Pundits Left and Right Continue to Misinterpret Anti-Establishment Movement

One should not take what I am about to suggest as an endorsement of Donald Trump. I think the pundits are failing to correctly interpret the anti-establishment movement we are witnessing and the continuing primary success of Trump, so I'd like to pose a different take on what is happening. Here goes.

When the presidential primary process failed in 2008 as the political "eHarmony" Conservatives had hoped it would be and gave them a candidate who was not a perfect ideological match, they stayed home on election day. The result was Obama. The scenario repeated itself again in 2012 and President Obama was re-elected for a second term.

In the off-year elections, Conservatives tried to remedy the situation by electing senators and representatives who promised them 100% of what they wanted. Unfortunately, those they sent to Washington delivered 0% of what Conservatives were hoping for. They didn't oppose the progressive agenda at all. [Incidentally, when President Obama succeeds in closing the prison at GITMO (notice I say when not if), he will have secured his legacy as one of the most successful presidents in US history for implementing his agenda. Ultimately, history will show that these policies were terribly damaging to America and the rest of the world but this is a topic for another time.]

Conservatives learned a tough lesson from the 2008-2012 election cycles. If you need a 100% ideological match in order to support a candidate or stay home, you get an "Obama". They elected people in the off-year elections who promised 100% and delivered 0%. The result was they got 100% of what they didn't like and nothing they did. They should keep this in mind this November or they may get another Obama term in the form of Hillary Clinton.

Trump is obnoxious. He is abrasive. Trump speaks in generalities but Trump loves to win. Even if Conservatives, and even many Independents, only agree with 50% of what he says, they will get 50% of what they like and maybe only 50% of what they don't. That puts them miles ahead of where they are now. One must also keep in mind that nearly 40% of Americans self-identify as conservative as opposed to 20% who call themselves liberal or progressive.

The pundits from all points on the political spectrum can continue to explain away Trump's primary performance based on their hopes, biases, and faulty polling data but if they do not start factoring in the root cause of the anti-establishment ire I have suggested, they will continue to be wrong.

Crimea: Another Secretary of State Clinton Success?

America elected our current president based mainly on the superficial desire on the part of liberals and well-meaning but otherwise confused moderates to elect our first African-American president. Will we make the same grave error in 2016 by electing the first woman president, Hillary Clinton? For the sake of the country and the free-world for that matter, let's hope not. The Office of the President of the United States of America is far too important to allow it to continue to be used as an affirmative action program. A major factor in judging Mrs. Clinton's qualification to be president has to be her performance as Secretary of State. For our nation's top diplomat, performance comes down to the answer to two questions. One: Are America's interest throughout the world better now than when they took over their post. And Two: Are ties with our friends and allies stronger now than they were before. To both questions, the objective answer has to be a resounding no. Starting with her first diplomatic trip to Russia and the ill-fated "reset button" incident, our relationship with Russia has continued to deteriorate. Russia has resisted our attempts to prevent Iran from continuing to develop nuclear weapons, interfered with efforts to stop the violence in Syria, and now invaded Ukraine. (As of this writing, a referendum in Crimea seems to indicate that it will break away from Ukraine and rejoin Russia leaving the US with few good options.)Furthermore, during her tenure as Secretary of State, North Korea has joined the group of countries with nuclear weapons capability, Libya went from a country that was cooperating with the US and strengthening its ties with America to one where Al Qaeda affiliates have taken control of a large part of the country and it is no longer a safe place for American diplomats to serve. This became abundantly clear when our Ambassador and three other personnel in Secretary Clinton's charge were murdered in Benghazi. In Iraq and Afghanistan, the costly gains paid for with American blood and treasure have been lost as Al Qaeda and the Taliban return to Iraq and Afghanistan respectively due to a failure to reach diplomatic agreement on how the US should support the new governments after our military role has ended. As a result, America is withdrawing our forces from the region without any mechanism in place to maintain those gains. The answer to question two is also clearly, no. Relations with Russia have not been this bad since prior to the collapse of the old Soviet Union. President Putin's actions make it obvious he has no respect for President Obama or his current Secretary of State, Mr. Kerry. Relations with key friends and allies such as the UK, Israel and Germany are strained as a result of snubs, inattention, and the embarrassing revelations of NSA eavesdropping on personal communications of their leaders. In Egypt and Libya, we encouraged the ousting of two leaders, Muammar Khadafi and Hosni Mubarak - no gems of humanity to be sure - but they were favorable to our national interests. Following Mubarak’s overthrow, unbelievably, our government supported Mohammed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood – the original Islamist movement organization. For their first official act once in control, Morsi and his government announced that, after 30 years of peace with Israel under Mubarak, they would no longer honor the Camp David Accords thus undoing one of the few accomplishments of Jimmy Carter’s presidency. Today, chaos reigns in both nations as Islamist groups vie for control. As we get closer to the 2016 presidential campaign season, look for Clinton supporters to try to rewrite the record of her accomplishments, especially as Secretary of State. We should also expect the bootlicks at CNN, MSNBC, the New York Times, Washington Post and the other leading mainstream media outlets to continue to ignore the diplomatic wreckage left in the wake of her Sec State aircraft's contrail. This won’t be an easy task but they are a clever lot and I’m confident they will do their best. Perhaps they will continue to ignore stories like Benghazi in favor of the items the public is clamoring for and really needs to know about such as Gov. Christie’s Bridgegate scandal. Any sarcasm detected was intentional.