This is the last regularly scheduled post before I move into NQN beast mode and, as it turns out, it is also the last post before the midterms—those foreboding midterms. I have something of a rag bag of thoughts for you all on that topic, and so I have put them down for you in no particular order. Each one will be contained by a paragraph, and each paragraph will be asked to be its own distinct rag.
I said they come in no particular order, but I need to admit up front that there is one exception. The first one is the one you must absolutely remember, regardless of what happens. It is by far the most important one.
Next Wednesday is the day after the election, and your mood will either be jubilant or dismayed, or perhaps, depending on the various measures and candidates in your state, a mixture of both. For the jubilant, remember to thank God, always, everywhere, and for everything. When God’s kindness is manifest, God is plainly on the throne. But when Jehovah has determined that our cultural sins are such that we continue to require mistreatment through various legislative, judicial, and regulatory drubbings, administered by scoundrels and miscreants . . . He is on the throne then also. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea” (Psalm 46:1–2). That would be pretty bad, but God is still God. The floods have lifted themselves up, and are threatening to overwhelm us all. But . . . “The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, than the mighty waves of the sea” (Psalm 93:4). We may look with consternation at the shambolic hash that we have made of everything, and yet Jehovah is the one who declares “the end from the beginning” (Is. 46:10). God moves the nations however He wishes, and no one can grab His wrist to stop Him. “For the Lord of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?” (Is. 14:27). So take heart. Regardless of what happens in the midterms, the inexorable purposes of God are right on schedule. Whenever sinful men band together to vote against the decrees of Heaven, the answer comes back and it is always the same. They lack standing. None of them rose from the dead.
The high Calvinism of the previous paragraph must never be used as an excuse to justify a passive quietism when it comes to our cultural moment. We must fight. ““The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law” (Deut. 29:29). Fighting is one of our assigned duties, one of the “things revealed.”. Understanding the cosmic strategies involved is not one of our assigned duties. We leave that to Him. But when we turn to fight, there are two revealed considerations. First, we must know what to fight. And secondly, we need to learn how to fight. Our central foe is secularism—the mindset that sets itself up against the knowledge of God (2 Cor. 10: 5). And as for how we fight, that should be with the joy of the Lord at our backs (Neh. 8:10), a psalm on our lips (Ps. 144:1), and a scriptural rapier in hand (Hen. 4:12). We are to fight like cavaliers, and not like trapped animals.
Always remember that the polls in the back stretch of any campaign are not like the men announcing the back stretch of a horse race. With the horse race, one horse really is in front of another one, and the second horse might really be able to make it an exciting race by catching up. But with political campaigns, nobody quite knows where the horses are until they hit the finish line. Poll have two limitations—the first is that they are methodologically limited, and the second problem is that they have become partisan. The methodological problem is that you talk to 250 scientifically selected people in order to render general by induction, so that we might know what 20 million people are going to do. This is a method that is fraught with fraughtness. The second problem is also glaring. There are polls out there that are so invested in the victory of one particular candidate that the only thing they don’t have is the cute little cheerleader outfit with the pom poms. So, with this said, don’t let your days between now and election day fill up with bleakness or with jubilation on the basis of polls.
The midterms have historically been a grim and bloody season for the party in power. By this I mean that the party in control of the White House usually takes it in the teeth in the midterms, losing seats. If that were to happen to the Republicans this round, they would most likely lose the House, because they don’t have all that many seats to lose. And if that were to happen, it would mean two solid years of impeachment proceedings going nowhere. That historical pattern has only been contradicted a handful of times, and so we should look at it squarely and without flinching. We have noticed the pattern for a reason. But there are three basic reasons for doubting that this is what is going to happen this time. In order, they are: 1. The Republicans were a lot more effective and aggressive when it came to redistricting; 2. The Democrats have apparently lost their minds, nominating various crazies and moonbeams; and 3. Love him or hate him, Donald Trump is an outstanding retail politician, filling coliseums wherever he goes, and he is apparently indefatigable. He gets out there, and he moves the needle. So I am not predicting a reversal of the pattern, but I am doubting the pattern.
If the Republicans hold onto the House, I think we can anticipate the Iranian regime having a very bad time of it. On the other hand, if the Republicans lose the House, then the midterms would then be off the table as a strategic consideration, and so I anticipate the Iranian regime having a very bad time of it.
And last, with the midterms out of the way, look for overt presidential positioning and posturing for 2028 to start happening. The pressure will be on, and men like Vance will have to declare their intentions rather soon. Depending on what happens, we will likely have Vance and Cruz in the mix, and there will be a lot of pressure on Rubio to run—although I don’t think he wants to run against Vance. If we do what we usually do, we will also have a little known governor or two in there. My one comment on this coming scrappy season would be to urge everyone to refrain from calling anyone a Nazi solely on the basis of which Republican candidate they support. Nobody needs that. And of course it cuts the other way also. Don’t call anyone a Fed . . . unless of course they start acting like a Nazi.