Orthodox Reflections

Donald J Trump won the presidency. Decisively. With a Republican Congress to boot. Somehow, in a year of massive turnout, some 12 million or so votes that went to Joe Biden in 2020 simply…. vanished.

The results left Trump triumphing over one the most unpopular and inept politicians, VP Kamala Harris, in the history of the United States. She was forced onto the ballot, in an undemocratic process, that could only be likened to a coup in a banana republic. Which makes one wonder, if the U.S. National Security State could have manipulated the process to pick anyone, why a buffoon such as Harris? Especially since she was intimately linked to the disastrous, unpopular policies of one of the worst presidential administrations of all time. Any other Democrat could have run against both Trump and Biden, with a good chance of either winning outright, or at least being close enough to “swing” the vote in key Democratic run cities as happened in 2020.

While there have been irregularities in voting across many areas, it appears that the presidential race was largely untampered with. Too big to rig? Not really. The phantom Biden voters from 2020 would have done the trick, if properly placed. Instead, they failed to materialize. Even more interesting, after Trump’s victory there were no riots. No marches of thousands of angry women in “pussy hats”. No shouts of “Russian collusion” or any other kind of collusion. Unlike 2016, Trump looks set for a relatively peaceful start to his term as the 47th President of the United States.

It is almost as if the so-called “Deep State” (really the U.S. National Security State) wanted Trump to win. Or, more precisely, perhaps the Deep State needed Trump to win.

Crazy, right? Let’s examine the facts.

President Calvin Coolidge said, in a 1925 speech to the American Society of Newspaper Editors, “After all, the chief business of the American people is business. They are profoundly concerned with producing, buying, selling, investing and prospering in the world”. That was then.

Since WWII, the business of America is no longer business that raises the level of prosperity in the world. Rather, the business of America is now war, and all things that pertain to it – military production, foreign intervention, biological countermeasures (see PREP Act), censorship, spying, warrantless search / surveillance, narrative control via captive media, lucrative public-private partnerships, corruption, blackmail, a revolving door between government and business, deep penetration of the bureaucracy by intelligence agents foreign and domestic, economic financialization, sanctions, the reserve currency status of the Dollar (that helps drive up the cost of production in a hollowed-out U.S. economy), ready access to debt (unlimited budgets), and so much more that we can only dimly imagine.

Since the 1970’s, a particular focus of the U.S. National Security State has been protecting Israel. This has been a bi-partisan obsession by the way. Regardless of what else Democrats and Republicans may have disagreed over during the past 50 years, the sanctity of America’s unwavering support of Israel has never been seriously at issue. 

War is the gift that just never stops giving. A 2021 report, from the Washington-based Institute for Policy Studies’ National Priorities Project titled “State of Insecurity: The Cost of Militarization since 9/11”, found that “the U.S. has spent $21 trillion on foreign and domestic militarization” since 2001. Defense contractors are estimated to have directly pocketed over half that sum. That report was done prior to the recent massive allocations to Ukraine and Israel. The totals now are, of course, way higher.

The 2025 U.S. Defense budget is projected to be $852.2 billion. That figure leaves out a whole plethora of national security funding such as investment in research carried out by contractors, most foreign assistance, various programs run by the State Department (often to manipulate foreign election results), direct and indirect costs of sanctions, and all that “classified” spending. If you really look objectively at this interlocking, highly profitable, powerful nexus of money and control, a stunning conclusion is inescapable. The U.S. is not a state with a Military Industrial Complex. Rather, the U.S. is a Military Industrial Complex that controls a hapless, captive state which is run exclusively for the benefit of a powerful (massively disproportionately Zionist Jewish) elite.

This is a more delicate state of affairs than you might imagine. The current militarized status quo relies on three major things to continue: ballots, budgets, and bodies.

Ballots– By every possible metric, Americans are worse off now than at any time anyone can remember. Our life expectancy is down, our health is down, the value of the dollar is down, the birth rate is down, family formation is down – just down, down, down on everything that matters. It is clear that the American economic, health, and governing systems are completely rigged against us. Which is why elections are so important to the Deep State. Hope has to be kept alive that real change is possible through voting. Otherwise, Americans might find ways to resist their enslavement that are detrimental to the status quo. For the governing elite, it is essential that the majority of Americans accept the legitimacy of election results, and the illusion of choice those elections represent. Enough Americans must believe, “We freely chose all this misery for ourselves,” or else the next two B’s could be seriously threatened.

