Political Pistachio
I was fortunate in life. My mom was mother from day one, and still is. I know that there are those who lost their mothers earlier in life, and some who were raised without a mother, or perhaps without their birth mother, in their lives. And then, there are others who had a mom (or perhaps didn’t), but were unable to be moms, or chose not to be a mother, for various reasons. Motherhood may not have been accomplished in the orthodox manner, but every woman I know has had the opportunity to be a precious and dear mom, or have someone fill that role for them when they needed it most. Women are motherly instinctively. If a child falls, it’s usually a woman that runs over to help them up. When someone has pain inside and needs to talk to someone, more often than not that motherly instinct kicks in and a woman becomes the shoulder to cry on. Most women naturally desire to nurture, care, and defend. So, first off, everyone has had a mom in their life, though not necessarily in the orthodox manner, and every woman has been a mom at least once in their life when they scooped up the fallen child, lent a caring ear, or sought to do something right for another because her motherly heart told her to. So, for all of you, no matter how you’ve had a mom, or been a mom, Happy Mothers’ Day.
— Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
After a two day trip to Catalina my wife and I, on the way home, stopped at a popular seafood restaurant in Oceanside to enjoy some lobster, crab, mussels, and shrimp in the restaurant’s famous bucket-style presentation. The waitress (or should I say, “Food Service Person”) like most of the employees of this particular restaurant wore a tie-dye t-shirt with some spiffy slogan and a red crab pic tucked in somewhere on the shirt. I’ve never expected any restaurant I visit to cater to my conservative beliefs, but I expect them not to be overly progressive-lefty either. Some chains come across as one or the other, but usually none of them are too overtly in your face about certain beliefs or attitudes.
The experience at the place we chose on the way home from Catalina, however, was not only politically charged, it was downright rude, and a dark sign of the times.
Most restaurants, when you sit, they first ask you if you wish for a drink. Then, appetizers are ordered, the meal is ordered, refills are provided for the drinks, and then the final check is provided either on a piece of paper, or one of those devices where you can do-it-yourself-pay for the meal. Sometimes, my wife and I sit next to each other, but usually at a booth or a table we sit across from each other. When the server addresses us they normally either look at me first, or primarily address me, or they will look back and forth as if trying to give both my wife, and I, equal time. This time, we experienced a very different approach that I had heard was happening, but until that point had not experienced for myself.
After we sat down the waitress walked up and asked my wife if she wanted something to drink. My wife gave a reply, and then the waitress began to walk away as if I was not sitting there. I shouted, “and I will take a Dr. Pepper.” She continued to walk away without even skipping a step. When she returned with only my wife’s drink, my wife said, “my husband would like a Dr. Pepper.”
The woman vanished, and eventually she returned with a Dr. Pepper. She also furnished us with paper straws, at which time I fetched a plastic straw from my pocket and dropped it into my glass.
When she returned later my wife asked if they still had mussels, and the woman said, “yes.” Then I said, “We would like mussels then, in garlic sauce, as an appetizer.” Without giving me a single glance the lady said to my wife, “Would you like to order mussels?” She responded yes, and then the waitress asked, “steamed only, or with flavoring.” My wife hesitated for a moment, confused. “Garlic,” she finally said, and the waitress walked away, once again without sending me even a single glance.
I am cut from a very traditional cloth, so I order for my wife, and she has told me how much she appreciates that I order for her, hold doors open for her, and try to do for her with the best of my ability. So, when the waitress returned for our order, once again looking toward my wife, I began ordering for her. “My wife would like,” I began, and then I provided my wife’s order, and mine. The woman wrote down the order (at least she was finally willing to acknowledge I was speaking) but never looked at me. Then, after she was finished writing down the order, she looked at my wife and asked, “Anything else?” My wife responded, “No,” and the waitress vanished to submit our order. During the course of the meal my wife got two refills for her tea, but my Dr. Pepper was never refilled.
At the end of the meal when the waitress brought our check, she addressed my wife, and laid it on the table in front of her and walked away. I grabbed it, and placed my card on the small plastic tray with the receipt. When the waitress took it and came back for the signature, she again laid it in front of my wife, and continued to go out of her way to act as if I was not there.
“No tip,” I said to my wife. “If I don’t exist, neither did any good service.” I then signed the receipt and we departed. I asked my wife if she saw what I saw as we walked out of the restaurant, and she replied, “Yes, she never looked at you once.”
