ISRAEL, PALESTINE AND ANTI SEMITISM RETHOUGHT

In the wake of the cease fire in yet another bout of senseless killing and destruction between the Israelis and Palestinians there is an urgency to re examine the conflict and look to a change in the paradigm to resolve the impasse. Simplistic solutions abound for the complex situation that exists in the Middle East mess as the cycles of violence repeat and repeat themselves. Misconceptions of history flourish forgetting the cut and paste solutions of the colonial powers of that locale at the beginning of the twentieth century. Also there are attempts to pretend that the past did not exist. There are many wrongs none of which make a right. 

 Israel's existence itself evokes strong emotions and incidents there create waves of antisemitism with the strangest bedfellows forming coalitions. There is also, to a certain extent, a lack of awareness of the fact that the Sunni/Shia vendetta is reflected in the Palestinian Israeli conflict and a total denial that there is no common cause between Hamas and Abbas. Barely mentioned in the analysis of the recent conflagration was the key role of three individuals, Israel’s Netanyahu and his thug henchman Gvir and Hamas’s military leader opportunist Dief without whom there wouldn't have been a war. (See Blog ISRAEL, HAMAS AND NETANYAHU).

RECENT HISTORY.

The current mantra and bedrock argument by the Palestinians and their supporters is that Israel has no legitimacy and that the Israelis should go back to where they came from. This sentiment was unequivocally restated by the co founder of Hamas, Mahmoud Al - Zahar in an interview with Sky News on May 24, 2021. This should come as no surprise as like Iran and Hezbollah they have as part of their constitutions wiping Israel of the map. 

The Palestinians are depicted as the persecuted Jews and the Israelis are depicted as the Nazis. In the light of the current day criticism of the very existence of a Jewish State it is important to revisit certain indisputable facts of its establishment.

There is no need to go back four millennia as to the historic “justification” for a Jewish presence but just to the nineteenth century and twentieth century when the land which represents “Palestine” was under control of the Ottoman Empire and then became the mandate of the British Empire. Historically there was never a country named Palestine which was ruled by Arabs. While there were always Jews in the area even following their expulsion by the Romans in 70 CE. a succession of five Aliya’s, (Jewish immigrations) starting in the 1880’s arising out of persecution of Jews predominantly in Russia and Eastern Europe, populated the area, When anti semitism reached a peak in Western Europe with the Dreyfus case the Balfour Declaration in 1917 ceded a Jewish Homeland in the “Palestine” territory, which should exist side by side with one for the Arabs. 

The largest influx of Jews to Israel followed the second World War when survivors from Europe flooded in soon to be followed by caravans of Jews from the Arab countries where they were thrown out.

 

Following World War I the League of Nations ceded the mandate of the territory to the United Kingdom. The latter managed the land limiting the inflow of Jewish refugees as a result of Arab pressure. The fifth Aliyah resulted in the largest prewar influx of Jews, two hundred and fifty thousand, as a result of the Nazi movement and accession to power in 1933. By 1939 there were both Jewish, (Israeli) and Arab, (Palestinian), National movements. In the Second World War the Arabs sided with the Nazis and the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, operating from Berlin, was responsible for pro Nazi propaganda. The Jews of the area volunteered on the side of the Allies. Following the defeat of the Axis powers the British ceded their mandate and in 1947 the newly formed United Nations declared the territory to be divided into two States with the areas occupied by each to delineate the boundaries. (It is fair to say that had the Axis Powers won the war the whole territory would have been straight out ceded to the Arabs). 

While the Israelis accepted the United Nations decision it was both the local Arabs, (Palestinians), and five Arab nations that refused point blank to the concept of two nations and attacked the Jews in the area that they controlled and resided. The majority of the Palestinian Arabs either fled or were forced out by the war that ensued. Those that remained behind are citizens of Israel to this day. What has to rate as a miracle was that the rag bag Israeli army defeated the aggressors and gained a small amount of territory. The group now known as the Palestinians were under the control of Arab nations - Gaza by Egypt and the West Bank by Jordan. No attempt was made to integrate the Palestinians into the Arab nations. Put another way for decades the Palestinians were “used” by the Arab nations as a wedge against the Jewish State of Israel. 

 In 1967 following threats by the Arab nations and their forcing out a UN presence, Israel, in the Six Day War smashed the Arab armies and gained territory - the Golan Heights, Gaza, the West Bank and the Sinai Peninsula.  All the while Israel maintained as a cardinal policy the decision of the United Nations of a two state solution. Following yet another major attack by the Arab nations in 1976 Israel narrowly won the Yom Kippur war. In the aftermath, in return for peace Israel returned the Sinai Peninsula with all its oil back to Egypt.

To short circuit the history a bit, in 2000 at Camp David at a meeting convened by President Clinton the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak conceded every point that Yasser Arafat demanded. While nothing was signed Clinton and his negotiators unequivocal understanding was that Arafat accepted the outcome. Politically, Arafat’s response was to initiate the Second Intifada. The Clinton summit had been preceded by the Oslo Accords 1993 to 1995 where Israeli Prime Minister Olmert was in pursuit of fulfilling the United Nations resolutions  creating a two state solution. There was one final gesture in 2005 when Prime Minister Ariel Sharon evacuated a flourishing Gaza and gave it over to the Palestinians to govern and run. Sharon even got Israeli soldiers to forcibly remove Settler groups from the area. Then came the reign of Bibi Netanyahu who had no intention of carrying out a two state solution.

In the light of the preceding history Jay H. Ell, who has no time at all for Netanyahu can understand why he was successful at abandoning any pretense of wanting a Palestinian State and he accommodated those who believed that the territory belonged to the Jews and sanctioned more and more Settlements. Bibi’s policies galvanized the Palestinian opposition in Gaza and strengthened the Iran backed Hamas group who attacked Israeli citizens indiscriminately. So confrontation followed confrontation with weaponry, walls and iron domes making the fight more and more one sided and now we are where we are. 