Budgets– The Deep State needs money. Great heaping piles of printed, borrowed, and/or stolen money. Money buys useful assets. Money makes the insiders rich(er). Money is power. Money buys control. Money makes all the dreams come true. Money can reshape the world, or at least select corners of it. Spending on National Security is inherently inflationary, and does absolutely nothing to benefit the average American. Between National Security spending, and the social programs necessary to bribe Americans to accept that spending, the U.S. is over $35.94 Trillion in debt already. More is added by the second. It is essential to the Deep State that Americans voluntarily continue to support the taxes, borrowing, and money printing necessary to keep the system running. For decades, Americans have largely accepted the egregious levels of spending on all things National Security. Their complacency, however, has eroded over the past couple years as a direct result of massive spending on Ukraine and Israel, at exactly the time Americans felt themselves drowning in a sea of red ink. Many Americans, especially Trump voters, are demanding we spend money on domestic needs instead of on foreign wars. If such as shift in focus were allowed, it would spell the end of the Deep State.

Bodies– Uncle Sam needs our sons. Without troops to man them, what good are all those fancy weapons systems made by Raytheon? Since anti-war protests in 1968 forced Johnson to abandon his presidential race, U.S. National Security State conventional wisdom has supported an all-volunteer military. Military drafts, so the thinking goes, provoke anti-war movements that are hard to contain / neutralize. An all volunteer force, on the other hand, means that no matter what happens to our troops, or where it happens, the average American is expected to simply shrug and say, “They signed up for it voluntarily.”

Only lately, despite a bad economy, young men are not signing up in the numbers needed to keep the National Security State supplied with canon fodder. Two years ago, the Army brought in 45,000 recruits, far less than the 60,000 it needed. In 2023, the Army fell 15,000 short of what the Pentagon publicly set as a “stretch goal” of 65,000 recruits. Military leaders note that only about 23% of young adults are even physically, mentally and morally qualified to serve without receiving some type of waiver. So far in 2024, the numbers are better, but not because the Army is having better luck getting top quality men to sign up. Rather, the key to increased recruiting has been the Army’s future soldier prep course. This initiative gives lower-performing recruits up to 90 days of academic or fitness instruction to help them meet military standards. In 2024, more than 13,000 recruits — or 24% of the 55,000 total — came in through the program. The U.S. is trying to build an Army, capable of fighting China and/or Russia, off recruits that would have been turned down just a few years ago. The Deep State realizes something serious needs to be done. Somehow, a way must be found to convince more qualified candidates to enlist in the U.S. military. A tall order when cynical Zoomer males have been demonized and betrayed their whole lives by the very people asking them to sign up and die in discredited foreign wars.

Pushing Harris over the line would not help any of the 3 B’s. With her obvious ineptitude and unpopularity, her election would have been deemed even more illegitimate than the Great Election Steal of 2020. Harris in the White House would encourage Americans to ask way too many uncomfortable questions. The same could be said of any Democrat right now, as the Dems have become the party of: out-of-touch elites, identity politics, open borders, inflation, COVID mandates, abortion with no restrictions, trans ideology, hostility to law enforcement, antipathy to the American working class, and shoveling out hundreds of billions to continue unpopular foreign wars. A visibly weak, possibly illegitimate, leader facing a hostile Congress could hardly be expected to keep the money taps flowing. A few too many lawmakers might actually start listening to Senator Rand Paul about “fiscal responsibility”.  And recruitment? Could Harris, or any Democrat on the national scene right now, really inspire large numbers of qualified white, black, and Latino men to join the military with potential wars brewing in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia?

Not a chance. 

Enter, Donald Trump and MAGA. Trump and the Republicans start with a clean slate. The War in Ukraine belongs to Biden-Harris, along with inflation, the lingering bitterness over COVID mandates, the border chaos, and a Democratic left-wing that openly despises all things American. Trump is riding a wave of popularity, looks forward to a cooperative Congress in his first two years, and is known to inspire deep patriotism (bordering on nationalism) in his followers. As a bonus, assuming he really does allow RFK Jr to “Make America Healthy Again”, the pool of military-eligible manpower will go up as fewer young men will be disqualified due to increasingly common chronic conditions (diabetes, obesity, autism, ADHD, learning disabilities, arthritis, etc.)

But wait, didn’t Trump run on a platform of “America First”? As in, concentrating on domestic concerns and not wasting blood and treasure on foreign wars? Sure he did.

So?

