Trump triumph or even cornier, Trump Trumps; any way one looks at it, The Donald won and won big. The question was could Donald Trump now that most of the also rans had quit the race, particularly Jeb Bush, get the Bush voters; and would Trump just receive what has been referred to as the thirty-five percent protest vote. There have been elections past when there was predicted a percentage which would be the “protest voters” such as the election with the Gingrich Revolution and the Contract With America and the predicted high percentage for the protest vote was a measly five or six percent with twelve the “worst case scenario” which would have a significant affect and as the Republicans were seen as the party which would garner the majority of the protest voters, protest voters were seen as uneducated and simply angry white men. Honest, there was no racial or sexual vindictiveness, it was simple truth, well, truth to the liberal mainstream media, an item broadly protested in the media, particularly by the New York Times, ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN and on and on ending somewhere around the BBC and PBS, the two largest government run media outlets in the world. So, they drummed on FOX NEWS as well, “Will Trump manage to climb past forty percent or was his voter pool just the maladjusted loser voters who hate everything which was set at thirty-five percent of the voters. It has always amazed me how the media decides who does not belong in the race, the outsider with no real experience, and their voters are the disaffected and thus actually insignificant or a set number or percentage and never considered to be of any real value or able to make rational decisions and totally voting on instinct. The meaning behind that is they are mad animalistic rabies infected brains incapable of rational thought because they disagree with the moneyed elite, party central committees, the establishment and should be restricted from elections because they are chaotic and seen to also be quixotic and unstable. Well, I have news for all those making any of these claims, hey, democratically choosing the President, Congress all the way down to dog catcher, it is messy, emotionally driven, often factually limited and always surprising and this makes it a dangerous and unstable system with little order or predictable direction making it as you claimed, chaotic and with all that in mind, it still beats everything else ever attempted.
What is astounding is that representative governance has proven to be better at being self-correcting than any other system because every other system serves one person (dictatorship), party (Communism), family (Monarchy), ideology (Fascist), religion (Theocracy), moneyed elite committee (Aristocracy) or nothing with no laws (Anarchy and some claim Texas, incorrectly). By all appearances, if the people get their way, the Republican candidate for President will be Donald Trump. Let us assume that the under ten percent who support Kasich and Carson are freed up as they leave the race it would be ridiculous to expect that Trump would not get a minimum of three percent additional support which puts him really close to garnering half the electorate amongst the Republicans. Another thing the Republican Party better consider when they decide whether or not they will submarine Trump through the near forty percent of the delegates the Republican elitists, those Republican furthest removed from the electorate if their previous choices are to be considered, where Trump may have as high as ten percent of Republicans staying home election day, which considering the Democrat choices with Hillary the odds on favorite because the equally isolated Democrat elitists have chosen her, and even if it is loveable Bernie, “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!” Sanders, and let’s face it, he does resemble the character Howard Beale from the movie Network, the Republicans will vote for a grasshopper if that were their choice against those particular Democrat candidates of which Hillary will be the better motivator of Republican voters.
There is one item about Donald Trump which bears mentioning that everybody has been completely mum about, perhaps because it is such a solid argument for electing Donald Trump, the people he knows. Donald Trump may set the mood and to an amount the preferred direction of the government, but he will also have advisors which will be guided to some extent by their requiring to pass Senate affirmation which will require them to tolerate the inane gotchas questioning probably by mainstream Republicans as well as the Democrats; but there would be a way Trump can even beat that. First and foremost he will need to set the mood by appointing some well-established experts to some cabinet posts. Donald Trump has likely made more than his share of enemies but probably also has a fair number of friends or people who owe him favors, some really, really big favors. Some of them, probably more than we might think, are, very likely, experts, and recognized as such, in numerous fields. Imagine if he were to appoint a surgeon with an impeccable and respected record in his field who also had in his resume being the chief of surgery or higher office within a hospital and its surrounding systems being appointed Surgeon General and another well-respected physician who has a record working part of his life with doctors without borders as head of Health and Human Services. I am sure Trump knows and is owed favors by sufficient people who have great resumes with making deals with foreign countries as well as having taken over a number of companies and turning them around nominated as Secretary of Labor and a renowned retired politician with a strong resume in foreign affairs, a previous Ambassador to the United Nations for example, appointed as Secretary of State. Once such have been appointed and survived the Senate reputation assassination and been approved, then Trump could appoint some lesser known but very competent managers and similar types to run other departments. His advisors will likely be a who’s who of business leaders and those well versed in international affairs.
I am of sufficient age to remember two United States Presidents who exceeded expectations. The first was General Dwight Eisenhower who accomplished more than many give or gave him credit for. He passed legislation to have the interstate highway system modeled after the Autobahn as he realized in case of great emergency the government may need such a system to transport military units across the nation from one end to the other. He began another system which worked for a while but grew to the point where it affected the market and is currently a real problem and repeal may be required to have system stabilize and pricing to fall more within expectations and represent service provided and not funds which can be almost stolen, that was the Federal Military Education Act which provided tuition assistance in return for service either in the military, Peace Corps or other approved system and the scholarship or grant in fields needed by these areas such as physicians, surgeons, engineering, management and similar areas.