The most recent outcome of a war wanted by both Bibi and Hamas has given Hamas the martyrdom status that it needed at the expense of its citizenry and the death of its children. The narrative however is the same old same old that Israel is illegitimate and that they are fascist genocidal neo colonial pigs. It is interesting to note who make up the coalition of that mantra. 

THE PRO PALESTINIAN COALITION 

As world wide protests against Israel took place in the wake of the eleven day war anti semitic incidents including violence increased exponentially. For the most part those that attack Israel are attacking its right to exist and not its internal politics. The anti Israeli coalition ain’t what it used to be as a result of the Sunni - Shia split. The Gulf Arab States, Egypt and Jordan have both formal and informal relationships with Israel in the fight against the Shia countries led by Iran and its ally Russia. Also the governments of the world have grown tired at the futility of intervening. Hamas has complained that it had been abandoned at that level. Rather, for the most part Hamas’s support comes from activist groups and a hodge podge of entities with differing agendas, some of which are far from pure.

The blurring between support for the Palestinians and Israel’s right to exist and anti semitism is outlined in an article in The Guardian by Keith Khan- Harris. This piece must be viewed in the light of a mass protest in London against Israel’s attack on Hamas with the collateral civilian damage. The fact that the United Nations Relief and Work Agency after an inspection of Israel’s response to the four thousand rockets fired indiscriminately at it, stated that the Israeli attacks were “precise”, is ignored. No one mentions that the Hamas military installations are deliberately located in civilian structures with the inevitable collateral killings of children and citizenry, rather they label the latter genocide. It is also conveniently ignored that Hamas, Iran and Hezbollah have as a central mission the destruction of Israel. 

While antisemitic incidents rose dramatically nowhere was this more pronounced than in London where motorcades with Palestinian flags drove through Jewish neighborhoods terrorizing inhabitants and desecrating synagogues. Mr. Khan - Harris states the question is whether these protests attract anti semites or whether they are outright anti semitic.

Then Kahn - Harris enumerates the attendees at the London rally which ranged from known anti semites, wearers of Saddam Hussein teeshirts and bearers of Turkey flags. The far left as well as the concerned left were present whose number included many Jews. Jeremy Corbin whose known anti semitic proclivities have been condemned was a key speaker. In America particularly there were large numbers of Muslims few of whom have come out in active protest against the genocides perpetrated by Assad in Syria who literally slaughtered hundreds of thousands of Muslims nor the Uyghur genocide in China nor anywhere else. 

Khan - Harris didn’t mention the far right who are a key component of other actions whose sole motivation is anti semitism. 

The late Rabbi Jonathan Sacks likened anti semitism to a virus that mutated according to the political realities of the time. First it was on the basis of religion and then race in Germany. Today it is on the basis of the nation state of Israel. There is no real attempt to criticize policy but an attack on the existence of the Jewish nation state and all Jews, regardless of their opinions, everywhere. What did the Jews in a supermarket that were slaughtered in France have to do with Israel or the congregants of a Pittsburgh Synagogue whose only crime was providing support to refugees stranded at the Mexican border?

What should be worrying Israeli politicians is that the Jews in America that make up nearly half of the Jewish world population are less and less enchanted with Netanyahu’s Israel. The latter does not share the values that they associate with their faith. This is reflected in the stance of several legislators in the Democratic Party who don’t back Biden’s traditional unconditional support. The latter too has made it quite clear the American Government expects the Israeli policies to change especially in relation to their own citizens. The United States also appear to be going to act more evenhandedly in the future. 

SOLUTIONS.

It is fair to say that the Palestinian politicians never wanted a two State solution and more recently they have been joined by Bibi Netanyahu’s government. The Palestinian position has been aided and abetted by the United Nations who have not told them to get their act together and form one nation. Who does Israel ostensibly belong to Hamas or Abbas? Hamas has spent the major part of their budget on military assets and place all the blame of their poverty on Israel. 

Notwithstanding the aforementioned Israel are not blameless. Over the last decade and a half they have increased settlements which if not legally part of a future Palestinian State are morally so. In addition Israel has to rectify the second class status of their own Arab citizens pronto. The present Government need to ban terrorists, like Gvir, from becoming Knesset members. 

One State solutions will end in apartheid with Gaza and The West Bank becoming Bantustans. On the other hand to expect Israel to accept seven hundred thousand Palestinian families is akin to telling America to give back California to the Mexicans. There just has to be some form of a two state outcome

Z’ev Jabotinsky founder of the Jewish Revisionist Party and the idol and icon of the right wing Likud Party long before the establishment of Israel muted a binational State where an Arab State would operate alongside an Israeli one. His solution, written in 1934 was radical to say the least by modern day standards, even believing in a joint government where “The two communities would share the State’s duties…”. The Jews and the Arabs would have equal status and alternate the Premiership! The principle however is a valid one. The Palestinians will have self government and there would be obvious sharing of services like electricity. The devil will certainly be in the details and it is a terrible option but all the others are worse. Also to have a true binational solution both sides have to have, as Jabotinsky argued, "equal status". 

Before a binational state can become a reality there has to be a vast change from the Netanyahu world view in Israel. On the Palestinian side Abbas has to hold elections. If Hamas wins then there’ll be one negotiating partner. An Abbas victory would give him and Fatah some much needed credibility. The Palestinians have to know that they have been given another  chance at survival. They need a hundred million dollars to rebuild Gaza and Iran is not going to give it to them. Biden has offered to broker the concept but he knows the Congress will not pass it without strings and participation of other allies. The European Union have already bucked at the prospect of giving one cent. The Gulf States haven’t offered so it will be left to the Western democracies. After the protests and the orgies of anti semitism what will Hamas have to show for their efforts - dependency on the Americans to rebuild their nation? 

