If you follow me on Twitter, you know that I didn’t support either of the two major party candidates in this election. And I’m not really happy about how this election turned out. But now that the initial shock has worn off, I feel strangely optimistic, and I think some good can come of it.
First, I hope that the Democratic party will take this occasion for introspection — stop blaming “racist, low-information voters” for their defeat and ask what they did to contribute to it. Our Democratic President lied to the public to pass the so-called Affordable Care Act, after which Americans saw their healthcare costs skyrocket and in some cases, their insurance plans cancelled. He rammed through the Iran deal, over the objection of a majority of both houses of Congress, including members of his own party. Now attacks on our military are being funded with money that we gave the Iranians. He tried to use Executive Orders to make changes in immigration laws that he could not get through Congress. He ignored people’s concerns about terrorism, and he allowed our law enforcement officers to be cast as villains.
This vote was a statement that the American people are tired of the disdain the Democratic party has displayed towards them, and that they saw that it was likely that Clinton, who holds herself to be above the laws that apply to everyone else, would continue that trend. The results of this election are on the Democrats.
I also hope that many liberal Jews will now stop fretting over “the most right-wing government in Israeli history” and turn their attention to the problems at home. Certainly, Americans are not in any position now to complain that Israel’s government is too right-wing. And despite what Jeremy Ben Ami thinks, Israelis are perfectly capable of handling their own domestic issues. Lefties, it’s time to clean up our own house, and let Israelis clean theirs.
Although I’m concerned about the future, I don’t really think it will be the doom and gloom that my liberal friends are forecasting. And, to be honest, I am not at all sad that we won’t have Tim Kaine and the warped J Street ideology he subscribes to in the White House. Instead we will have a truly pro-Israel President for the first time in my memory. That’s kind of a relief. I don’t imagine Trump’s State Department will be calling on Israel to “show restraint” every time it is attacked.