I was not wearing a MAGA hat, nor did I have any other political paraphernalia on my body, to I am assuming I was treated that way simply because I am a man. What else could it have been?
Our culture, especially when it comes to the youngsters, has been fed with the Marxist-inspired “toxic masculinity” crap so bad that the emotions of some women have deteriorated to the point that they can’t even stand to look at a man, much less acknowledge his presence. I am willing to bet, however, the same women who scream bloody murder about “toxic masculinity” applauds men in makeup and pantyhose.
My wife experienced a similar attitude not long ago at work. She was looking at buying some dresses from the retail outlet she has worked for during the last decade and a half, and she snapped pictures of them and sent them to me via text to get my opinion of which one I liked most. Her friends chided her for sending me the pics. “Why would you do that?” they asked.
“I would like my husband’s opinion,” she responded.
“Why?” came the responses.
One of the ladies said, “Who cares what he thinks, you have your own mind, pick what you want.”
Feminism and other leftist ideas have placed women not only in a place where they compete against men, but now they loathe men and seek a world without them. They no longer wish for “equality,” but for dominance. And the men, stupidly, not only are willing to acquiesce, they are bending over backwards to give up their masculinity.
Fox News recently reported that on social media the discussion is trending towards believing that men being a provider is a scam. Hey, women, pay your fair share! Men not only don’t wish to provide for their mate, or family, anymore, they don’t even want to work! Women have demanded over the years that men should be more sensitive, more responsive to women wishing to hit the world running, shed their toxic masculinity, and soften their attitudes and activities, and men have largely responded by agreeing to follow the demands fully.
I had a left-leaning woman once ask me, “Where did all of the good men go?” I responded, “You turned them all into women.”
Men, by instinct, wish to be men. We naturally yearn to provide, take care of our families, and treat our wives like queens. We instinctively want to open their doors, throw our jackets over water puddles, and pay for their dinner. That is not a social construct, nor is it sexist. That attitude of caring for women and taking care of women is a natural phenomenon. We live to take care of our wives, and children (until they can be independent and move on in the case of the kids). But, today, we have men leaving their families, children being brought up in a single-parent household that is usually run by mom, men leaving the workforce, men dropping out of college, and an increase of suicide among men.
The anti-man culture has stripped men of what they live for, and now society is beginning to pay the price.
Men, real men, are vanishing from society, and instead we have girly-boys who seek to be more feminine, or soft males who are too afraid to be more like a man because his woman might disapprove, or homosexuals because being with a woman no longer makes sense to them.
According to Owen Strachan, author of The War on Men, “for every one woman who drops out of college, seven men drop out. Men have left the workforce in almost unprecedented numbers; the current employment rate of men in prime working years mirrors that of the Great Depression. Men are also dropping out of church. For decades, women have filled roughly 60 percent of the pews…Men have disappeared from many families…80 percent of single-parent homes are headed by mothers…men kill themselves far more than women do, representing 80 percent of suicides today per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”
Why?
Without manhood, men lose their purpose, and their reason to live.
“The modern feminist movement has attacked manhood relentlessly. Cultural Marxism renders male leadership patriarchal, oppressive, and unjust. Our safety-obsessed society has trained men to fear the world, not enter it wholeheartedly.”
Without men being men, without masculinity, society dies. The tyrants will have no men to war against them and stop their authoritarianism. The toughest jobs will not be performed, therefore certain products will diminish in availability. Leadership, the health of the family unit, and spiritual leadership which is afforded to men by God will all disappear and what will remain will be women, and men who have been told that if they chase after their natural masculine selves they are nothing more than broken girls.
Men, real men, stand firm and take charge. Men are naturally not emotional for good reason. The rigors of life, if one allows their emotions to make the decisions, will destroy humanity. Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” We must use our common sense, our logic, and our pragmaticism. Men are designed to be tough, practical, logical and pragmatic in ways that women are not for a reason. Feeling bad about killing the animal that needs to be hunted does not feed the family. Avoiding the difficulty of lifting the needed materials to construct a home does not shelter the family. Cowering when danger emerges does not protect the family. Men instinctively desire to build a family, work hard, provide, stand up to danger when necessary, cultivate their lives, and lead their family in life and spirituality. Life is bigger than us, and we need to be big enough to stand against a world of difficulties. That is what a man was designed to do.