Any movement from the status quo depends on Israel who hold all the cards. In the assessment of Fareed Zakaria they are the super power of the Middle East both economically and militarily. They were founded as a Jewish State on the principles of morality and justice. The country needs a Government of national unity inclusive of Arab Israelis. Negotiations with the Palestinians need to start and need to include religious leaders as at bottom this is a religious war as well. Where is former Chief Rabbi of Israel Rabbi Lau now that he is needed? There are Muslim Imams who also are imbued with peace. 

AT THE END OF THE DAY

The State of Israel is a legitimate and legal entity. It has been sanctioned by the League of Nations and its successor the United Nations. Furthermore it has successfully defended itself against the allies of the Palestinians in several wars. It is not a land grab by the Jews. 

As the powerhouse of the Middle East the onus is on Israel to initiate and try to resolve this seventy five year old dispute. it has a moral and self serving interest to do so. Israel has to show empathy with the Palestinians citizenry who are to this day pawns of more powerful nations. 

Governments throughout the world need to recognize and act on the anti - semitism that is spreading like a pandemic - “What starts with discrimination against the Jews never ends with them only”. 

ISRAEL, HAMAS AND NETANYAHU

 

The recent flare up in the Middle East, which involves both a Civil and a Regional war, is both straight forward and complex. It needs to be assessed as to what the political mileu was and what the impact was in Israel, the Palestinian territories, the region and the world. In addition the roles played of the key dramatis personae, especially Bibi Netanyahu, Mohammed Dief, Head of the Military wing of Hamas and Ben Gvir, an ultra right wing Israeli Knesset member who has a picture in his office of terrorist Baruch Goldstein, who murdered twenty - nine Palestinians. 

The incidents leading up to the confrontation need to be spelt out and have resulted in hundreds dead in Gaza over ten in Israel and thousands of rockets fired. Jay H. Ell believes this disaster didn't happen in a vacuum. To quote Thomas Friedman of the New York Times, ".... Just as a mob was unleashed by President Donald Trump to ransack our Capitol on January 6 in a last ditch effort to prevent a healing unifier from becoming president, so Bibi and Hamas exploited or nutured their own mobs to prevent an unprecedented national unity government from emerging in Israel - a cabinet that for the first time would have included Israeli Jews and Arab Muslims together..."

JUST TOO MANY COINCIDENCES

It will be seen that it stretches credulity that it was coincidence that the focus for the civil and regional wars was the emotional city of Jerusalem, which has religious connections to all faiths and is resident to Israeli Jews and Israeli Arabs. Ground zero was the plaza where the Muslim Asqa mosque is situated, (known to the Jews as Temple Mount), which structure abuts the Western Wall of the Second Temple and is the site of both the first and second temples. Abraham is said to have offered Isaac as a sacrifice at the site while Mohammed is believed to have ascended to heaven from there.

  In contention as well was housing in East Jerusalem which Arabs have occupied since 1948. All this taking place in the holy month of Muslim Ramadan and where three significant holidays in Israel are celebrated - Memorial Day to commemorate Israeli soldiers who died in defending the country, Jerusalem Day which salutes the unification of Jerusalem in 1967 and the Festival of Shavout, the day God gave Moses the Ten Commandments. The Israeli Arabs also honor Nakba Day which signifies the displacement of seven hundred thousand Palestinians in 1948 as well as the month long holy Ramadan.

The scenario was dripping with religious and racial overtones just right for some arsonists to light a fire and throw petrol on it.

THE EVOLUTION OF TWO WARS - ONE CIVIL THE OTHER REGIONAL

In April Israel launched a cyber attack on Iran. Iran is currently Hamas's most paramount supporter. Iran threatend retaliation. April was also the month that Bibi was struggling to form a governing coalition. The principle reasons for his failure was the religious right refusing to sit in the same coalition with Arab Israelis and the abandonment by two of his partners. Somehow Netanyahu had to get the right wing and center parties that had deserted him back. 

APRIL 13 Israeli police officers entered the Asqa Mosque and cut the microphone cords that blast out the prayers across the area. This was the first day of Ramadan and also Israeli Memorial Day where speeches were to be made at the nearby Western Wall. The police also closed down the plaza near Damascus Gate where Palestinians gather in Ramadan.

APRIL 21 The Lehava right wing rabid anti assimilation group begins its attacks on Arab groups. They are led by Ben Gvir. This was the beginning of several confrontations in integrated cities such as Lod, Acre and Jaffa. Soon Arab vigilantes did likewise. The Israeli Police Commissioner within the earshot of Netanyahu stated that it was the extreme right wing religious groups led by Gvir that were responsible. He stated that everytime that a situation appeared to be under control Gvir and his mob would stir up the flames.

APRIL 23 The first rockets fly into Israel and are easily intercepted by the iron dome. 

APRIL 25 There appears to be some stepping back by Netanyahu as the police lift their ban on gatherings of Arabs. However the rioting, looting and alleged police brutality continues as the protests of the removal of Arab families from their East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheik Jarrah heats up as the date, MAY 10 to hear their appeal in the Supreme Court

 neared. (The court was persuaded to postpone the hearings in order to try not to escalate the situation).

APRIL 25 This is also the day that the ante is racked up big time by Hamas. Mohammed Dief, head of the military wing of Hamas who threatened even more rockets, having decided to become the defender of Jerusalem. Hamas's position suddenly strengthens as the Gaza population had become restless in that they never saw any of the Qatar money that had come in monthly, presumably to stop them from attacking. 

APRIL 29 Mahmoud Abbas head of the Palestinian authority and situated on the West Bank once again postpones elections fearing defeat from a rejuvenated Hamas.

MAY 5 As Netanyahu has failed to form a Government President Rivlin invites Yair Lapid to do so. It looks promising as two major parties that were in Netanyahu's coalition are backing him and enough Arab Israelis are willing to join.

