October 18, 2023
DEMOGRAPHICS, ISLAM, IRAN COULD SPELL ISRAEL'S DOOM

Imagine being a cavalry soldier in the U.S. Army stationed in the Black Hills of the Dakotas in 1876, then known as the Montana territories.

Imagine that your commander is Lt. Colonel George Custer, who has been tasked with scouting the area as part of a military campaign to return 10,000 Cheyenne and Sioux Indians to their reservation.  Imagine that  you are part of a battalion of 2,000, but there are only 200 of you on horseback at the moment.

And then imagine that you are encircled by 900 warriors whose intent is not to peacefully escort Custer and crew back to their fort. Their intent was to kill them, which they did. Outnumbering the soldiers almost 5-to-1, there was never any doubt.

Now imagine you are Jewish and living in Israel, a Middle-East nation founded in 1948 with a 2023 population of 9,214,051.

The country is 7,847 square miles, and 21 percent of the populace is non-Jewish. Within that tiny land mass, which is roughly the size of the state of New Jersey, are the West Bank, west of the Jordan River, abutting the Holy City of Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, just north of the Sinai peninsula, both collectively known as Palestine. Its population is about 7.2 million and the ruling political party is Hamas.

And then imagine that you are surrounded by 425 million people in 18 nations, almost all Muslims, with some of them led by theocratic Islamic fundamentalists who consider Jews and Christians to be infidels. In other words, they believe the Koran says “kill them all.”

It’s called an “intifada,” which means extermination. If one dies doing that, like a suicide bomber, then the myth is that the perpetrator is rewarded in his afterlife with virgins.

To the north of Israel is Lebanon, with an Arab  population of 5,314,631 (see chart), where Hezbollah terrorists are in control and can fire Iran-paid rockets at the Golan Heights with impunity. To the northeast is Syria, with an Arab population of 23,541,984. To the east is Iraq, with an Arab population of 46,775,170. East, on the Persian Sea, is Iran, where the mullahs now get about $70 billion a year in oil revenue, mostly from China and Russia. Its Arab population is 89,172,767. Isis dominates there, and is the world’s chief terrorist umbrella. To the southeast is Jordan, with an Arab population of 11,148,222.

To the far south is Saudi Arabia, a monarchy with a crown prince who was in the process of making an economic deal with Israel. Isis, Hezbollah, Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad don’t want peace.  Their existence is predicated on having a Jewish enemy. The Saudi population is 32,175,224. And then to the far southwest is Egypt, with a population of 113,206,750 Arabs, and to the far northwest is Turkey, with an Arab population of 85,938,803. That amounts to 425 million-plus Arabs surrounding Israel’s 9 million Jews. Custer had better odds.

To be sure, Muslims have internal divisions. About 85 percent are Sunnis and 15 percent Shi’ites, and they hate each other. But they hate Israel more. Some propose a “Two-State” solution, wherein Palestine becomes a nation alongside Israel, with its own military and foreign policy. That won’t happen. The other option is a “One State” solution, whereby the West Bank and Gaza are absorbed into Israel. That would make Jews a voting minority and Israel an Arab state. That won’t happen.

So the status quo will remain, but now it’s much worse. The Hamas’ October butchery has notched-up the paranoia level. The Iron Dome is not impenetrable. The walls around Gaza and the West Bank can be breached.

The Israelis have to eradicate Hamas and Hezbollah, which spells out trouble for Gaza. To do anything less will be their doom.

But history will show the real outcome. After all, I’m just a White guy on the Northwest Side. What do I know?

So let’s get back to something more local.

THE BLACK SISTERHOOD SLATE: There was a movie entitled “White Men Can’t Jump,” which was a parody on the presumption that White guys can’t play basketball as well as Black guys. There is no parody in the upcoming 2024 countywide primary (D) for 10 judgeships: WHITE GUYS CAN’T WIN. The Democratic electorate is disproportionately Woke/Left, over 55 percent female, and nearly 40 percent Black. Voting against a White guy is a virtue signal.

The Democrats in August put forth a judicial slate which contained three candidates who were non-female and/or non-Black. They’re called White men. And they face a challenge from 3 women – Ashonta Rice, Lori Roper and Wende Williams. They are all on one nominating petition as a slate, and need upwards of 5,900 signatures (the minimum).

The party slate contains Neil Cohen, Ed Underhill, and James Murphy-Aguilu. You can’t get more politically-correct than that. Isn’t that the “equity” Leftists crave? Rice is running against Murphy-Aguilu for the Sullivan vacancy, Roper against Underhill for the Murphy vacancy, and Williams against Cohen for the Mitchell vacancy. Turnout was 1,016,487 in 2020. Party strategists expect it to be much lower on March 19, in the 900,000 range. If so, the guys could win.

45TH WARD “TRASH-TALKING:” Be careful what you say and to whom you say it. And be careful you don’t get endorsed by Alderman Jim Gardiner, the outgoing committeeperson (D). The 2020 committeeperson vote was 5,559-5,267, and Gardiner beat progressive Ellen Hill in a 10,826 turnout. Gardiner was re-elected alderman in 2023 by 1,274 votes in a turnout of 17,702.

“He (Gardiner) is a do-nothing” committeeperson, said Michael Rabbitt, who lost for state rep in 2022 and is seeking the 45th Ward post in 2024. “There is no (Democratic) Party in the (45th) ward.” Rabbitt said the party must be “more diverse and inclusive” – you know, the usual Woke drivel. It takes a minimum of 569 petition signatures to get on the March 19 ballot, and Rabbitt, who lives in the Edgebrook precincts added to the ward, said he expects to file close to 2,000. His door-to-door campaign message is a simple narrative: Gardiner is incompetent/Gardiner is supporting Joe Cook/vote for me and build the party. Rabbitt has been endorsed by state rep Lindsey LaPointe (D-19).

Cook, the current 41st Ward committeeperson (D), lives in Wildwood and was remapped into the 45th Ward. He chose not to move back and didn’t enter the 45th Ward race until Gardiner dropped out. An MWRD attorney, Cook showed his political mettle by getting wife Jennifer Callahan slated for one of the 10 countywide judgeships, and she is thus far unopposed.

But while Cook needs the Gardiner base vote (7,000) to win, he thinks he can appeal to the rabidly anti-Gardiner/Woke/Left base vote (also about 7,000) by NOT getting Gardiner’s endorsement. His pitch is that he has “opened the process” by recruiting more Democratic workers and by supporting “ethical” candidates. Cook’s candidate failed spectacularly in the 2023 aldermanic race in the 41st Ward, getting 27.1 percent

Cook has been endorsed by a slew of Establishment Democrats, including Dick Durbin, Mike Quigley, Bridget Gainer, Ram Villivalam, Mike Kelly, Tom Dart and Kwame Raoul. As if anybody cares. “I want to build a home for ‘moderate’ Democrats,” Cook said.

Cook, to win, needs to motivate the ward’s Gardiner (and Trump) base. Either he IS or IS NOT the Gardiner candidate. Continued equivocation on that means defeat. In the 41ST WARD Danny Martin, a staffer for alderman Nick Sposato (38th), has folded his bid for committeeperson (D). That means Cook’s candidate, John Hanley, political director of Operating Engineers’ Local 399, will run and win unopposed.

Read more Analysis & Opinion from Russ Stewart at Russstewart.com

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