When my wife quit battling against me with competitive feministic ideas and instead became a more feminine woman and proclaimed, “I trust you, please take the lead,” the man inside me celebrated the moment, and I began to seek how I could be a better man for her. When she proclaimed that she recognized I am her man, and she appreciates my masculinity, I began to strive all the more to treat her like royalty. I live to do for her. I live to be her man when she lives to be my woman.
That is how God set it up, for a reason.
That is not to say men should be tyrants. My wife’s opinion means a lot to me. We communicate. We work together as a couple. We flourish. We flourish not because I am some tyrannical king, but because she respects my position as head of the household, and I wish to please her as best I can in that role, well knowing that if necessary, my say is the final say, but I also communicate with her constantly to make sure I fully understand her position and her thinking about all of those decisions. In the end, we make better decisions and she receives the man she wants by simply being the woman I desire.
According to studies, my wife is not the only one seeking a man who acts like a man.
According to the New York Post, progressive women largely want to date men who act conservative, because her instincts and natural God-given desires want exactly that. A man. A masculine man. A man that treats her well while seeking to provide for her and protect her.
— Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
California leads the country in insane leftist policies. The one that has the food industry shutting its doors and fleeing from the State, and sending the cost of grabbing a bite to eat rising through the roof, is the policy regarding minimum wage for certain restaurants. AB 1228, which went into effect April 1, 2024, targets fast food restaurants and coffee shops that bears the name of a national chain and has at least 60 restaurants nationwide. The minimum wage in California is $16 per hour (which also went into effect this year), as opposed to the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. But, if you are an employee of the aforementioned restaurants targeted by AB 1228, the minimum wage is $20 per hour.
First of all, the minimum wage laws in California violate the Fourteenth Amendment, which calls for equal protection under the law. In other words, a State may not make laws that favor one group over another. All laws must be uniform, applying to each person or business equally, without singling out any individuals, groups, organizations, or industries. AB 1228 targets only restaurants, and to make matters worse, only targets certain kinds of restaurants, an egregious violation of the Fourteenth Amendment that sought to ensure that all citizens receive equal protection under the law, and uniform treatment when it comes to privileges and immunities.
Second, the economic impact on the overall cost of living, as well as the consequences of the law on many individuals, is staggering. Companies, in order to handle the increased cost of wages, are reducing hours, reducing their number of employees, and in many cases are working towards automating many of the tasks that would be otherwise carried out by employees. One restaurant I visited, exempt from the law in question, is reducing its work force at each of its locations, and will be installing kiosks to handle orders by visiting patrons. The manager of the location I visited explained that the writing is on the wall that other businesses will be targeted with the outrageous minimum wage requirement in the near future, and rather than be forced out of business they would rather prepare now so that they can mitigate their rising costs of doing business immediately.
McDonalds has announced they will be closing more than a thousand locations, leaving barely more than a couple hundred restaurants in the Golden State. A number of persons I have spoken to have advised me that their Golden Arches restaurants are cutting the hours of employees, and that’s if you don’t get let go.
As a result of Gavin Newsom’s minimum wage law in California that targets certain restaurants, businesses are fleeing the State, leaving droves of people who had hoped for a “living wage” in the unemployment line with a dwindling list of potential employers remaining in the State as companies flee. Meanwhile, the prices of products are skyrocketing, not just at the restaurants in question, but across the board. Other California laws have also sent gasoline prices, grocery prices, utility costs, and the price of a living space (be it a home to buy, or renting) into the stratosphere. Meanwhile, folks like my wife who has worked in the retail industry for over a dozen years working her tail off to finally get north of $17 per hour now trains new employees who make only a little more than a dollar an hour less than she does, and purchases food from restaurant employees who have no work experience who make three dollars more than her, per hour. The cost of living is increasing for many employees like her who are not being given a higher wage. Meanwhile, the very point of increasing the wages of these restaurant workers is a moot point, since as their wage rose (and their hours diminished), the cost of living as a consequence is also going up. In most cases, the people who celebrated the new law with the sky-high minimum wage will be worse off in the long run due to the economic forces put in motion by the idiotic law.
Unconstitutional laws, and laws which are damaging to the lives of those who the Democrats swear they are there to protect, are making it more difficult to survive in the State of California. And that is why the exodus from California is rampant. However, the problem is, many of those idiot California migrants heading to a red state near you will continue to vote leftist, which in the long run, if not stopped, will spread the California virus of progressivism to the rest of the country, from sea to shining sea.