MAY 7 The police inexplicably raid the Asqa mosque again on the last day of Ramadan with tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets. The wars are now on for real and escalation is the name of the game. The rockets really start to fly to an extent never seen before and ten percent are penetrating the Iron Dome inflciting death and damage in Israel. Both Arab and Israeli vigilantes continue their confrontations

MAY 17 Nakba day and Shavout and both the wars intensify.....

MAY 18 The West Bank Palestinians join the Israeli Arabs in a strike in support of Hamas. Two more Israelis are killed and the Israeli Defense Force talk about diminishing returns. 

NETANAYHU'S RESPONSE

Netanyahu "thanked" Hamas for uniting the country as his band of hooligans stoked more confrontations within the country. In answer to the Sheik Jarrah evictions, this was a "real estate" issue. He stated further, "Jerusalem is Israel's capitol. We have the right to build there. That is what we have done and that is what we will continue to do". The rationale for reclaiming the Arab homes was that Jews lived there prior to 1948. On that basis he has no moral right to keep out the seven hundred thousand Palestinians who also had places of abode before 1948.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Olmert opined that maybe Netanyahu didn't want a war with Hamas but he wanted the "passions to boil". He didn't add that he, Dief and Gvir had agendas and everyone's objectives were being met. This is not the first time that Netanyahu has been accused of inflammatory behavior which had dire consequences. He was outright blamed for creating the climate that resulted in Yitchak Rabin's assassination following the Oslo accords. 

For the moment Lapid has been stopped in his tracks. Bennett a former Netanyahu coalition partner is talking to Bibi because of the crisis situation and the Arab participants are holding back from discussions.

The longest standing Prime Minister was once asked what he wanted his legacy to be, "Israel's security", he answered, Does he seriously think this is the war to end all wars and he has brought peace within the land? Netanyahu should have answered more truthfully that his own aggrandizement, power and wealth came first.

REGIONAL AND WORLD RESPONSE

The regional response ain't what it used to be. The Arab Sunni are aligned with Israel against the Shia Muslims led by Iran. Likewise international pressure other than from the Civil Rights groups isn't so deafening. USA and the European Union have long ago declared Hamas a terrorist group and everyone is bored with Mahmoud Abbas's impotence. However the growing disparity in death and destruction is forcing world leaders to act in one way or another. 

The USA is where this matters most. (Even there Covid, and Trump's "The Big Lie" are bigger news items). Biden's statements up till May 16 were calls for peace and backing Israel's right to defend themselves. The Democratic Party are not all ad idem. Netanyahu's name is mud ever since he smeared Obama in a Joint Session of Congress as an invitee of the Republicans. Also the Democratic Party has moved more left. Half of the Democratic legislators have indicated that this unconditional support of Israel is unacceptable. It is actually a miracle that Biden has been so supportive because Bibi humiliated him when he was on an official visit to Israel to discuss differences, notably about settlements. The Israeli Government announced an extension of the latter while he was there. 

With the escalation of civilian casualties Biden supported a ceasefire on May 17. If Biden's behind the scenes efforts don't help he will have to at least issue a joint statement with the Security Council. 

Between Israel and the USA ninety percent of the world Jewry reside. There are about eight million in Israel and about a million less in the US. However in the US they represent less than two and a half percent of the general population. Of those seventy to eighty percent vote for the Democratic Party. Large numbers of the Jewish population are more and more dissaproving of Israel's current policies. In addition the largest religious groups are Conservative and Reform and have had two major disputes with the Netanyahu coalition. As the latter are totally beholden to the strictly Orthodox for power they have stuck to their rules about marriage, conversion and the like. In short they don't recognize the non Orthodox on these issues. In addition Bibi offered to open a new part of the Westen Wall to women and men to pray together which has been kiboshed. Israel's largest support comes from the Christian Evangelicals who believe that for the Messiah to return Israel has to exist.

Whichever way this sordid period in Israeli history is viewed it will not help Israel's image or standing in the free world. All that matters to Bibi is that it will help him. 

WHAT WILL AND WILL NOT CHANGE WHEN THIS IS OVER

Whatever the outcome will be, the demographic composition of Israel and Jerusalem will not change and Israel will still be a nation state. There will be eight million Jews in Israel and two million Arab Israelis while the populations in Jerusalem will be six hundred thousand Jews and approximately three hundred and seventy thousand Arabs. The loss of blood and treasure won't change what the wars were ostensibly about.

The Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank likewise are going nowhere. This war has united them in a manner yet experienced and has strengthened Hamas and weakened Abbas.

The question of how everyone has to live together in peace has become exponentially harder. Bibi if he survives this could have a permanent civil war situation. Hamas may have an angrier society but they will be hungrier and poorer. 

There is no way that Israel will agree to the return of the seven hundred thousand Palestinians that were displaced in 1948 when five Arab nations attempted to wipe the new Israeli nation of the map. That is about as likely as the Arab countries who forced eight hundred thousand Jews out inviting them to return.

Bibi Netanyahu in order to cling to power has made deals with religious fundamentalists, settler groups and more lately engineered a move to get Ben Gvir of the Religious Zionist Party into the Knesset. Gvir is a vowed segregationist who wants Arabs and Christians out of Israel. There have been attempts to outlaw his organisation as being terrorist. Any hope Netanyahu has of remaining in power is still based on the support of these extremist groups.

Whichever way this is viewed Hamas is a terrorist organization and Israel has every right to defend itself while Israel is a dual ethnic society where Arab Israelis may have the vote but they have every right not to be treated as second class citizens, not to be harassed or discriminated against. 

AT THE END OF THE DAY

Lapid still has a few weeks to persuade the coalition groups that their initial assessment that Bibi had to go is even more valid after this debacle. Lapid is arguing that and there is no unanimous support and solidarity in Israel with this latest conflagration. These wars are getting old and tragic. Some cannot be helped but this one need not have happened. There are many dissolutioned with the self serving Premier. 

Not only did Netanyahu create violent discord in Israel between the two ethnic groups, he gave power and prominence to the extreme right and he rescued Hamas from its dissolutioned electorate and gained them some much needed sympathy and legitmacy on the world stage. 

