I have never played the game of making predictions for the upcoming year, at least, not seriously.
But I suppose the big issue for 2020, other than the impeachment fracas, is whether Trump and the Israeli Lobby will finally succeed at getting a real war with Iran.
That is why I have no faith in predictions. How can you predict whether Americans "rally 'round the President" and he gets reelected, or whether they have become indifferent or even cynical about the latest war-cheerleading?
How many times in a row can the War Party trick the American public? It is not a crazy answer to say, "An unlimited number of times," as long as the television news feeds people a steady diet of the right sort.
Another issue that is hard to predict is whether Middle Eastern people decide that a presidential election year is a good time to take American hostages of some kind. It certainly worked well 40 years ago. Usually a tactic doesn't work so well the second time it is tried, just as a joke loses energy upon repetition. But maybe they could give it a twist this time to make it seem "new."
Impossible to predict, #3: how would a real war with Iran play out? What if America sent aircraft carriers into the Persian Gulf -- as if this were still the World War II era -- and a handful of missiles from Iran sank billions of dollars of the mighty US Navy?
#4: How much would the price of gasoline go up? Would the jingoes still throw up "These colors don't run" bumper stickers and American flags if they actually felt the pain personally, at the gasoline pump?
#5: Maybe Trump will make peace with the Deep State if he gives them a new war? And if the Deep State no longer cooperates in the impeachment fracas, the fracas will wither away.
But I suppose the big issue for 2020, other than the impeachment fracas, is whether Trump and the Israeli Lobby will finally succeed at getting a real war with Iran.
That is why I have no faith in predictions. How can you predict whether Americans "rally 'round the President" and he gets reelected, or whether they have become indifferent or even cynical about the latest war-cheerleading?
How many times in a row can the War Party trick the American public? It is not a crazy answer to say, "An unlimited number of times," as long as the television news feeds people a steady diet of the right sort.
Another issue that is hard to predict is whether Middle Eastern people decide that a presidential election year is a good time to take American hostages of some kind. It certainly worked well 40 years ago. Usually a tactic doesn't work so well the second time it is tried, just as a joke loses energy upon repetition. But maybe they could give it a twist this time to make it seem "new."
Impossible to predict, #3: how would a real war with Iran play out? What if America sent aircraft carriers into the Persian Gulf -- as if this were still the World War II era -- and a handful of missiles from Iran sank billions of dollars of the mighty US Navy?
#4: How much would the price of gasoline go up? Would the jingoes still throw up "These colors don't run" bumper stickers and American flags if they actually felt the pain personally, at the gasoline pump?
#5: Maybe Trump will make peace with the Deep State if he gives them a new war? And if the Deep State no longer cooperates in the impeachment fracas, the fracas will wither away.
Comments
It's about time.
https://news.usni.org/2019/11/19/carrier-lincoln-enters-persian-gulf-after-6-months-nearby-truman-back-at-sea-ahead-of-relieving-Lincoln
Kelly from Bayfield
Chris
Thanks for taking the time to comment.