In 1916, Woodrow Wilson used the slogans “He kept of out of war” and “America First”. He plunged us into WWI as soon as he could after winning re-election. In 2000, George W Bush campaigned on the promise of a more humble foreign policy – one that eschewed nation building and military overreach. We all remember how those promises worked out after 9/11, despite the fact that neither Afghanistan nor Iraq were even involved in the attack. Obama campaigned in 2008 on ending America’s conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Obama received a Noble Peace Prize on the basis of promises he never kept, eventually becoming infamous for authorizing drone strikes, while adding Libya and Syria to the list of America’s global victims. Trump ran against foreign wars in 2016. During his first term, Trump was quite proud (among other things) of having struck Syria (multiple times), carrying out assassinations on foreign soil, and providing extensive “lethal” aid to Ukraine (a departure from Obama’s more cautious policy). Trump also never required Ukraine to live up to either of the Minsk accords, and backed Pompeo’s meddling in Ukrainian church affairs that has directly led to the ongoing persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Trump never managed to get us out of Afghanistan, either.

By the way, Americans aren’t the only victims of the “campaign as a dove but govern as a hawk” political strategy. Zelenskyy ran as a peace candidate who was going to bring an end to conflict with Russia, only to end up provoking the current war with his aggressive policies.

Nor does lying to get elected, followed by betraying your electoral base, just work in matters of war and peace. Only Nixon, a committed anti-communist crusader, could sell Americans on a relationship with Red China. A relationship that has become an economic disaster for us. Reagan, the patron saint of small government conservatives, gave Americans record budget deficits and amnesty for illegal immigrants. Clinton, a progressive Democrat, ended “welfare as we know it”.

The Bible warns us, “Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.” Somehow, despite the clear admonition of God, we keep falling for the same old promises time and again by trusting one shiftless politician after another. 

That is not to say that Trump won’t deliver on some of his promises. As noted, decades of poisoning children with toxic food, vaccinations, and environmental chemicals has drastically reduced our pool of young men eligible to be canon fodder. Despite the desires of Big Food and Big Pharma, RFK Jr might just be allowed to do something about that. We may see real border enforcement. That is a popular policy that could provide some sugar to make the rest of the “medicine” go down easier. We might even see some entitlements cut, a few unpopular government departments / agencies drastically reformed (or even axed), an end to the loonier aspects of identity politics, more energy development, a marginally freer economy, and maybe even the return of heartfelt, flag waving patriotism of the kind so beloved by Boomer conservatives.

We might even see an end to the Ukraine War, though I wouldn’t count on that short of a complete Russian victory. The Trump Administration dropping support for Zelenskyy would force a peace deal favorable to Russia. While a negotiated settlement is the only way to stop the slaughter of hapless Ukrainian soldiers, and prevent a total collapse of the government in Kiev, it is hard to imagine the Republican Party having the guts to make such a principled call. More likely, Trump attempts to “muddle through” with some level of continued support because of “changes on the ground” or whatever other excuse he and his minions can come up with.

Still, some kind of successful negotiations in Ukraine are at least in the realm of possibility under Trump. Hope for peace springs eternal. May God’s will be done.

Regardless of whether we extricate ourselves from Ukraine or not, we must all face an unpleasant fact. “America First” is little more than a campaign slogan. The true governing philosophy of the incoming Trump Administration is “Israel First”. To confirm that, all we need do is examine Trump’s popularity in Israel, and his initial cabinet appointments.

Trump is beloved by the Israelis. Not only does Trump have Jews in his own family, but he welcomed massive Zionist donations to his successful campaign. Miriam Adelson alone, widow of Republican Jewish mega donor Shelden Adelson, donated $100 million to a campaign committee supporting Donald Trump. In exchange for that largesse, it appears that she has the privilege of picking Trump’s cabinet. The vast majority of whom, so far, are Zionist war whores.

Trump’s support of Israel appears to be a complete blank check for pursuing anything the Netanyahu Government deems “necessary”. On November 12th, it was reported that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu had already spoken three times with Donald Trump since the November 5th election. It was reported about these conversations:

The conversations “were designed to further tighten the strong alliance between Israel and the US,” said the premier. “We see eye-to-eye on the Iranian threat in all its components, and the danger posed by it. We also see the great opportunities before Israel, in the expansion of peace, and in other realms.”

Whatever else Trump may do in office, we can already see that supporting Israel will be the top priority. This is clearly illustrated when examining his initial foreign policy and security cabinet appointments.

