Sunday, July 24, 2016

Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton

My thoughts...mine alone. Not meant to interfere. No money was distributed, no attempt is being made to infiltrate the US to undermine any campaign (as compared to what the Obama administration did during the last Israeli elections).

I'm smart enough to know that if we were stupid enough to attempt this, America...or what is left of it...would respond to us as we responded to Obama (Israel's Message to Obama).

So, I offer my thoughts...and mine alone...on the choice between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton:

I am more amazed by the endless need to attack the other person that typifies almost all Facebook posts. And the only posts I've seen the have been positive about either candidate are usually lies. The best single post I've seen is quite simple "We're Screwed, 2016".

I have been accused of being interested in only one aspect of the US elections - how the candidate relates to Israel. I can't totally deny this because while I believe which candidate you choose will impact on your future economic situation and perhaps some personal freedoms, I don't think the very lives of most Americans hangs on the balance of how the next election goes.

Potentially every Israeli life, including and especially the soldiers of Israel, could be on the line. I am proud of my country, Israel, for taking the necessary steps and cultivating other relationships outside the one with the US. This will be needed if Clinton is elected.

But I will also tell you that again and again, I see that what happens to Israel first, spreads to the rest of the world. We lived through terrible days of suicide bombing attacks, now they are very rare in Israel (thank God and the IDF). While terrorism is still a reality in Israel, far more attacks are averted or mitigated by our strong and constant attempts to fight it. We watch as horrible things happen in Brussels, Orlando, London, San Bernadino, Paris, Nice, and now Munich. Left unchecked, terror will spread and spread. And who the US chooses in this election, will likely have a direct impact on how the US fights terror (or even if it fights terror), in the coming years.

What boggles the mind is how many of you now agree Obama was a disaster, just as we here in Israel said he would be, but are prepared to go with Clinton when we say the same thing about her and the policies she will implement, the people she will empower. Fool us once, shame on him...and Obama did. Fool us twice even, shame on him...and Obama did. Fool you three times, and Clinton will, shame on you.

At some point, however, you can't fight stupid. Do what you gotta do, America. The world is watching. Your society is imploding. It is horrible to watch from outside. Those of us who live in Israel by choice still care deeply for the US and it is very painful to sit here and watch you choose between two such horrendous options. Worse, to watch as you pick the worst of the worse.

Clinton has now picked a Vice President who has a clear anti-Israel position. Oh yeah, he'll mouth the words about supporting our backs...just like Obama did. But like Obama and Clinton, they despise the Israeli government, and the vibrant Israeli democracy that brought it to power.

I firmly believe that in four years, if you elect Clinton, America will be weaker and more isolated, thousands more will have died in terror attacks. As for Israel, you may not believe this next statement, but I do...we here in Israel will be fine. We are strong. We love this land and will defend it.

Four years ago, when Obama was re-elected, I wanted Israel to send the US a message, "God bless you and keep you safe...see you in four years."

Well, it's four years later. If Clinton is elected, I hope we'll send that message because there will be no reason to attempt a closer relationship. Israel gets financial aid...yeah, we do...and we paid for that aid right back in many ways. It is not at all clear that Israel needs the US more than the US needs Israel - ask your military...or what is left of it after Obama has systematically worked to destroy it.

Look at the innovation coming out of Israel. I'll tell you a secret...ready? What you see is nothing compared to what is happening here. You've seen pieces of it - Iron Dome - that WE developed, to meet and knock missiles out of the sky to protect our people, and now a Tunnel Discovery technology that is finding and destroying Hamas tunnels.

What else is there? Don't worry - there's more. We'll deal with what we have to, no matter who you elect. With great disgust and sadness, I hope it will be Donald Trump.

I hope it will be Donald Trump, because I'd rather stand with the United States before the Russians, the Germans, Asians and Africans.

I hope it will be Donald Trump, because a united stand against Iran is the only way out of the dangers ahead that would (and will) be presented by a nuclear Iran. My country will fly alone if it has to but it would be better for the west if it wasn't Israel alone.

I hope it will be Donald Trump, because I don't think the US military can survive another years of Obama under a new name.

I hope it will be Donald Trump, because he is a Washington outsider and it's time to bring in someone from the outside to change the corruption that has robbed America of so much of its greatness.

I hope it will be Donald Trump, because Israel is an important ally and deserves better treatment than it got from Obama or will get from Clinton and Caine, who supported Obama's ongoing attempts to humiliate and insult Israel's leaders.

