enough electoral delegates to sink Florida off the map and put Trump into the White House. People can point to all the negatives they want, Trump in the White House would send a message which would terrorize the enemies of America and freedom. Our friends would be able to sleep at night knowing that the United States had their backs and was under sane foreign policy again and this message would be carried by the people who decide for Trump which way is up and which way is forward and allow him to choose a mix of the two. If we have Trump pegged, he would challenge these advisors to go out and make it ‘YUGE” and fulfill every last one of the up and forward policy proposals.

 

Trump could have Senator Cruz lock down Texas and possibly Oklahoma as well, and he could play off of Rubio or Jeb Bush if they refused to back and assist in his campaign and add them to the campaign to augment any plans already in the works as neither one has proven to be as effective as they viewed themselves. They would still be a plus as they are original combatants who had said less than flattering charges against The Donald. Perhaps we should reiterate our lack of a dog in this race. Should any of our dual citizen people even cast votes in the election, for whom and why has not reached the floor for debate as of yet except for a Congressman who is facing a challenge from the Republican elites, imagine we would like such a down to earth, home grown, religious, and independent conservative who votes almost identically as we would on every major and minor issues. Individual bills, we trust his sense and judgement, but he was no on amnesty, close the border, support traditional friends and generally right down the line. Our votes for President would likely prefer a ‘none of the above’ choice, as we stated here in We Need a None of the Above Election Ballot and originally around four years earlier, there is something about that four year thing that we cannot quite put our finger on…something about a White House?, anyways, back then we wrote Can I Vote “None of the Above”? Seems we will be revisiting that idea in 2020 or there about. I have a feeling this year ‘None of the Above’ could easily defeat either candidate and might even clear fifty percent which would have been a fabulous message to send about the choices we have been given in these farcical elections.

 

Unfortunately, the choices are what they are and we honestly believe that Donald Trump could tear away either or both New York and California and should try for a few other considered true blue Democrat states and at the least turn them purple. His efforts in such states could, and likely would, bring benefits in downstream elections and potentially swing a few elections to the Republicans where voter turnout has been lackadaisical in the recent past. Let’s face it, true conservatives have not had all that to vote for but voting against this year had a definite appeal beyond past years. Even some on the left feel they must oppose the Shrillary. Imagine four State of the Union addresses as well as numerous, ‘We can feel your pain, Bill and I,’ and ‘Our fellow Americans, in this time of upheaval, Bill and I…’ or, ‘It is my duty as your President to ignore Congress and the Supreme Court and continue to…’ What the ending commentary will be to those phrases, and these phrases are coming and they might very well be those exact phrases, is more Pablum which the media and masses sup upon. Which can do the least damage to an already all but terminally injured America limping forward in need of a transfusion of popularism and we have the Screech and the Jolly Joker as our candidates. This trend has been a set of elections for leader of the Free World which has devolved sinking ever lower with every election and the winning choice turning into ever greater disasters. Where it will end is obvious even to the most casual of observer. Continuing this downward spiral will become the death spiral leading to the next great upheaval which will blast the memory of any previous conflict from our collective memories.

 

There are one of two directions which the world might take in continuing to hurl itself at an ever faster pace towards that aforementioned conflagration where the United States, to quote a famous movie quote, may “Turn to the Dark Side Luke,” thus it becomes a force for evil. Another direction is where the United States and advanced Western World collapses and in the Far East begins the next Great War. This conflict between them and the remaining forces in the remains of Europe and across North America and most of Africa turns its forces to its east and rides into battle for Allah as the accursed Buddhists remain to be conquered now that Christianity has been subjected and surrendered to the Prophet and his deity, Allah. Neither future is attractive which is why we pray for the souls of America to activize and save their great nations and return the world to sanity. The only other choice after Europe succumbs, which she may not suffer herself to actually allow, and the United States is set upon next and also succumbs, leaves only Israel. Tiny little one or two Iranian super weapon strikes away from oblivion and being wiped from the map, Israel and her superior anti-missile technology and the faith in Hashem, will that once again be sufficient to save all? Where it ends is unknown to all but Hashem and all we can do is to carry out that we were meant to perform, not one step less. Oh, and if you can carry more, do so. Simple enough, but seemingly forgotten in this age of connectivity replacing activity, and concentration on the little screen replacing execution of the essentials around us in our lives, leads us into the darkness while we refuse to look up and notice. Perhaps this might be a rant for another article.

 

Beyond the Cusp