Maybe Bibi should just settle down and apply himself to the defense of his corruption charges. 

While Jay H. Ell hesitates to give biblical comment but in no less than thirty - five times in the Torah, in one way or another, the following directive is expressed, You must love the stranger, because, remember you were a stranger in Egypt.

GOP OPTS FOR TRUMP'S SOVIET STYLE "DEMOCRACY"

The warnings that the Republicans are abandoning liberal democracy are, on the whole, not being taken seriously enough other than by the "frantic" liberal media and the Democratic establishment. However, like it or not, the entrenched position of the Republican Party is their commitment to Trump who they have anointed as their life long leader, "Right or Wrong". There is not the full realization that accepting Trump and everything that he stands for is an embrace of a Soviet style "democracy".  As an aside Trump has made no secret of his admiration of leaders who have initiated authoritarian regimes such as Vladmir Putin, as well as several others of the same mould including Erdogan of Turkey, Bolsanaro of Brazil and Orban of Hungary, to mention but a few. 

The support of Trumpism by the GOP is rationalized in all sorts of ways with the general underlying assumption that once power is returned to the GOP Trump and authoritarian Trumpism will just vanish into thin air. The crowning of Trumpism will be in the form of the dethroning of Liz Cheney the Number Three Republican in the House. The latter arguing vehemently that the "King has no clothes" and has become the standard bearer for returning the GOP to sanity.

There appears to be a significant minority in America that are uncertain as to what constitutes a liberal democracy and or there is an acceptance that maybe an authoritarian savior will return America to its "Greatness" and keep it ethnically and culturally pure. Jay H. Ell will examine the GOP's jettison of their long standing principles such fiscal conservatism and fealty to the Consitution in favor of Trumpism. There will also be an analysis of the profound way that Trumpism has violated all the components that make up the political order that America has aspired too over the past two and a half centuries. The result of his efforts would be a Soviet style "democracy".   

TRUMP IS THE KING - LONG LIVE TRUMPISM

In spite of Trump's real world loss of the Presidency, his spectacular  failure to rally the Georgian GOP voters to retain their Senate seats and his inability to rewin the House of Representatives, he is seen as the last "white hope" to save the Republican Party. Lindsey Graham articulated the rationale to Fox News's Hannity. Graham argued, "I say to my Republican colleagues can we move forward without President, (sic), Trump? The answer is no!  I've always liked Liz Cheney but she has made the determination that we cannot grow with President Trump. I have determined we can't grow without him. People are attracted to the Trump Republican Party. If you don't get that as a Republican, you are making the biggest mistake in Republican Party history." Needless to say the House Leader Kevin McCarthy concurs and Senate Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell, who is opposing Trump for power not principle and has conceded that he will support Trump if he becomes the Republican nominee in 2024.       

Th anointing of King Trump has been cemented in a ceremony to publicly humliate and axe, Liz Cheney, the de facto leader of the Party that doesn't support Trump's Big Lie that he really won the Presidency. All sections of the Party from its diminishing membership, to its state and local legislators are ad idem with Trump. 

Just in case there is any doubt as to where Trumpism stands in the minds of the Republican establishment the last Republican Convention created no policy platform it left that entirely up to the Leader, Donald J. Trump. Just in case there is any doubt as to where the declining membership loyalty lies, seventy percent back Trump.

So now that it has been established that Trump and Trumpsim are the direction as to where the GOP are committed, the impact on the political order on America Liberal Democracy can be examined. 

WHAT CONSTITUTES THE POLITICAL ORDER OF LIBERAL DEMOCRACY?

The foremost expert on what the political order of a liberal democracy consists of is renowned political scientist and author,  Professor Francis Fukuyama. He has a written a two volume definitive work entitled, "Political Order and Political Decay, which includes the history of the evolution of political order and the nation. Certain nations have one or other component but to have a liberal democracy all three of The State, Rule of Law and Accountability have to be present. The former represents power and the latter two are the societal brakes These terms require definition and are dealt with in great detail in Fukuyama's treatises. Jay H. Ell will attempt to point out how Trumpism defies all of them and if he finally triumphs will turn America into a Soviet style "democracy".

THE STATE AND TRUMPISM'S APPROACH TO IT

Fukuyama traces the historical genesis of the State which he defines as an efficient non corrupt government that sees to the needs of society. The government not only consists of a controlling administration but also of bureaucrats, a taxation policy and the institutions to run the nation. The criterion as to appointments must be on merit. In the USA the Pendelton Act of 1883 lead to the meritocracy of the civil service. Specifically, those in charge of the country, must not appoint members of their family or friends to positions of authority. The Professor ascribes China's modern day success to having a State that fulfills all these criteria. It may not be a liberal democracy but it has a comprehensive organizational infrastructure and demands the highest merit and competence from its civil servants. Dereliction of duty can even result in execution. There is no nepotism or oligarchy. 

Trump from the get go set about smashing the careers of highly regarded public servants. Whether it be the Ambassador to Ukraine,  the five Inspector Generals that he fired in six weeks or a record fourteen Cabinet Secretaries, that were confirmed by the Senate resigning, Trump made it quite clear that he only wanted personel running the government who were totally loyal and showed obsequious obedience to his whims and policy. Trump's turnover rate in his Administration was ninety - one percent.

His one time Campaign Manager then National Security Advisor, Steve Bannon, wanted to get rid of the whole Washingtom infrastructure. It was obvious that Trump didn't give two hoots about how the country ran. He believes to this day that they were all in "The Dark State" out to get rid of him. 

Michael Lewis wrote a best seller entitled "The Fifth Risk" of how Trump's skimpy transition team took over the workings of the Federal Bureacratic infrastructure - "The morning after Trump was elected President, the people who ran the US Department of Energy waited to brief the administration's transition team on the agency it would soon be running. Nobody appeared. Across all departments the stories were the same. Trump appointees were few and far between: Those who did show up were shockingly uninformed about the functions of their new work place."

