Attitudes Are Changing, Dramatically
Author: Greg Valliere
October 12, 2023
WHAT’S OUT? A naive view of the Mideast, trendy on university campuses, has encountered a fierce pushback. Professors who equate the Hamas pogrom with Israel’s imminent move into Gaza are facing ridicule and ouster. The tiny minority in Congress that refuses to support Israel will soon be voted out of office.
WHAT’S IN? Far more spending on defense, both for Israel and Ukraine. The clown car that passes for the House of Representatives, still bitterly gridlocked, will be unable to stop new military outlays. That’s a potential victory for Joe Biden, who has looked deadly serious in the past week while Donald Trump sought to settle scores with Benjamin Netanyahu.
TRUMP MAY BECOME THE POSTER BOY for saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. He declared yesterday that Hezbollah is “smart,” which prompted an avalanche of ridicule of the former president, who has never forgiven Netanyahu for being insufficiently supportive several years ago.
THE ISRAELI LEADER HAS CEMENTED TIES to Biden, who has made his share of blunders but now gets to do the right thing — he will, and he won’t be alone. Virtually all major players in both political parties will fiercely support Israel, from Nikki Haley to Marco Rubio to Antony Blinken, who is becoming a dominant Secretary of State.
THE OUTCOME, OF COURSE, WILL BE A CRUSHING DEFEAT OF HAMAS, ridding the world of these monsters. There will be no negotiations; these criminals will be killed. Just as ISIS was wiped out, Hamas will vanish. As we look for positives, there’s the near-certainty that naive thinking, too late to save thousands, finally will attract the loathing it so richly deserves.
THIS IS NOT GOOD NEWS FOR VLADIMIR PUTIN, another butcher. He reportedly thinks Russia will eventually prevail in Ukraine because the West — primarily the U.S. — will lose its resolve to help Kyiv. Imagine the uproar if Washington abandons Ukraine. The chances of that happening have diminished greatly in the past week.
WHAT’S MISSING IN THIS BATTLE FOR U.S. PUBLIC OPINION? A dominant Churchillian figure who will rally the public. Biden will try but his frailty is a concern. Others need to speak out fiercely; we plan to watch Haley, who bluntly said this week that Hamas must be “eliminated.” She’s correct.
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