Be involved. Don’t let what is happening in California happen in your state. California voters are coming to a community near you.
— Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
While the House of Representatives is currently in Recess, one of the upcoming battles is a package for foreign aid that is supposed to include funds for Ukraine, Taiwan, and Israel. While constitutionally the legislative branch has the power to determine how the monies of the United States are spent, and the federal government was designed to handle foreign affairs, we must ask if the money being sent is for the benefit of the United States, and if in some cases we might very well be funding the coffers of potential enemies.
The war between Russia and Ukraine, thanks to the “Russia Russia Russia” pandemonium created by the Democrats in their pursuit to destroying Donald J. Trump, sent Americans scurrying to support Ukraine. Blue and yellow flags have been flying, and the media has slobbered over their support for Ukraine. If one is not fully on board with their “support Ukraine” campaign, the suggestion is that you are then a supporter of Russia, and Vladimir Putin.
While I mourn for the people of the two countries, I have not been quick to support either side. Ukraine’s government has a history of corruption, and the Democrats have had their hand in that corruption for a very long time. Putin, however, is a communist holdover from a past era that, while sometimes he seems to make decisions that seems to be in the best interest of Russia, one wonders if he is hoping to resurrect the old Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The invasion of Ukraine makes one think that the military action may be exactly that…a move of hungry expansion, or a move to rebuild what was once the Soviet Union.
In recent news, Russia’s primary target has been the city of Kiev. The City of Kiev is the capital, and largest city, of Ukraine. In March of 2024, Russia began launching missile attacks at the Ukrainian city, claiming the war was to protect people from the genocide and humiliation perpetrated against the people by the oligarch regime of the Ukraine.
The war against Ukraine by Russia is in its third year, but now it seems Russia is finally in a position to gain enough ground to exercise control over territory that calls for the United States to step in more with needed military funding to defend Ukraine.
A new military funding package for foreign countries is now in the process of moving through Congress, a set of three separate bills that would provide a combined $95 billion dollars for Ukraine, Israel, and resources in southeast Asia with the intent of protecting Taiwan should China launch an attack. $60.84 billion of that money is earmarked for Ukraine.
Republicans have largely agreed to funding for Ukraine, arguing that it is far better to send money and resources than boots on the ground.
Biden, referring to the international aid bills, commented, “I will sign this bill into law immediately to send a message to the world: We stand with our friends, and we won’t let Iran or Russia succeed.”
In the House of Representatives a number of Republicans are not fully on board with sending so much funding overseas, especially when one considers the need for funding domestically, especially when it comes to border security. Some members of the GOP have also voiced concern that some of the money may be going towards funding terrorism. A vote on the bills is expected this weekend.
— Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
When Articles of Impeachment were approved and sent by the United States House of Representatives to the United States Senate regarding Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, most people did not believe the impeachment would result in a conviction. Some worried that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democrat from New York, would simply say “no” to it, and a trial would never get off the ground. Someone asked me this morning if Schumer could pull such a stunt, and I responded, “The Senate is obligated to hold a hearing.” After all, in Article I, Section 3, when the Constitution addresses the U.S. Senate’s responsibility to try all impeachments, the word “shall” is used, meaning that their task to try all impeachments is mandatory. With Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas charged with maladministration of his office by failing to execute the laws of the Union, the House of Representatives had every right, and duty, to impeach him; and the U.S. Senate had every duty and responsibility to hold the hearing.
The United States Senate disagreed with the whole thing, the political ideology of a slim majority believed the whole thing had no business even existing in the first place, and with a vote of 51-49 they voted down even entertaining a hearing regarding the impeachment, treating it as a waste of their time, and Schumer called it “unconstitutional.”
According to Article II, Section 3 of the United States Constitution, the President of the United States “shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.” Immigration Laws are being violated by a massive amount of people who are crossing the border without much of any obstacle put up by the current regime in the White House. The Biden Administration refuses to execute the laws on the books regarding immigration, and the executive department tasked with carrying out those laws is the Department of Homeland Security. But, rather than going after President Joe Biden for violating Article II, Section 3 of the United States Constitution for failing to carry out immigration laws, the House of Representatives first went after the officer tasked with the duty; Alejandro Mayorkas.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer argued otherwise.
