Sunday, March 26, 2017

The Peanut Gallery

Statements, comments and forecasts that have no substance, but just might turn out to be relevant.

1.When James Comey stated before congress that there was a criminal investigation into co-operation between the Trump camp and the Russians, he put the cat amongst the pigeons...deliberately. All the leaks emanating from the intelligence services are designed to sow panic amongst potential targets. It works....and sooner rather than later it will be every man for himself. General Michael Flynn has probably been offered a deal and is chirping to whomever will listen. Note that he is the only target that has not volunteered to testify before the intelligence committee. The plot thickens! 

2.The IDF is preparing contingency plans for a post ISIS era. ISIS will eventually be crushed  as a militarily power (although I suspect they will continue to live on in the minds of potential terrorists). Other groups will replace them on the ground...Al Qaeda and Hezbollah jump to mind. With one potential caliphate weakened, the Shiite caliphate, Iran and its satellites Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and others will try and seize the advantage. COMMENT: Israel and its new coalition partners in the Sunni world are readying for this new threat and we can expect to see more activity, especially on the Golan, in Syria and Lebanon.

3.TOI: "The head of a Lebanon-based United Nations agency that promotes development in Arab countries resigned Friday, after the body she led was ordered by the UN secretary-general to remove from its website a controversial report that charged Israel has established an “apartheid regime” guilty of “racial domination” over the Palestinians." The report was compiled by Richard Falk, a Princeton professor with a history of Israel demonization. COMMENT: The Trump administration is finally starting to function. Go Nikki Haley! A victory for truth!

4 Amos Gilad, the former head of the Defense Ministry’s political affairs bureau, credits Israel’s security with its relationship with its Arab neighbors. “All our security services have great relationships with Arab countries. That’s an incredible asset for Israel,” he says, referring to Egypt and Jordan, as well as “other” unnamed Arab nations. COMMENT: This also includes the relationships with Arab communities in Judea and Samaria. "Tough" guys like Trump would do well to take note of this.

5.Foreign ministers from 68 countries are convening in Washington on March 22 to discuss the fight against the Islamic State, Reuters reported. The meeting of the U.S.-led coalition against the group – the first since President Donald Trump's election – will focus on Mosul, where Iraqi security forces are locked in a major battle against the Islamic State, and the upcoming fight for the group's de facto capital of Raqqa. COMMENT: Another indication that despite the noise, Trump's national security team is operational quietly "oblivious"  of the fact that they are implementing the Obama plan. 

6.During a 2012 election debate with Republican nominee Mitt Romney, President Barack Obama laughed at the idea Russia posed any threat to the United States. “Not Al Qaeda, you said Russia,” Obama continued. “The 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back because you know, the Cold War has been over for 20 years.” COMMENT: Now who's laughing? Words matter...the truth matters even more...but misguided intellectual arrogance in a US president can be deadly!

7.The State of Texas and the Samaria Regional Council signed a cooperation agreement Wednesday to share information and expertise on agriculture and water technology. The head of the Samaria Regional Council Yossi Dagan said, "This is a significant move that sends an unequivocal message to those attempting to boycott Israel. COMMENT: The Trump footprint is definitely having a positive effect in Israel.

8.There are more millionaires than ever in the United States. As of the end of 2016, there were a record 10.8 million millionaires nationwide, according to a new study from Spectrem Group's Market Insights Report 2017. That's more than ever before and marks a 400,000 person increase from the previous year. COMMENT: The new American middle class and the American dream compliments of debt and a devalued dollar!

9. No Peanut Gallery would be complete without a comment on the healthcare debacle. Its time for Trump and his supporters to sober up and reach out to democrats in order to repair Obamacare. The ACA is here to stay and regardless of the hogwash and tweets emanating from the White House, Trump now owns Obamacare. He would do well to understand that when it comes to healthcare there are no Republicans or Democrats. 

As every scuba diver knows, panic is your worst enemy: when it hits, your mind starts to thrash and you are likely to do something really stupid and self-destructive -  Daniel Dennett

Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves; vanity, to what we would have others think of us - Jane Austen

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt - Abraham Lincoln

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