The other was a man who exuded charm and warmth but likely was not qualified to hold too many if any cabinet positions, Ronald Reagan. But what President Reagan knew was very intelligent people who could take care of the cabinet and also advise the President; and he appeared to show common sense or he had a secret conscience who advised him and who he completely trusted to decide for him, possibly Nancy or some astrologer or a Ouija Board. Whoever or whatever he had, it had a good record and he had people who protected him from harm, a particular Colonel Oliver North comes to mind who in the hearings over the Iran-Contra Affair all but literally fell on his sword taking all the blame and removing any need to search higher for the guilty person, he had taken that charge. That Trump can bring people, some very well established and taking the positions because they respect Trump, owe Trump, love America or whatever reason, the people he will surround himself with will very likely be of greater quality than he himself possesses and that might provide exactly what is needed in the immediate future, competent and wise guidance and management of the affairs and spending with all working with an eye on efficiency and quality while streamlining government as much as possible. This would be a good thing and might just bring the United States back from their current position, legs and arms swimming in the air suspended at a position just a wee bit out of reach and beyond the cusp and Trump with the right advisors in place might just be able to catch a branch and while still beyond the cusp in a position where a lifeline becomes an option instead of a freefall.
Now I would like to share a video we received and found to give a great argument and question one can ask any Israel basher to answer and then watch them squirm. I will give a one word answer which while not exactly applicable as the current globe was the intention of the question, there is a historic answer. Harvard law Professor Allan Dershowitz revealing the undeniable truth Israel-haters will never admit making their answering this single question all the more satisfying. Here’s A-a-a-a-a-Alan Dershowitz:
We would like to thank Professor Dershowitz for posing his very appropriate challenge and despite knowing he was demanding a modern example but as that was not stated, I have an answer for Professor Dershowitz as ‘Judea’ which after the defeat of Israel, which became the ten lost tribes, were obviously next. They survived the Assyrians but finally fell to Alexander the Great forces and bringing on the Hellenistic challenge which almost destroyed Judaism. The savior might have been the Maccabees and their revolt against the Hellenist Greeks who were one of the four Greek remnants who were amongst the Greek Empire forged by Alexander the Great, in this case the Seleucid Empire. But Judea was threatened even by Alexander the Great and finally revolted after, according to the story of Hanukkah, being forced to make a sacrifice to a Grecian god which was more than the Head Cohen of the small town, who initially grabbed a weapon and killed the Hellenized Jew who offered to make the sacrifice, and after he and his five sons killed the Greek soldiers and he then made the fateful cry, “Those who are with Hashem come with me.” He and his sons and after his death his sons carried out the guerilla warfare which led to the Greeks deciding the land was not worth the troubles and departed. That too was Judea.
In Israel there were two more Israeli men murdered in the terror war or intifada which has been exacerbated by a constant drumbeat of incitement from every corner and level of the Arab governance, the Palestinian Authority (PA) even including Mahmoud Abbas and the upper echelon of PA leadership to the preschool teacher and social media government and other posters who further the societal provocations along with many government salaried personnel providing media supplementations to the Third or Stabbing Intifada energized and foremost in the Arab mindset largely of the young adults, teens and even preteens. Then, as well, officials name streets, parks, soccer fields, schools, gymnasiums, official buildings and anything receiving a title or plaque as well as parades and anything their little minds and black hearts can dream up with the names honoring the worst of the worst terrorists who have killed large numbers of Israelis. We showed a video where Mahmoud Abbas was making a speech translated by Palestine Media Watch (PMW) in our article The Lie, the Temple, the Temple Mount and the Future After Jerusalem where he praises the terrorism and blesses the attacks, especially those where the attacker died as a shahids, and repeats the quote of the blessings heaped upon the Shahids including honors in the shahids’ family and they go to the best areas in heaven and granted seventy-two perpetual virgins who retain their virginity even after having sexual relations with their assigned shahids. There have still been a minimum of three attacks daily and usually a lot more. Just because it does not make the front page of every news reporting, is this the new normal for Israel and the world could not care less. Come summer the attacks per day will likely ramp up and by next fall if no serious consequences befall directly due to these deadly assaults will simply reach a daily average around ten to twelve. When Israel finally responds, that will be front page news and the world will gasp in horror over the response which should have been launched when the attacks first became news despite the world demanding Israel simply accept this as the price for existing. And before anyone asks, yes, it is insane to allow such attacks to be defined as normal because that sets the bar at least three to five Israelis murdered in the street every week. What makes this Intifada different is that PA television and radio broadcast are instigating for Israeli Arabs, specifically the youth, to rise up and murder their fellow countrymen as if it were a rite of passage and it has been working, especially when such attacks occur in Tel Aviv and Haifa.