Considering the impeachment merely a “political show” by the Republicans, Schumer accused the GOP Representatives from the House of not being prepared and offering a frivolous and political waste of time. “Impeachment should never be used,” he said, “to settle policy disagreements…it would set a disastrous precedent for Congress. Could throw our system of checks and balances into cycles of chaos. Anytime the House wanted to shut the Senate down they would just send another impeachment resolution, and would create frivolous impeachment trial after impeachment trial. So, I felt it really important, with dangerous precedent, was not the one the Republicans were talking about, but the one of letting impeachment take the place of policy disagreements. Cabinet person after cabinet person could be subject to this. We cannot have that happen. And I felt that is what the Senate had to do to step up to its responsibilities. We are supposed to have debates on the issues — not impeachments on the issues. We are not supposed to say that if you disagree with someone on policy then that’s suddenly a high crime and misdemeanor. That would degrade government. It’s clear that Republicans aren’t interested in working with Democrats to fix the problems at the border. In fact, if they wanted to pass the bipartisan proposal we put together and have a debate on it — about policy — fine. If Republicans, instead of spending time on this meritless impeachment, worked with Democrats on border reform then we might have actually gotten something done. If House Republicans want to have a serious debate on border security, we welcome it. Everyone knows what is happening at the border is terrible, and needs fixing. That’s not a secret. The President knows it. Secretary Mayorkas knows it. Both parties in Congress know it. That’s exactly why we had a bi-partisan bill to fix it…strongest security bill in thirty years…Donald Trump told his Republican allies in Congress to kill this border bill before we could even debate it…”
Schumer is correct that impeachment should not be used for policy disagreement. He claimed the accusation against Mayorkas does not amount to what would be considered high crimes and misdemeanors. On that, he was incorrect.
The problem is the Democrats do not believe the President, and therefore his cabinet officers, are required to execute the laws of the Union regardless of if they agree with the laws. Good immigration laws are on the books. Donald Trump executed those laws faithfully, and during his tenure as President of the United States the border was not a major issue, and the number of illegal aliens crossing the border was miniscule compared to the numbers we are seeing today. However, the Democrats act as if they are surprised that the border is a problem, and act as if there are no immigration laws on the books that can resolve the issue. They want new legislation, filled with provisions they are more in agreement with, and earmarks for their greedy friends and allies. No new legislation is needed. Donald Trump proved during his presidency that the laws on the books are sufficient for securing the border, and properly processing immigrants. If any changes are needed, they are not needed when it comes to securing the border, but simply in streamlining the process for those who choose to legally go through the immigration protocols already in place.
In short, this is not a policy disagreement. The impeachment by the House of Representatives was not launched because the Republicans in the House suffer from disagreeing with policy. Mayorkas and the Democrats are refusing the execute immigration law that is already in place, and that is a violation of the United States Constitution. The House having the authority to impeach is a part of the system of checks and balances, and the Senate is required by the Constitution to take this impeachment seriously because President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas are both violating the Constitution by not carrying out existing immigration law that the Trump administration was successfully carrying out. If violating the Constitution does not qualify as a high crime and misdemeanor, what does? Is not violating the Supreme Law of the Land a severe case of maladministration of office, and is not maladministration of office by refusing to carry out provisions in the Constitution worthy of impeachment?
The dangerous precedent being set was not by the House of Representatives, but by Schumer and his allies in the U.S. Senate. Their refusal to take Articles of Impeachment seriously is a violation of the Constitution, and sets a dangerous precedent of the Senate refusing to carry out its duty of holding an impeachment hearing when one is warranted. That would be like the judges of this country refusing to preside over criminal trials, despite the evidence, and despite the fact that a case has been brought to the courts; simply saying, “nah, we don’t want to hold the hearing because we are not going to hold trials because of a policy disagreement over whether or not these people are breaking the law. Let the criminals keep doing whatever they are doing, we have more important things to do.”
Debate is a wonderful thing, but this is not about simply disagreeing on policy. Laws are on the books. Laws are being broken. The administration in place refuses to carry out the law, apprehend the lawbreakers, and deport the lawbreakers as the law requires. New legislation is not needed to secure the border. The legislation needed is already there, and the Democrats simply refuse to carry out the letter of the law, and then claim the crisis is not their fault but the fault of the former President who actually carried out existing law and did not have this kind of crisis during his presidency. The move by Schumer and the Democrats was not one to save the country from frivolous political stunts, but to create their own political frivolous stunt by demanding that our border remain open and to stand in open defiance of the law and the security of this country. A dangerous precedent has indeed been created, but because it’s the Democrats who refuse to work with the GOP, and because it’s the Democrats who refuse to fix the problems at the border by simply following law that already exists.