As for Trump's nepotism it was upfront for all to see. His chief advisor on everything and anything was his son in law Jared Kuschner and his first daughter was the de facto first lady. He made it quite clear that he wanted cronies and officials that were loyal to him and publicly admitted it. 

The military are probably the most stable institution in American bureaucracy. Trump has inferred throughout that they are "his boys", (and girls one assumes). As a "dry run" as to how he might use them internally he manipulated the military to disperse a peaceful protest so that he could have a photo op at a church. There were military helicopters, military units, rubber bullets and the Chief of Staff dressed in full military regalia. The uproar after the event led General Mark Milley, the Chiefof Staff, to unprecedently apologize for his involvement, "I should have not have been there. My presence in that moment and in that environment created a perception of the military involved in domestic politics".

So much was the fear that Trump would use the military for trumped up reasons that all living previous Secretaries of Defense, the majority of whom were Republicans, issued the following, "...we hold a common view of the solemn obligations of the US armed forces and the Defense Department. Each of us swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, We did not swear it to an individual or a party. American elections and the peaceful transfers are the hallmarks of our democracy....".

Jay H. Ell could go on and on but the bungling of the pandemic response was a metaphor for his administration. In Trump's attempted annihilation of the Federal Infrastructure he had the Office of Pandemic Preparedness that had been situated in the White House, which was an indication of its importance, removed with its staff. He denied the significance of the pandemic throughout, fought science making even the wearing of masks a political issue and replaced and smeared Dr. Fauci with Dr. Deborah Birx, who he believed he could control and indeed in public she shut up. For those who missed her remorseful interview on Sixty Minutes, she stated that a hundred thousand deaths were unpreventable but for the rest the outcome need not have happened had the Administration acted differently. 

THE RULE OF LAW AND TRUMPISM'S APPROACH

No Liberal Democracy's political order can act without the rule of law where everyone is subject to obeying the laws and can be subject to the same penalties for their transgressions. It is one of the key checks and balances of the leaders and the administration. According to Fukuyama historically it dates back to those countries where there were religions that guided the standards of behavior and were separate from the Nation.

America has an elaborate legal system and while a President is not normally subject during his term the possibilities are legion now that, in spite of his protestations, he is out of office. There are criminal and civil cases galore in various stages of investigation which will not be detailed here but rather his efforts to defy the rule of law while in office will be enumerated. 

From the very beginning he demanded loyalty from law officers as detailed by James Comey who contemporaneously documented his conversations with Trump. He fired Comey when he refused to drop an investigation into his National Security Advisor Mike Flynn who was subsequently convicted of multiple felonies. He wailed and moaned that Jeff Sessions his Attorney General was not loyal to him in that he refused to stop the Mueller investigation. Sessions was most loyal to Trump's policies but had to recuse himself from the investigation as he had "misspoke" to Congress about his contacts with the Russians during the campaign. Loyalty was far more important than principles. He fired Sessions.

Eventually he obtained his loyal Justice Officer William Barr who believed, like Trump, that the President was above the law. He exonerated Trump within four days of receiving the four hundred page Mueller report. A Federal Judge called him "disingenuous" in his "reasoning" for doing so as he had already made up his mind before preparing his four page classified memorandum which the Judge had read. Potentially Barr could be charged for perjury as he lied about his whitewash of the Mueller Investigation to Congress. Barr did even more at Trump's behest iniating a prolonged investigation with taxpayer money as to why the Mueller report had been initiated as well as instituting a probe into Hunter Biden. He intervened in prosecutions of Trump's cronies. Finally he could not deliver the Big Lie that there had been election fraud so he too was axed.

Eight of Trump's closest advisors and inner circle have been indicted for Federal crimes. These include both his recent personal lawyers. The first the indictment of his personal lawyer Michael Cohen cited Trump as the one who instructed Cohen to pay the hush money to women who alleged sexual affairs. Rudi Guilliani who is under investigation for several crimes claims he has to be innocent as it was the President who instructed him to do whatever he did. Then both President 45's National Security Advisors Flynn and Bannon also were indicted. Both were pardoned by Trump the latter even before he was convicted. His former campaign manager Paul Manafort who was given a lengthy jail sentence, and who gave a Russian operative internal polling figures was also pardoned by Trump. His Deputy Campaign Manager Rick Gates who colloborated with the justice department received a token sentence while George Papadopolous, a foreign policy advisor to the campaign, who let the cat out of the bag of the Russian support of Trump's electoral campaign also sat in jail for months. In total thirty - four indictments emanated from the Russian interference in the 2016 election. 

Again Jay H. Ell can go on and on, on Trump's disregard of the rule of law. When everyone that he was joking that he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue - he wasn't he was obviously dead serious.

ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRUMPISM'S APPROACH

The leader and or the Party have to be accountable to "We the people". In Russia they also have elections where the result is a forgone conclusion as all the powerful opposition are never allowed to run. Trumpism wants to rig the elections either by simply rigging them or making it difficult for the opposition voters to get to the polls.

The universal method of accountability is by "fair and free" elections. Trump refuses to accept the result of the 2020 contest that has been ratified again and again. He initiated sixty court challenges all of which failed. He has come up with a set of weird conspiracy theories, some of which have resulted in civil litigation, as to how the election was stolen from him. While the Republican States that he attampted to persuade to alter the 2020 election results initially demurred, they now fearing his wrath, have passed legislation that is outright designed to suppress the minority groups who overwhelmingly vote Democrat. Measures such as limiting voting hours and facilities and allowing unlimited campaign finance backed by the gerrymandering are being enshrined into State Law.

Trump having failed in every possible attempt to reverse a "fair and free" election then instigated an insurrection on January 6, 2021 in the hope of interrupting the ratification of the Electoral College victory of Joe Biden. Four hundred rioters have been charged as a result and Rudi Guilliani, his current personal lawyer, who spoke at the incitement of this sedditious act, is being investigated for various other charges where he claims he was acting on the former President's behalf. 

