The fools who make war to end it.

Sometimes the other guy wins.  When that happens, you adjust and move on.  Obama and the Democrats have won the Obamacare war.  Republicans don’t have the stomach to get rid of it, so it stays.

The Norks are a nuclear power.  Live with it.  They can’t conquer the South with their nukes, so all they’re good for is as a war preventative.  Kim Jong-un is not crazy.  He wants to live, and the moment he tries to attack the U. S. or its allies he’s a dead man.

According to geopolitical strategist Peter Zeihan, the Norks are a very long way from having the ability to deliver a functioning nuclear warhead.  A lot can happen if we’re a little patient.  Kim Jong-un could be killed, by us or by members of his family.

But as Zeihan notes in his newsletter, Kim Jong-un, the individual, is not the problem.  If he died tomorrow the regime would remain intact.   Kim Jong-un is, in a sense, a figurehead.  He can be removed, and replaced, if necessary.  But the Kim dynasty will live on, and it will rule a nuclear nation, no matter which member of the Kim family is on top.

Rather than start a war over North Korean nukes, we need to accept the fact that Japan and South Korea will soon be nuclear powers.  They are responsible, and close, allies, and we can count on them as much as we count on the French and the British, with their nuclear weaponry.  The world just got a little more complicated.

The Norks might be nutty enough to sell a nuclear weapon to terrorists, so we should reserve the right to inspect any cargo which originates in North Korea.  This is a high national priority, it seems to me, and the United States Navy, along with its allies, could enforce this nuclear weapon blockade.  It’s better than war.

The war birds want a preemptive war against the Norks, in order to prevent nuclear proliferation.  They’re nuts, just as the German Army was nuts to want a preemptive war against Russia 100 years ago.  That caused World War One, one of the great catastrophes of human history.  In order to sell it, they called it The War to End War.  In fact, it was the war without end.

According to Gordon Chang, when the Chinese Communists were close to getting the bomb in the early 1960’s, President Kennedy and the Soviets had discussions about a joint Soviet-American operation to destroy the Chinese nuclear program.  Right after the ChiComs actually got the bomb in 1964, William F. Buckley advocated a preemptive war against China to remove their nuclear capability.  This was the single dumbest idea in American history.

In fact, nobody did anything, and China has been a nuclear power for 53 years.  No nuclear weapon has been used, anywhere, by anyone, since 1945.  A nuclear power is a secure power.  As an offensive weapon, a nuclear bomb is worthless against a fellow nuclear power.  When you’re in the nuclear club, your borders are secure.

We’re not going to war with North Korea, now or ever.  We, and they, are nuclear powers, and nuclear powers don’t go to war with one another.

 

The McConnell-Trump Senate primaries

The first one, in Alabama a few weeks from now, has Trump-man Judge Ray Moore against McConnell-man Sen. Luther Strange.  McConnell and his Chamber of Commerce allies will try to muddy this up.  Three years ago, in Mississippi, they, disgracefully, played the race card against the conservative challenger to Sen. Thad Chocran.  It was dirty business, and if they try it in Alabama it could blow up in their face.

Moore should win this race, and Trump will have learned a lesson:  don’t pay any attention to the political advice of Mitch McConnell.  He convinced Trump to back Strange, and it wasn’t smart.  McConnell and the Chamber are not on Trump’s side.  They are part of the opposition to Trump’s nationalist populism.  Trump should know that by now.

There will be, at a minimum, three more McConnell-Trump Senate fights.  McConnell will back Sen. Jeff Flake in Arizona, while Trump will back his strongest challenger, probably State Senator Kelli Ward.  In Nevada, it will be McConnell’s man Heller against Trumpster Tarkanian.  And in Montana it will be Trump man State Senator Al Olszewski against McConnell’s choice, State Auditor Matt Rosendale.

Things may change, as others enter the ring.  There is the potential for additional Trump vs. McConnell match ups in the OH, MI, PA, WI, IN and MO Republican Senate primaries.  My bet is that it’s better, politically, to be the Trump man than the McConnell man.  These are, after all, Republican primaries, where the more conservative candidate has the edge.  And while Trump polls around 40%, McConnell is almost uniformly despised by the American people, with 9% approval, and 61% disapproval.

The race I’m interested in is in Montana, and I’m supporting Olszewski, as I urge all readers of this blog to do as well.  Please go to his website and make a donation.  Bigger is better, of course, but even a $5 contribution is valuable.  Not so much because of the money, but just by virtue of the fact that you care enough about this race to be a donor.  The number of donors, as well as the amount raised, is counted in determining the extent of a candidate’s support.  And we want Dr. Al Olszewski to be the Republican nominee for the United States Senate from Montana.

If you take the time to read the brief bio at the web site, you’ll be impressed.  Dr. Al is an easy man to like, and most people who know him do.  He’s conservative, but reasonable.  He heard Rep. Matthew Monforton’s speech in favor of the Article V BBA Resolution when he was in the Montana House in 2015, and it all made sense to him.  So he ignored the political threats from the Birchers in his district, and did the right thing.   We need more people like that in the United States Senate.

I’m supporting Olszewski for Senate because of his stance on Article V and the Balanced Budget Amendment.  If you agree, please let him know about it.