As always, the idiocy is a matter of projection. The Democrats, once again, have accused their opposition of being guilty of the very thing that they are guilty of. It is the Democrats who have degraded government and the rule of law. It is the Democrats who are not interested in working with their opposition to fix the problems at the border. They want the pork and dangerous reduction of security in the recent bill to reign supreme over law and order which already exists on the pages of federal law and were being carried out by Trump. The immigration problem didn’t just suddenly begin out of some sudden event in the world. A crisis did not suddenly appear out of thin air when Biden took office. The crisis began when Biden reversed all of Trump’s executive orders that were in place to secure the border, and apprehend those who broke the law when they tried to illegally enter the United States. The democrats have no interest in having a serious debate on immigration because they want open borders because they know that the people illegally crossing the border vote Democrat when they fraudulently cast votes on election day. I guarantee you, if the illegal aliens voted Republican, the border would be sealed up tighter than when Trump was President; the Democrats would make sure of it.
But, because of policy disagreement, the Democrats, with Schumer in the lead, are violating the United States Constitution, the Supreme Law of the Land, by refusing to hold an impeachment hearing that they are constitutionally obligated to hold. Schumer and every one of the Senators who voted against holding the impeachment trial against Secretary Mayorkas should be removed from office for violating their oath to the Constitution of the United States, and made ineligible to ever hold office again. The actions of Schumer and the Democrats amount to nothing less than insurrection against the United States Constitution for it is they, by refusing to secure a border being crossed by persons from countries who are enemies of the United States, who are aiding and giving comfort to the enemy; the definition of treason in Article III of the United States Constitution.
— Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
When God granted to Israel the Promised Land, He had already warned the world to leave Israel alone.
Genesis 12:3, “I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Any nation that supports and defends Israel will be blessed by God. Any nation that seeks to harm Israel will face an outcome far worse than expected.
God does not issue empty promises. History is full of examples of the curse and blessings associated with that prophecy fulfilled.
Egypt came first in the long line of civilizations who sought to oppress Israel. God sent Moses to warn Pharaoh, telling him, “Let My people go, that they may serve Me.” But, Egypt refused. The outcome was a series of terrible plagues unleashed on Egypt, untold suffering on the Egyptian people, and even after Pharaoh let the Israelites go, he hunted them down only to have his chariots and horsemen destroyed when Israel crossed the Red Sea. Afterward, the great civilization of Egypt faded into mere memories of history.
En route to the Promised Land, Israel had to journey through the land of the Amorites. King Sihon gathered his army to fight against Israel, and Sihon’s kingdom was annihilated.
After Israel “did evil in the sight of the Lord,” God delivered them to Midian, who oppressed them for seven years. When Israel cried out to the Lord for rescue the Lord raised up Gideon and used him and a small army to save Israel. Midian, also, vanished into the darkest pages of history.
Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem and captured all its inhabitants, exiling God’s People from their homeland. Years later, Nebuchadnezzar’s son, Belshazzar, commanded his followers, wives and concubines to drink from the gold and silver cups that had been plundered from the Temple in Jerusalem, and as they did so they blasphemed God until a disembodied hand wrote a warning on the wall of the king’s palace. Daniel was brought in to interpret the words, and he revealed they were a warning that God had numbered the days of Babylon’s kingdom. “You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting,” Daniel told the king. That night, Belshazzar was killed and Babylon was invaded and destroyed by the Persians and Medes.
The Seleucid Empire and its ruler, Antiochus IV, persecuted Israel several decades before the birth of Christ; outlawing Jewish traditions and religious practices and ordered the people of Israel to worship the Greek deity Zeus. He sent an army to slaughter those who would not obey. What followed was the Jewish Maccabean rebellion. God struck Antiochus with an incurable, torturous disease and his body was swarmed with worms when he learned Israel had defeated his army.
In the 19th century, the Russian Empire once was home to the world’s largest Jewish population. Russia’s government confined them to ghettos, and forced them to convert to other religions. The Russian People blamed the Israelites for everything from economic problems to political instability. The anti-Jewish violence continued into the 20th century, and many Jews were beaten and murdered. The Romanov dynasty had ruled Russia for three centuries but lost the throne in 1917 because of the Russian Revolution. The last czar, Nicholas II, and his family were executed in 1918.