I hope it will be Donald Trump, because the alternative is so much worse and because the next few years will force America to deal with very similar problems that Europe is struggling with right now...in places like Paris, Nice, Brussels, London, and Munich.

I hope it will be Donald Trump...

I hope it won't be Hillary Clinton. I hope it won't be Tim Kaine.

8 comments:

  1. I understand your point of view as well as those who feel Hilary, in this election, is better.

    I can't abide either so my choice is with neither.

    However one point I'd like to make is that those who trashed Trump made him more palatable in my mind.

    Why? Because I found most of what they said negatively about him was misstated, twisted, distortions or outright lies.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Paula! If you feel so strongly about Trump, come back here and live under his repressive, homophobic, racist,xenophobic administration.

    ReplyDelete
  3. James Bernstein - actually, none of your name-calling tags actually fit Trump either at all, or enough to make him a less qualified, less attractive alternative to Clinton. I don't believe Trump is perfect, that should be clear from the above article along with a series of other articles where I gave specific reasons why I hoped Trump would not be the Republican option and why I hoped Hillary wouldn't be either.

    Having said that, it is naive to think that the US President and the US Administration has no affect on others in the world. Israel is directly affected by US decisions and therefore those of us who have a right to vote, should do so. Barak Obama worked very hard and probably broke some laws to try to change the outcome of our elections; all we are doing is legally voting as US citizens.

    I currently live under the repressive, anti-Semitic, anti-Israel doctrines of Obama and the State Department and my country is paying for the votes of people like Tim Kaine. And while your concerns might be related to economics and perhaps the quality of life, mine is related to life itself as we are currently in physical danger from Iran...something that Kaine and Clinton support; and Europe is being overrun by those seeking to harm the freedom of people in several countries...something that you might want to consider as a factor in your choice.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Paula - I couldn't agree with you more. Trump was not my choice for the Republican candidate, and while I worry about many of the choices he may make, I know Hillary will make mostly the wrong - and the dangerous for the West, including Israel - choices. What pushed me over the top was learning that Trump's two Israel policy advisers played a major role in crafting the incredibly strong Republican Platform plank on Israel. And unlike some others, I am not more interested in the integrity of the Republican party than I am in the continued existence of Israel and of a recognizable America. #NeverHillary, which means I will do my part and vote for Trump. WWW.JewsChooseTrump.Org

    ReplyDelete
  5. The next president?
    Donald Trump?
    Hillary Clinten?

    God knows.

    Who needs Trump?
    Israel?
    May be, we think so.

    God?
    No. Never. No way.

    Can Hillary be a problem?
    For Israel?
    May be, we think so.

    For God?
    No. Never. No way.

    What do we have to do?
    Trust in God.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm not happy with either one...and wishfully hoping a 3rd party candidate will get enough electoral votes and it will go to Paul Ryan ..that will not happen. The slim hope for American ( and I use that term loosely) is Trump. I invite you to read Russ Sneider's post on fb.concerning this election..although this is his view, it is enlightening.





    ReplyDelete
  7. An excellent post dear Paula. Sadly, this election is clearly choosing the lesser of two evils. I absolutely abhor both candidates, but cannot in good conscience vote for a pathological liar who endangered American lives with a server in her basement and then lied about the 30,000+ emails she deleted. That's without mentioning Benghazi. Trump has a BIG mouth and is egotistical but he's a businessmen who's an outsider in D.C. which is a plus. I hope he'll bring in smart people who exceed in their fields to help him navigate his way. I hate having to vote for him, but the alternative is untenable. Bravo on a superb article!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Dear Paula...

    Please note that if Hillary Clinton becomes the president of the United States, not only will Israel suffer but all of America will as well. To that you might want to add the rest of the globe. No one has to call her names. We know who she is and what she has done or undone and what she will do. Just like what many of us knew even prior to the nomination of Mr. Obama's first term. (I cannot call him president because an American President does not act against his or her own citizens.)

    And those of us who unequivocally support the Jewish State I send a message to Israelis that at the first sign of major upheaval and even more chaos and anti-Semitism than we're experiencing, many of us could well become your neighbors. In your neighborhoods. It's time for all American Jews to at least think about aliyah before the next ax falls.

    Ron Ruthfield

    ReplyDelete

Sorry to require verification, but I'm tired of deleting comments in Chinese trying to spam the blog. Please bear with me and enter the code. Sorry.