TROUBL

The Gravel/Paul “Middle Finger” ticket was denied ballot access in many states. They, in turn, urged the electorate, “Vote ‘None of the Above’ this time around! Vote, and vote for no one.” The electronic voting machines made it nearly impossible to know for sure if the large turnout of “non-voters” was mistake, a glitch, or a legitimate political statement.

Like Nader in 2000, the few percentage points lost in the 1’s and 0’s of a handful of machines made the difference in 2008.

The attack came at 11:00 AM, no sooner than Hillary Clinton had finished swearing in. It seemed, in retrospect, inevitable that Iran would attack Israel. Clinton had ramped up her war rhetoric, saying she would take the troops out within months, but always leaving a little bit of wiggle room to attack Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran or North Korea, should the need arise. And arise it did. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in public that the strike against Israel was a “Preemptive strike,” using the United States’ own words against us. But, the entire world knew what it was: a dare. A dare to see if Hillary Clinton would make good on her promise to “obliterate” Iran.

Promises to remove troops from Iraq were replaces by orders to move into position to attack Iran. The blogosphere wondered aloud if Iraq would be the next Afghanistan, the next “other war.”

By the time the US forces has moved into attack position, the Israeli Air Force had plunged every major Iranian city into darkness. Power plants and infrastructure were turned into rubble, and generators brought unwelcome attention.

As US troops left Iraq, Turkey made their move and invaded from the North. Iran, in an historic move, invaded the disputed territories. Iran and Iraq, for the first time in the two countries’ existence, were now fighting on the same side of a war.