Finally, the ceasefire in Syria has simply reduced the violence and not halted it completely. The refugees from this devastation continue to flood into Europe while their brothers and sisters across the Middle East continue to refuse them into their nations for resettlement. As the violence sweeps across Europe nation after nation will prevent them from crossing their borders. The Syrian war has also begun to spread as it has become the nexus for Sunni and Shia violence as some of these flames have begun to spread across the length and breadth of Europe as the sectarian war persists. It has spread to the fractious war in Libya, the struggle between Saudi Arabia and Iran in Yemen while going from a small war to a much larger confrontation even in Nahariya and this has instigated much more of the violence. There have been demands made that Israel be forced to take in her share of refugees and there was one resurrection by the Israelis to this series of events as they have progressed and occurred. The response might result in turning away even the flow of Arabs requiring medical assistance which will result in an increase of deaths around the spreading value as reporting of the violence simply will remain mute except for blaming Israel for the violence. The drift of the deadly music has danced across borders and crept into Israel where they have received medical treatment and are returned to the border and reputedly simply return to the fighting. There are those in the Arab world who desire flooding Israel with the refugees their mindless violence had produced simply to destroy Israel and have it resemble Syria and know that if they simply march ten million refugees through the fence and towards Tel Aviv and Jerusalem that there is nothing Israel will do to prevent them from entry as we cannot shoot them and such numbers would overwhelm any attempt to stop them in a manner which is nonviolent. May such a threat never be foisted upon us as that would be damning us because we choose life by using your love of death and you hoping we harm a hair on a single head so you can then condemn Israel before the world. The saddest part is you do not really care if we kill these people or take them in as they are of no value unless they can destroy Israel, and this is your idea of reaching salvation, how sad.
We wish there was an easy path to put the world to right, but it has never been nor will it remain that way for long. We will have a chance when men no longer strive to conquer the world and instead conquer diseases and inequities, and by inequities we do not mean different levels of wealth or pay grades but rather we end hunger, treat the mentally challenged and work towards a better world instead of trying to mold it and the people in it to match our idea of right. Maybe the time will come when all people are educated and can realize their dreams, as long as those dreams are not subjugating others or taking everything for your group and who cares about all others. We see a time when that can come true and we are not that far from reaching a virtual utopia. Unfortunately there are an equal if not greater number of those who would tear the world apart destroying most of what is fine and wonderful about the human spirit. Destruction will never beat the path to mankind realizing all that they can be, but mankind is a foolish group of people often incapable of rational thought. Mankind has the capacity for such greatness and such depravity and each calls the other fascist or starry eyed dreamer who is incapable of living productively. That was once the sole determiner if a person was worth living a life. They were the eugenicists and their idea of a perfect world was one in which only the talented would be permitted to breed and one would be required to have a license to reproduce and those considered too stupid or otherwise imperfect would be sterilized or worse. Imagine their idea of perfection where any child tested and found to be wanting would be relieved from having to live an impaired life. One had to measure up and pass muster at every point in life and if you got injured and were no longer fully capable they would have had you removed as you no longer were producing more than you cost the society. These eugenicists had a name for their political train of thought, Progressives. They believed in the Master race and it resembled the idea identical in all ways to a madman who also had the eugenicist dream of perfecting the human race, the human condition, as it was called. When we refer to a perfected world everybody is permitted to be the best them that they can and care to be. A world where in dreamers who dream big ideas are permitted their and those who simply dream while lying in a field chewin’ on a piece of straw also are allowed to look at clouds and count the animals he can see them depict. We see a world which has reached such a state through automation reaching a point and science has invented power plants which are using renewable fuels and all those dreamed of things which would perfect the human condition to allow spirits to soar and people who are childlike to retain their innocence. A world without hunger and rivalries are tested in a mutually enriching manner. But perhaps those are simply the dreams of an old fool and the world will always have its cursed who strive to place all under their rules and their philosophy leaving no room for free thought or actions other than the strict line which is defined as a straight and narrow path. A world where there is but one book and it is law and there can be no other. Such a world will be stifling and eventually the human spirit will rebel and it will start with an act of defiance which will grow until dreamers can dream and fools can play their games of dreams and have dreams of games. When will this future utopia arrive? Perhaps it will come about in 2050 and perhaps never and that, we are afraid to say, our friends, but that depends on what happens here and now and in the next twelve years. Mankind is on the brink of greatness and at the same time staring into the brink of a dark and endless void as we walk along what may as well be the edge of a blade. If we can keep a balance in the world and there are no overwhelmingly destructive forces which succeed in forcing complete uniformity including thought and beliefs, then mankind might make that final leap into a bold future, all we need to do is get beyond that cusp which is almost within our grasp. Honestly, we see a world of wonder and greatness and a world of sorrows over what might have been if only. In one we may all want to live forever and be able to and in the other death will be an escape for far too many but it will be a world where lives are wasted in submission. The problem is which path do we choose for greatness and which path leads to ruin? There within lied the dilemma going forward and we must choose which cusp to cross and once we have we will only be able to hope that we went beyond the cusp which leads to progress though not necessarily the world of those early twentieth century Progressives, but a world which will have progressed beyond hate and death and war and into a celebration of life and how life made us all so very different. We can only wonder if we can ever reach a point where we can celebrate each other despite our being different. Let us hope for the best and guard against the worst and pray we all reach that promise of lands free of want, without hatred and free to choose and be different, that is the place where we all can celebrate.
Beyond the Cusp
Beyond the Cusp 