This whole sorry saga of January 6 is being played down by the Republican legislators who are further backing "The Big Lie" that Trump won the election. There are a small number of Republican legislators who won't buy this garbage. They are lead by highly Conservative Liz Cheney who is part of the Establishment GOP, her father being Dick Cheney a decades old Republican leader and Bush 43's Vice President. Her Republican leadership position was terminated as a result.

Representative Cheney speaking in the House Legislative Chamber, which had only one other other Republican present, claimed that President Trump had provoked a violent attack in an effort to steal the election. She argued in the vein of Edmund Burke that for evil to succeed it was enough for good men, (women!), to do nothing.  Ms Cheney claimed that, "...I will not watch in  silence while others ... join the former President's crusade to undermine our democracy". She will remain a powerful rallying force within the Party.

Meanwhile the Senate is taking up the Democratic sponsored "For The People's Act", which if passed would override all the States' efforts to suppress the vote, as well controlling financial contributions. Mitch McConnell has reassured Trumpism that there will not be one Republican vote for it and has vowed to block the effort.

AT THE END OF THE DAY

It is not unreasonable to argue that the Republican Party has abandoned democracy in favor of Trumpism. The question is now whether it is for a Soviet style democracy or a South American banana republic type.  

Furthermore it is not hype to argue that America is at a crossroad and much depends on whether Biden and his administration can right the ship. 

Trump is desperate and powerful. From his perspective he either regains power or he will sink in a morass of legal disgrace. He won't hesitate to instigate violence again as Cheney warns. Nor should he be underestimated after all, he has the party of Lincoln believing he is still President.

SENATOR SCOTT THROWS THE GOP A TEMPORARY LIFELINE

 

Senator Tim Scott, from South Carolina and one of the three Republican African American legislators of the five hundred and thirty eight members of the United States Congress, delivered the response to President Biden’s State of the Union Address. The Senator, as he detailed his history of being discriminated against stressed that America was not racist, is the chief negotiator on the Republican side in creating a bipartisan George Floyd Police Reform Bill.  Scott presented the current Republican mantra to fight the Democrats on cultural issues with no concrete proposals of their own. The principle objective of the Scott challenge to the Biden agenda was to remove attention from the latter. Gone are the days when the Republican Party was all about fiscal conservatism. To a certain extent Scott achieved the goal of refocusing the debate away from Biden’s new America but not for long. It is Biden’s proposals that are gulping down all the media oxygen again.

 Scott’s answer had built in what the response would be to Biden’s State of Union address. A CBS poll showed that eighty - five percent of those that watched the President approved. Biden’s individual legislative proposals and parts thereof were backed by between sixty odd percent and eighty - seven percent. So it is obvious that the Republicans will have to stick to the voter suppression and cultural issues that got Trump elected in 2016. They are their only hope to scrape a minority victory in 2022 and 2024. 

It is interesting to note that McConnell chose Scott. It was obviously an attempt to widen the appeal of the ever shrinking Republican Party and in line with their 2012 report the Party needed to become more inclusive of minorities. This approach is certainly not what got Trump elected in 2016. Scott is a down the line Conservative however it was his comments on racism in America that evoked the most reaction as well his support in general for the Republican’s efforts at voter suppression. 

RESPONSE TO SCOTT CLAIMING AMERICA WASN’T RACIST

The feedback to Scott’s contribution by the Democrat legislators was muted, particularly from the white liberals. The two of the fifty seven African American Democratic legislators who were negotiating with Scott on the George Floyd Act held back as well. Senator Cory Booker said he was a jolly fine fellow while Representative Karen Bass stated that he was reflecting the views of his caucus. It was left to Vice President Kamala Harris to voice her opposition to his denial of the racism that has existed and still is present in America. No one needs reminding that she is the first woman to be Vice President and the first person of color to be in that office. The white liberal pundits held back while their African American counterparts roundly criticized Scott. Joy Reid of MSNBC called his intervention “embarrassing and a missed opportunity” while Eugene Robertson stated that Scott was addressing the Republican base and telling him what they wanted to hear about race. Where matters became ugly was when Scott was castigated for being an Uncle Tom on social media. 

The crowd that really got exited about the rebuttal to Biden’s State of the Union were a few of the GOP legislators and Fox News. Senator Cruz, who apparently was awake for Scott’s rejoinder, claimed that Scott enrages the Left because as a minority legislator he doesn’t sit down and shut up. Cruz then deviated from the underlying agenda of Trumpism and “they shall not replace us” line by agreeing with Scott that America is not a racist country. Cruz went onto claim credit for “the incredible legacy America had of fighting for equal rights for all”. Joe Concha a Fox Contributor slammed the left’s alleged apocalyptic reaction to Scott. Scott himself, as reported by Fox News, claimed that the liberal reaction to his speech was “an attack on the color of his skin".  The Senator told Fox and Friends, “It was shocking to hear intolerance coming from those who say they want to end discrimination, and those attacking him were doubling down on the concept of liberal oppression”.

Kathleen Parker, the right of center pundit in her op -ed post was nearer the mark when she write that "Liberals cannot handle a black Conservative". This indeed was indicative of the reaction of legislators and pundits with white skins. McConnell has every right to designate Tim Scott to articulate policy even if the move was symbolic. Biden is doing plenty of the latter. For example if a vacancy should occur on the Supreme Court he has made it quite clear that the nomination will be a qualified black woman. Jay H. Ell is used to people of color espousing what appeared to be "sell out" messages having lived in South Africa. Whether it was in a different time or situation the white liberals had no difficulty in criticizing.

So like everybosy else Tim Scott has a right to have his rebuttal critiqued for its content and as the face of the Republican Party, or at least as McConnell sees it.

THE SCOTT INTERVENTION - THE PARTY LINE

Senator Scott is a highly respected member of the Republican caucus although he has no leadership positions. He is eloquent and a somewhat refreshing face of the Republican party.