Mike Walz – National Security Advisor

Walz is a former Green Beret, current Congressman, Zionist, and all around war monger:

Waltz’s selection may be seen as a blow in the debate over a renewed Trump “America First” agenda that’s pitting his party’s national security hawks against its isolationist wing. A former Bush White House policy staffer, Waltz would likely take on a foreign policy stance more akin to Trump’s former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Walz can be summarized as an “everything hawk”, advocating for greater confrontation with Russia, China, Iran, and staunchly backing Israel’s Palestinian genocide. To the extent Trump listens to him, his presence in the government could easily keep us up to our necks in Ukraine. Even now, Walz advocates stronger sanctions against Russia, and greenlighting Ukraine to hit targets deep inside Russia.

Russia has already warned that using American-supplied weapons for strikes inside Russia will be an act of war. Walz does not appear to be concerned about squaring off against a nuclear power. Walz seems hell-bent on fomenting multiple additional foreign conflicts the U.S. does not need and cannot afford.

Maybe we should ask him how he feels about Christian persecution in Ukraine? Think he cares?

Marco Rubio – Secretary of State

Marco Rubio, throughout a political career owed to the patronage of Neocon billionaires such as Sheldon Adelson, has been an unabashed “interventionist”. In the 2016 election cycle, Donald Trump (prior to receiving $100 million from Adelson’s widow) told the truth about who Rubio really is – a puppet.

In 2022, Rubio was a fervent supporter of Ukraine. He has since softened that stance to be more in line with Trump’s stated goal of ending the war. Rubio has even floated the idea of Ukraine ceding land to Russia for peace. So there could be some good news on that front. However, on China, Iran, Palestine, even Latin America, Rubio remains as “hawkish” as ever. Rubio has said that Israel should do everything possible to completely destroy Hamas, blaming all civilian deaths on Hamas alone while totally exonerating Israel. How can Rubio effectively represent the interests of the American people, while vociferously supporting what most of the world considers a genocide in Gaza?

It also remains to be seen how Rubio can negotiate peace with Iran, thus avoiding a major regional war, when he has gone on record multiple times calling for regime change in Tehran.

By the way, Rubio has been one of the largest recipients of Zionist money. In history. He appears to be a case of money well spent.

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Elise Stefanik – U.N. Ambassador

Elise Stefanik is a Congresswoman from NY who first stepped into the limelight in 2023.  During a congressional hearing with college presidents from Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania and MIT, Stefanik asked if calling for the genocide of Jews warranted disciplinary action against students. When none of the presidents would directly answer “yes” or “no,” members of the public and a group of Representatives (including Stefanik) called on them to resign. There is every indication that Stefanik will take her one-woman crusade against antisemitism (as she perceives it) and her anti-Iran hawkish attitude to her new U.N. post:

Republican Senator Mike Lawler congratulated Stefanik and wrote that she “will take the United Nations by storm, take on the anti-US and Israel bigotry, combat Jew-hatred and hold adversaries to account.”

 

“Elise will be a strong voice advancing U.S. foreign policy and helping to re-establish America’s leading role in the world,” Lawler added.

 

Jason Brodsky, policy director at United Against Nuclear Iran, wrote that the congresswoman, who is “a big proponent of maximum pressure on Iran’s regime,” would be “an excellent UN ambassador.”

Stefanik’s first meeting, after having been selected by Trump as the future U.N. Ambassador, was with the President of Israel.

It will probably come as little surprise that Stefanik has received a ton of pro-Israel money.

Kristi Noem – Secretary of Homeland Security

Noem, a former governor of a tiny state, is an intellectual lightweight with no background in law enforcement. Her only qualifications to lead Homeland Security are her loyalty to Trump and to Rabbinic Judaism / Zionism. As governor of South Dakota, Noem proudly signed bill HB 1076 to outlaw antisemitism, as defined by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. This definition includes criticism of Israel. Trump’s idea of a perfect head for Homeland Security is a woman who signed a bill intended to suppress the First Amendment rights of Americans to criticize a foreign country. 

Noem issued the following statement upon signing the antisemitism law:

When I was growing up, my dad would always gather our family together and we would pray for Israel. It was instilled in me from a very young age that the Jews were Gods [sic] chosen people, that Israel was the Holy Land, and that we should always pray for them.

 

I brought those fundamental ideals with me when I was in the State Legislature, when I served in Congress, and now as Governor of South Dakota. Supporting the State of Israel and our Jewish community has always been extremely important to me. It’s important to support Israel for spiritual, historical, and national security reasons. I am continuing to stand with the Jewish people by signing historic legislation to protect them from antisemitism.

 

. . . I was very proud to sign HB 1076, a very important bill to combat antisemitism. This bill defines antisemitism and makes it easier to prove when discriminatory conduct is motivated by antisemitism. It is an impactful piece of legislation that will ensure the safety of Jewish people and strengthen South Dakota’s anti-discrimination laws.