Nazi Germany is probably the example known best by most folks. Hitler’s Germany, according to historical records and scholars, killed six million Jews in the Holocaust. Hitler’s “Thousand-Year Reich” only lasted twelve years. In the end, Hitler committed suicide, and his corpse was set on fire.
Islam’s hatred of Israel goes back a dozen centuries, and when Israel was resurrected as a nation in 1948, their welcome by their Islamic neighbors was immediate invasion. In 1967, the states of Egypt, Jordan, and Syria collaborated in an attack on Israel during the Six-Day War. In both wars, while Israel was vastly outnumbered and outgunned, Israel wasn’t defeated. Israel has prospered, and her land has become fertile and prosperous. Muslims, aside from those who have enriched themselves through the sale of oil, largely live in poverty. The curse, however, has only begun.
In 2015, Israel’s Netanyahu proclaimed, “For in every generation, there were those who rose up to destroy our people. In antiquity, we faced destruction from the ancient empires of Babylon and Rome. In the Middle Ages, we faced inquisition and expulsion. And In modern times, we faced pogroms and the Holocaust. Yet the Jewish people persevered. And now another regime has arisen, swearing to destroy Israel. That regime would be wise to consider this: I stand here today representing Israel, a country 67 years young, but the nation-state of a people nearly 4,000 years old. Yet the empires of Babylon and Rome are not represented in this hall of nations. Neither is the Thousand Year Reich. Those seemingly invincible empires are long gone. But Israel lives. The people of Israel live.”
Following the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, and the war that President Netanyahu is waging at this time, Iran continues to flex its military muscle in the Middle East as it has been ever since its Islamic Revolution in the seventies. In a show of force against Israel, and support for Hamas, Iran sent a drone attack over the skies of Israel yesterday. Lebanon followed with their own attack.
Except, it was not really an attack. Flashing lights on the drones Iran sent made them easy to see, and easy to take out. It was a show, a way of advertising that if Iran wanted to they could send their machines into the Israeli sky.
Iran launched the production, and the Biden administration paid for it.
It’s an attack that allows Iran to show off that it can reach Israel.
The Biden administration told Israel shortly afterward that the United States under his watch will oppose any Israeli response to Iran’s actions.
If Iran had actually meant to attack Israel, they would have sought to compromise Israel’s defense system, maybe using the same cyber-attack used to open the gates for Hamas last October, and they would have used Hezbollah, the Houthis, Iraq, and whatever is left of Hamas, to move against Israel all at once.
Iran has plenty of money, thanks to Biden, but they are not ready for the war that people fear the United States is being dragged into in the Middle East. Their goal, for the moment, is to harass Israel. And, Iran is happy simply using their proxies, rather than hit Israel with Iranian resources. We’ve been seeing exactly that. October 7 was by Hamas. Then we saw Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea. Iran’s influence then led to the Iraqi Shiite attacks on a U.S. base in Jordan that killed three servicemembers.
Iran, for the moment, would rather pull strings and attack through resources not their own. It’s a production. A show. An illusion to throw people off a little as they use American money to continue to build Iran’s nuclear weapons program.
Iran, however, has to act quickly because they know if Donald Trump winds up in office in January their window will slam shut.
If Iran continues to stand against Israel, and if the U.S. continues to play the games like Biden has sending mixed messages about support for Israel, we may find ourselves facing an outcome we did not expect. The promise God made to Abraham is eternal, and God curses those who curse His people.
Israel was created by God. Israel’s existence is a testimony to God’s existence. The continuation of Israel in today’s violent atmosphere reveals God’s active providence in the lives of His people. If Iran, or the other Islamic countries, move hard against Israel, the invaders will be defeated.
World powers in history who persecute Israel do not remain great. Israel may be tiny, but the country is far from insignificant, and I pray that the United States will continue to Bless Israel, rather than the opposite as we’ve been seeing with Biden, and as many in the Democratic Party have been demanding. While historically the American Christian has been Israel’s best friend, if as a country we stand against Israel, God’s justice will not remain idol.
In this hour I am reminded of Thomas Jefferson’s quote about God’s Justice:
“Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that His justice cannot sleep forever.”
— Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary