Did Donald Trump End the Arab-Israeli War?

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You know, the longer I live on this planet, the less I think I know about reality.  I can remember as a small child in grammar school hearing about the various Arab-Israeli conflicts.  And it was always assumed that only the wisest and most sober of men would ever be able to untie the Gordian knot that was that conflict.

But Donald Trump will do it?  Look, I love Trump.  He’s some sort of bizarre cross between P T Barnum and Pericles by way of Madison Avenue.  He’s the first American politician since Andrew Jackson to side with the regular people.  He towers over his enemies like a colossus.  But how in the name of everything reasonable can he end an intractable war between peoples who hate each other so viscerally that death is preferable to compromise?  And yet, if the news is to be believed, Israel and Hamas have agreed to the first step of the Trump Peace Plan; return of all the hostages alive and dead and Israeli stepping back to some first line of withdrawal.

But how many different ways can this process fail?  The list is infinite.  Even with complete good faith on both sides I can imagine endless scenarios that could upend this effort.  And when in the history of the mid-east has there ever been good faith on both sides?  Never.

Now in Trump’s favor, this negotiation includes many Arab and Moslem countries acting as surrogates to prod Hamas toward ending the war.  There is a desire on the part of almost all of the middle eastern countries to end the ceaseless cycle of attacks and counterattacks that makes this whole region of the world hell on Earth.  Could this finally be the day when sanity and the will of the vast majority of people there manage to smother the fire of violence under their collective bodies and end this disgusting abomination of death and hatred?

I’ll have to confess, I just can’t come around to believing it.  It would require these people who have done horrific things to each other for more than half a century to somehow find a miraculous solution to their problem.  It’s as if both sides are forced to navigate through a minefield that both sides have mined but neither side still has reliable maps of.  At any moment disaster can strike and any disadvantage on either side can inspire the other side to press for a kill shot.

The whole thing sickens and disgusts me to the point where I just want to forget it exists and move forward without ever thinking of it again.  But the last time I did that, planes started flying through buildings in New York.

So here we go again.  Good luck Donald Trump.  I guess if anyone can pull off the deal of the millennium it would be him.  But I almost think he’ll have more success with Ukraine than Gaza.  Sure, they’re almost as crazy there but as bad as it is I don’t think the level of hatred between the Russians and Ukrainians can ever come close to the savagery of what happened two years ago.  Maybe a little prayer would help.

Or Maybe It’s All a Mirage

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There is an interesting phenomenon going on with political party affiliation shifts.  And it’s happening in both red and blue states.  There is a noticeable shift happening toward the Republican party and away from the Democrats.  Now, in most of the blue states this isn’t a game changer.  Here in New England, it will have negligible impact.  If a sixty/forty state becomes a fifty-five/forty-five state there’s no noticeable change in policy.  But there are a few swing states where a trend like this could be more than just a tweak.  And even some pretty blue states are flirting with electing Republican governors (e.g., New Jersey).

I’m on record as saying blue states electing republican governors is just a relief valve to prevent the state from blowing up its budget due to Democrat fiscal insanity.  Massachusetts has to do that all the time.  Anytime they’ve had a Democrat as governor for more than eight years they have to elect a Republican just to get out of bankruptcy.  And the definition of a Massachusetts Republican is just a progressive who can add and subtract numbers.  There are no noticeable conservative actions by him just slightly cheaper progressive policies.

But in places like Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and even Nevada the shift of even two or three percentage points can be enough to change state legislatures and even add a senator or two to the red side.  And a lot of these voters switching parties are younger.  I’ve seen that where I live and believe me, I’m buried deep in enemy territory here.  So, if it’s happening here then it’s definitely happening in the swing states the same way only more so.

Now, I’m not so idealistic to think that there won’t be any elections where the Democrats make gains, maybe even big gains.  But what we’re seeing is people waking up to the inherent differences between the parties.  Biden and his regime allowed law and order to collapse in the cities and blue states.  That wasn’t something that could be ignored.  If Mamdani wins in November in New York City that will throw a spotlight on just what happens when an honest to goodness communist tries running the largest city in the United States.  I think his administration may turn out to be the most valuable advertising the Republicans could ask for going into the midterms.  If Mamdani goes with the policies he’s been espousing it should frighten the hell out of anyone living in a blue state or city.  It’s a possibility that we are looking at the perfect political storm happening just when it could do the most good.  Could Mandani turn New York City red the way Dinkins did back in the 1990s and got Rudy Giulianin elected twice?  I think it’s unlikely but not impossible.  But I do think he can provide a cautionary tale for the rest of the country and maybe help Donald Trump hold onto his Republican Congress.

Or maybe it’s all a mirage.  Time will tell.

Death May Have Its Advantages

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Back in the 1960s and 1970s many post-apocalyptic science fiction stories included nuclear fallout causing widespread mutations in humans and other lifeforms.  And that made for all kinds of fun monsters with two heads and three eyes and other bizarre anomalies but in real life these mutations no longer seem very likely or dangerous.

But one thing that modern research into modifying the genome of humans and other living things has shown is that modifying lifeforms is well within our present scientific capabilities.  And with the advances being made in artificial intelligence it seems reasonable that at some point in the future we might be able to engineer creatures with traits and characteristics that have never heretofore been seen or even imagined.  Suppose we developed dogs with the intelligence of humans, possibly with the ability to speak.  Would that be a wonder or an abomination?  What if we could design insects who single-mindedly did nothing but hunt and eat ticks?  What if we could domesticate dolphins to patrol along beaches in the summer attacking sharks who intrude into the space where swimmers are?  All these things seem very possible.

But the supreme imperative has always been to improve man.  Currently you hear about tech billionaires chasing after the fountain of youth.  They search for diets, supplements and health regimens to extend their lives and youth.  But all of these things are illusory.  Maybe a sixty-year-old can look forty.  Maybe.  But the reality is the human animal reaches a point where even with hormone supplements and corrective surgeries it slides into senescence.  We age and fade and eventually die.

But it may be the case that advances in biological knowledge of human physiology may reach a point where we know which gene tells us when to die.  And when that happens, it will be the case, regardless of what laws there are against it, that very rich men will have scientists experiment with this knowledge and then it will be used to make long-lived humans.  What if it turns out there is a Methusaleh gene?  What if humans could remain young for a thousand years?  What would happen?  Would it make this a paradise on Earth or a hell?

What if you had a thousand years to accomplish everything you wanted in this life?  Would it be a blessing or a curse?  What if you could know your descendants for twenty or more generations?  Would you want to?  Would they want you?

So, all of these questions are speculative.  But someday they may be urgent considerations.  And what if the billionaires keep the fountain of youth just for their heirs?  Robert Heinlein toyed with this idea in his book “Methusaleh’s Children.”  In the story, the short-lived majority were enraged against their long-lived brethren and wanted to torture the secret of long life from them.  This was despite the fact that their secret was just their natural genetics.  Of course, in the future everyone may have the opportunity to have their children’s genomes tweaked using CRISPR gene-editing technology.  The only question might be whether after a few generations we might want to escape from eternal life.  We may find that death has its advantages.