From the get go the talking points started. There was a total denial of the public response and Biden's approval polling figures. The Republican party had been battling to smear Biden but he has proved "unsmearable", so it becomes, "Our President seems like a good man .... (but) our nation is starving for more than empty platitudes.... he promises to unite us ... but his actions are pulling us further apart..".

Senator Scott then narrates a legitimate story of his deprived childhood and how though incredibel family support he rose to the top. He is living the American dream that from nowhere you can pull your self up by your boot straps. 

Then it was back to the talking points. he doesn't look or sound like Jim Jordan but the message is the same - that Biden and company are taking away freedoms - ".......But for months too many of our churches have been shut down... locking down vulnerable kids out of classrooms is locking out too many adults of the future... science has shown for months that schools are safe, But too often powerful adult grown ups set science aside....Thanks to Operation Warp Speed the country is flooded with vaccines". It is obvious that he never listened to the former President who said that Covid was like flu and would be over in no time if only they would take  hydroxyquinolone and give bleach a whirl, It is even more obvious that he has forgotten that the Trump response was chaotic and he designated responsibility to the States

So next it was the Republcans that reversed the pandemic carnage with Operation Warp Speed and all that, They wanted to continue help but, "...the Democrats wanted to go it alone with a two trillion dollar partisan bill.....no requirements to open the schools". Again McConnell made it quite clear that there would be no Republian votes. 

Then it was an attack on the immensely popular infrastructure and family bills,"....it is a liberal wish list of big government and waste, killing tax hikes...it will lower wages...and shrink the economy....the so called......Family Plan....Even more taxing even more spending to put Washington even more in the middle of your life....". 

Now for the most inexplicable claim to African Americans..."Nowhere do we need more common ground desperately on our discussion of race. I have experienced the pain of discrimination. I know what it is like to be pulled over for no reason...I get called Uncle Tom and the N word by progressives and liberals,,,,I built an even bigger police reform bill which the Democrats rejected". The bill nowhere near contained the provisions of the George Floyd Bill which Scott is against because, among other objections, he doesn't want to ban choke holds and he insists on providindg immunity for rogue police. Scott acknowledges his own experience with discrimination but in the wake of the biggest crisis ever, the shooting of unarmed African Americans by the police, he maintains that race is being used by Democrats as a divisive tool.

On the race theme Scott continued, "People are making money...by pretending we haven't made any progress at all by doubling down on he divisions we have worked so hard to heal...Hear me clearly this is not a racist country...". 

It was on voting legislation that Scott appeared most out of sync, ".....Republicans support making it easier to vote and harder to cheat...The State of Georgia passes law that expands voting...If you actually read the law. It is mainstream.... is easier to vote earlier in Georgia than New York...". The Senator is obviously ignoring the nation wide Republican State effort to do the same. Myriads of corporations have objected to the laws as has the National Baseball League who withdrew their marquee event from the State. 

He continues that the Democrats through the introduction of HR1, The John Lewis Voting Rights Act, is a "Washington power grab. This misplaced outrage is supposes to justify the Democrats' passing of a new sweeping bill that would take over elections of all fifty states...thisisnot about civil rights or our racial past, It is about rigging elections....". Major corporations have continued their attacks in scores including American Airlines, Microsoft and Dell against the Texas legislation. 

It was then on to divisive Biden and the great America under Trump, "...a President who promised to bring us tohether must not push agendas that tear us apart. The Americam Family deserve better. And we know what better looks like. Just before Covid, we had the most inclusive economy in my lifetime. The lowest unemployment rate ever recorded for African Americans... The bottom twenty - five percent saw their wages growing faster than the top twenty - five percent .... this happened becuase Republcans focussed on expanding opportunity for all Americans... we cut taxes for working families and single moms like the one who raised me..." . Such is his spin on the Biden and Trump administrations.

Continuing to contrast the Trump Administration with Biden, "Our best future won't come from Washington Schemes or Socialist dreams. We are all in this together." The acknowledgment of Trump is in line with McConnell's slippery position of accepting Trump if he becomes the nominee in 2024.

And so Senator Scott ends the way he began with his impressive story and his faith. "I am standing here because my mom has prayed me through some really tough times.... So I will close with a worship song that helped me the past year of Covid..."

LATER OUTCOME OF SCOTT'S REBUTTAL

There is little doubt that the immediate impact of the speech achieved McConnell's short term objectives. His corporate backers were reassured that the Republican Pary was the good old Conservative Party that it was before Trump and that they weren't going to back Biden's "Socialist Schemes", that would raise their taxes. 

Biden who is attempting to be FDR and Lyndon Johnson rolled into one is keeping up his line of sweet reasonableness and desire to work with the Republicans. The polls not only show support for his initiatives but sixty - seven percent claim that the Republicans aren't cooperating enough, while just only twenty percent polled that they were. So Biden's bipartisan message is getting through.

With these poll numbers the Republican support is shrinking to its barest base which has become the Trump cult, believing "The Big Lie". The sad reality is that the majority of the GOP legislators have joined in so they can win their primaries.

AT THE END OF THE DAY

Senator Scott has had no lasting impact with his rebuttal. It did however satisfy some Republicans that there is a conservative African American that supported them. He is even being mooted as a Presidential candidate. However Trump's true base cannot be impressed. They did not vote for Trump so that an Evangelical Black Man can become the second African American President. As former President George W. Bush has maintained the current Trump party is centered around becoming exclusively white Anglo Saxon and Protestant. So McConnell and Trump will fight it out in the Republican Primaries in 2022 and 2024.

Everyone can only hope that Democrats Cory Booker's and Karen Bass's hopeful assessment that what America saw and heard was not the real Tim Scott and that they and the Repunlican Senator can reach an acceptable compromise on the George Floyd Police Reform Bill.

Senator Scott's rebuttal has already been forgotten.