THE ONLY POLITICAL POLL THAT MATTERS

There are opinion polls that rate the President' approval and Congress's approval.  By those measures it is fair to say that the public can't stand Trump and hate Congress even more.  Trump has an historically bad ranking.  I frankly don't care much for those two polls for a few reasons, none of which has to do with Trump's low score. I simply don't think those polls matter much. Here is what does . . .

DIRECTION OF THE COUNTRY

"Public perception of the direction of the country has been strongly negative for years. In late summer of 2016, the feeling that we were moving in the wrong direction reached the high-60s, while less than 25% felt we were heading the right way. In the most recent polls,  31.1% feel that the country is moving in the "right direction."  So the poll is moving in the right direction, even those nearly 70% of the country still does not believe the country is.

The following BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC data are MORE telling than the POLITICAL OPINION POLLS:
- Consumer Confidence
- Business (small, medium and large) Confidence
- Wages and Household Income
- GDP
- Corporate Earnings
- Labor Force Participation

All of these metrics are doing great since Trump has been elected. And so long as this data continue to improve I could give less than too hoots about the POLITICAL OPINION polls about Trump.  The same same pollsters gave the election to Hillary in a landslide.

(If you think the recent November election outcomes in the VA and NJ suggest otherwise, I disagree.  But my explanation would get me off into a different set of issues which I simply don't feel like going into here.)

What the Hell Is Going On? You Can Figure It Out!

7 QUESTIONS THAT HELP YOU FIGURE OUT WHETHER IT IS TRUMP OR HILLARY THAT COULDN'T BE TRUSTED WHEN IT COMES TO RUSSIAN COLLUSION, THE LAST ELECTION AND IN GENERAL:

What is happening seems rather obvious to me.  It is all coming together.  Uranium One, Russian Facebook ads, mysterious Clinton deaths & disappearances, The Dossier, the Trump Jr meeting, Julian Assuage and Hillary/DNC server hacks, Flynn, Montefort, and certain others with certain Russian conflicts of interests. Do the math folks!  It is not that hard to see. It is just hard to fathom!

It is NOT a Democrat or Republican "thing!"  It comes down to fundamental espionage tactics which can be expressed through the following 7 questions:

1. Who can you buy? (Who is greedy and overly ambitious.)
2. Who can you blackmail?  (Garbage collection and creation.)
3. Who can we use their sexual desires to compromise? (Whose horny.)
4. Who is too great a threat to your cover and has to be eliminated?
5. Who can be tricked or fooled?
6. What organizations can we infiltrate and operate from the inside to exploit or steal their assets? (E.G. media, parties, agencies, etc.)
7. What systems can we hack into in order to exploit or disrupt? (E.G. databases, private networks, etc.)

As always, with any good spy story, follow the money and the motive. But don't be fooled by your own bias when it comes to what trails to pursue or signs to read or conclusions to be reached!

What Is In Store For Christmas?

It is nearly "that time of year," but first you need to know this . . . 

"Under the 1995 Jerusalem Embassy Act, Congress explicitly named Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and demanded that the U.S. embassy be relocated there or risk losing State Department funding. But the law includes an important caveat — the president can waive the requirement for a six-month period in the name of national security interests. All administrations have opted to waive the requirement every six months, citing security concerns and advice from experts, as well as opposition to Congressional efforts to direct executive control over foreign policy."

As we know, Trump campaigned with a repeated promise to move the USA's embassy back to Jerusalem - in simple terms - to NOT sign the extension.  It is a promise I believe he totally intends to keep. Frankly, I expected that he wasn't going to sign the last 6 month extension, which came up for the first time during his presidency back in June.  

Trump's excuse for extending the move another 6 months as all Presidents have done for over two decades was "to give the peace process a chance" was reasonable.  By the same token, it seems to me that there are more likely underlying reasons. (There always are.)

It is practically inevitable that a large portion of the middle east, and Muslims around the world are going to go apoplectic over the embassy move.  As far as Israel is concerned, the most likely ways are outbreaks of violence and terror at "The Mount," from rockets fired out of Gaza and from Lebanon, and with attacks on civilians in the West Bank and Israeli cities.   

We know that Israel will use crushing force in a "measured" response to such violence. We also know that no matter how measured Israel's handling is, UNESCO and even certain allies will condemn her.  What I wonder most about is how Israel will address threats of and actual aggression coming from Hezbollah in Lebanon.  Israel appears to be readying for a major thrust into Lebanon to deal a big blow to Iranian backed Hezbollah forces and bases. 

I suspect that the last embassy move extension was less about "giving peace a chance" and more about giving war a better chance.  The last extension provided Israel and the USA with important time to plan, arm and train.  This was time needed to deploy the new F-35 strike fighter and other new modern systems. Simply put, knowing full well the peace process had virtually no chance, the last six month extension provided crucial time to prepare for war.

What is quite interesting to me is the possibility of a partial connection to what is happening in Saudi Arabia, as far back as the Arab Summit in Riyadh. Israel, the USA, and Saudi Arabia have a common enemy - Iran.  I believe the USA and Israel have been working intensely to ensure that should there be an action by Israel in Lebanon, which may also include or draw in its ally Iran, that S.A. stands down, and may even covertly support Israel. 

We can't forget about Syria, which is also an ally to both Lebanon and Iran. Without going into details, suffice to say that Syria has for all intents and purposes been neutered by their own internal matters coupled with Israeli strikes against Hezbollah's supply chain from Iran within Syria, and the USA's missile strike against a key Syrian airfield at the beginning of Trump's term. 

When you boil this down, a trap is being set for Hamas in Israel, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and potentially for the ultimate target, Iran.  We are closing in on the next deadline for it to be sprung - the need for Trump to sign the next extension in December.

Is Trump about to deliver a Christmas gift to both those who elected Trump and Israel, by reaffirming that Jerusalem is the eternal capital of Israel and moving our embassy back?  Is this part of what Trump has in mind when he says we will be saying "Merry Christmas" this year.  If so, and the gift is delivered by virtue of Trump rejecting to sign the extension, will Israel get what it wished for?

What do you think?