I wonder what Noem would have to say, to us Orthodox and Roman Catholic Christians, who believe the Church is Israel, and not the Zionist entity in the Middle East? Would stating what is, in fact, an official teaching of my Church qualify me for punishment as an antisemite? Or, maybe quoting Bible verses that reflect badly on 1st Century Jews would be enough to get me silenced or jailed?

And you thought you were voting for Donald Trump to protect your Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Religion? Surprise!

Noem is not the only member of Trump’s cabinet who wants to outlaw “antisemitism”, but she is the only one who was ever in a position to sign a bill doing so. Now that Trump will be taking power, there will be more than enough censorship and arrest opportunities to go around.

John Ratcliffe – CIA Director

Speaking of the suppression of civil liberties, Trump’s pick for CIA Director John Ratcliffe was a key part of the successful lobbying effort for the renewal of FISA warrantless surveillance. Ratcliffe participated in classified briefings that helped convince Speaker Mike Johnson to reverse his prior position and back FISA.

And you thought you were voting for Donald Trump to protect your rights against unlawful searches and seizures? Surprise!

Think this power will only be used against “anti-American” leftists? Better think again, especially if you oppose sending billions of dollars and thousands of troops to support Israel.

But Ratcliffe is not just an attorney with no love or appreciation for Constitutional rights. He is also an inveterate war monger who wants to partner with Israel to attack Iran. A reckless war whore with no appreciation for the rights of Americans is exactly the right person to “Make America Great Again”, right?

Peter Hegseth – Secretary of Defense

Hegseth is another appointee with a military past. For a man who actively avoided military service, Trump really does have a “type” when it comes to appointments. Hegseth is a Fox News contributor who is a Zionist war hawk through and through. Unlike Rubio, who has at least made some noises about negotiating an end to the Ukraine debacle, Hegseth calls Putin a “war criminal” and is ready to fight to the last Ukrainian to stop the return of the Soviet Union.

Among his other dangerous characteristics, Hegseth routinely underestimates the military and economic capabilities of the Russian Federation. That is exactly the kind of sober-minded analysis one wants in the man in charge of a massive war machine armed with nuclear weapons, right?

If we manage to get to the end of his tenure, without a world shattering war, then it will be a miracle.

Mike Huckabee – Ambassador to Israel

Pretty telling that the first nation to get an ambassador pick is Israel. How on the nose can you really be, President Trump? In any case, Mike Huckabee is the perfect choice to go along with the previous cast of soon-to-be war criminals. Huckabee is a dispensationalist preacher who, like all his cultist ilk, worships the State of Israel more than God. Trump may as well have appointed John Hagee. The Netanyahu Regime is in the grip of Apocalyptic Jews. America is now sending them an Apocalyptic pseudo-Christian cultist to egg them on. May God help us all.

Huckabee, like Rubio and all the others, does not believe that Palestinians have a right to life, much less to the land on which they have lived for thousands of years. Everything belongs to the Rabbinic Jews, according to Huckabee, and they have a right to take it all by force and keep it till Jesus returns. No doubt Huckabee also supports the teaching that Rabbinic Jews are entitled to a “Greater Israel”, a significantly larger state encompassing parts of Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. There can be no better point man for genocide and war than a religious extremist such as Mike Huckabee.

Conclusion

As I noted earlier, “bait and switch” on all kinds of issues, including war and peace, is a staple of American politics. That is nothing new. What is new, however, is that Trump (in his usual blustering fashion) has managed to reveal the “switch” before even taking office. He is well on his way to creating the most Zionist, the most Neocon, the most war mongering, the most anti-Civil Liberties Washington regime in the history of the United States. That is quite an achievement.

It will not go unnoticed. Or unpunished. Americans of all political persuasions are sick of war, sick of inflation caused by excessive government money printing (to pay for wars), and sick of the suppression of our civil liberties (in the name of safeguarding support for wars). More than anything, Americans are sick of our young men dying and being mutilated in pointless wars around the globe. Demonizing Russia and China, preaching the joys of Zionism, endlessly shouting about the Holocaust of almost 80 years ago, constantly raising the specter of Iranian / Muslim “terrorism” – none of that is going work today the way it did even a few years ago. Broke, angry, and betrayed Americans have moved on. Which is why Trump was elected to begin with.

That message has not yet gotten through to Trump and his rapidly growing list of ghoulish appointees. But it will. In the meantime, hopefully we have learned a valuable lesson. We can’t vote our way out of our current mess. If we could, the elites would cancel the elections.

—Nicholas – member of the Western Rite Vicariate, a part of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese in America