(Jericho, West Bank) — Make no mistake: the Kremlin is not waiting for the Trump-Pence administration to staff up and figure out its policies in the epicenter.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev are moving aggressively to meet with Middle Eastern leaders, court them, woo them, sell them weapons, sell them nuclear technology, and whisper in their ears that Moscow — not Washington — is the friend and ally they can trust over the long haul.

Last week, just days after the stunning American elections, I arrived in Jericho to host a conference of Palestinian pastors and ministry leaders and their wives. As it happened, when my wife and I arrived at the hotel where the conference was to be held, we found it surrounded by heavily armed soldiers. There were new checkpoints on all the nearby roads. There were snipers on the roof. There were armed bodyguards everywhere, and the lobby was filled with dozens of advisors and protocol officers, standing around smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee.

Why? Because Medvedev was on his way to meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (aka, Abu Mazen).

Over the course of several days, the two leaders discussed the future of Moscow’s relationship with the Palestinians, and specifically the Kremlin’s offer to host peace talks between Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. Abbas also used the occasion to name a street in Jericho after Medvedev to thank him for all the money the Kremlin has poured into the Palestinian Authority in recent years.

Medvedev’s first stop on this Mideast tour was in Israel where he met privately with Mr. Netanyahu. Officially, they marked the 25th anniversary of the establishment of formal diplomatic ties between Israel and the Russian Federation. But they also discussed Netanyahu’s concerns about Russian military involvement in Syria, and the growing Iranian threat to the region, even as Moscow keeps selling Tehran nuclear technology and advanced military equipment.

The Russian premier also met with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin (who himself recently visited Moscow). Medvedev also toured Yad Vashem, and visited the Western Wall.

This was Medvedev’s first state visit to Israel and the P.A. He was last here as a private citizen in 1990.

So why did Medvedev decide to come to the epicenter now — for the first time in two and a half decades — and just hours after the American presidential elections?

The answer is obvious: the Russians want to be the dominant global power in the Middle East. Putin and Medvedev see an enormous vacuum in the Middle East created by President Obama’s steady and foolish retreat, and they are making all kinds of moves to fill that vacuum with Russian money, arms and technology before the next President decides exactly what U.S. foreign policy in the region will be.

Consider just a few examples of Russian efforts in the region:

• Earlier this year, Russia agreed to loan Egypt $25 billion to build a nuclear reactor.
• Last year, Russia signed a $10 billion deal to build a nuclear reactor for Jordan.
• In August, Russian delivered its advanced S-300 air defense missile system to Iran.
• This month, Russia announced it may sell an additional $10 billion in arms — notably tanks and fighter jets — to Iran.
• In February, Iran announced it wanted to buy at least $8 billion in Russian arms.
• In January, Russia agreed to sell 46 attack helicopters to Egypt.
• In 2014, Russia signed $3.5 billion deal to sell arms to Egypt.
• Last week, Turkey indicated it wants to buy the state-of-the-art S-400 air defense missile system from Russia.

President-elect Trump and Vice President-elect Pence have their work cut out for them.

• Russia is going to be the big global story in the coming years — Putin is a Czar in the making, he’s an imperialist, he’s dangerous.
• It’s not yet clear Trump sees the Russian threat clearly — so it’s going to be interesting to see who Trump brings onto his national security team.
• Pence sees the Russian challenge clearly. I’ve discussed it with him, and I’m confident he will offer the new President wise counsel.
• I’m also encouraged that Trump has asked Rep. Mike Pompeo to be the new Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Pompeo also gets it. He’s a West Point graduate, served honorably in the U.S. armed forces, sits on the House Intelligence Committee, and will bring a wealth of experience to the CIA. I had the opportunity to meet privately with Pompeo in his Capitol Hill office for an hour or so earlier this summer and was very impressed. He’s a smart pick, and an encouraging one.
• Regarding General Mike Flynn, the incoming National Security Advisor, I don’t know him personally, but am studying him carefully.
• We’ll see who Trump picks to run State and Defense — I’m praying they are leaders who truly see the Russian threat and are prepared to give the new President wise and thoughtful counsel.

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• You can now pre-order my next novel — Without Warning — which will release on March 14, 2017. Click here for details.
• Order The First Hostage today — the new political thriller about genocidal ISIS leaders plotting a terrorist attacks against Israel, Jordan and the United States — available in paperback, hardcover, e-book and audio formats.
• Order THE THIRD TARGET today , the first in this new series — now out in paperback — the New York Times best-selling novel about ISIS capturing chemical weapons in Syria and plotting genocidal attacks on the U.S. and our Mideast allies.

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She. Has. Been. Stopped.

I thank God these prayers have been answered in an absolutely stunning, historic and largely unexpected night.

To her credit, Hillary Clinton has called Trump to concede the race — something I’m not sure I ever truly thought I’d see.

So now it’s official:

• Donald J. Trump will be the 45th President of the United States
• Gov. Mike Pence will be the next Vice President of the United States
• The House will remain in conservative Republican control.
• The Senate — another stunner — will remain under Republican control.

Coming from behind, making many mistakes, yet finishing strong, Mr. Trump did the impossible in this campaign, becoming the first non-politician, non-war hero ever to win the presidency in the entire history of the Republic.

He just finished his acceptance speech — I thought it was gracious, positive, and remarkably humble.

Trump said it is “time to bind the wounds” of the nation that promised, “I will be President for all Americans.” He said “the forgotten people” of the country will be “forgotten no longer.” He said he would need the help of many to bring the country together, and he would seek the help even of those who did not support him. Good for him. It was the best speech I’ve ever heard Trump give — presidential — and it was just what we needed to hear from the victor.

The Clintons were defeated tonight. The Obamas were defeated tonight. The Left was crushed. They look and sound deeply shaken. They didn’t see this coming. They are now bracing for impact, as is the media and the markets.

Let us pray for our new President and Vice President, and their families and teams — for safety, for wisdom, for stamina. Let us pray for a peaceful transition of power come January. And let us continue to pray that the Lord would show mercy to an America in deep trouble and deeply divided.

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> Here’s an interview I did yesterday on CBN News on Evangelicals and the elections.

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[This column is based on my personal beliefs and opinions. I share them in my personal capacity as an American citizen and an author. They do not reflect the views of The Joshua Fund, which is a non-profit organization and takes no political or legislative positions.]

—————————–

• You can now pre-order my next novel — Without Warning — which will release on March 14, 2017. Click here for details.
• Order The First Hostage today — the new political thriller about genocidal ISIS leaders plotting a terrorist attacks against Israel, Jordan and the United States — available in paperback, hardcover, e-book and audio formats.
• Order THE THIRD TARGET today , the first in this new series — now out in paperback — the New York Times best-selling novel about ISIS capturing chemical weapons in Syria and plotting genocidal attacks on the U.S. and our Mideast allies.

———————-—-

• Subscribe (free) to the RSS feed (click here) and receive every new posting on this blog directly via email.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 9th UPDATE:

• It’s 9:30 in the morning in Israel. Lynn and I have been up since 5am watching the election results come in and what a stunning night.
• It looks like the Trump-Pence team is poised to win (along with a GOP majority in the House and Senate).
• The Hillary team is bracing for impact — not conceding yet, but visibly shaken by how voters have turned against her en masse.
• True, the races in many states are still very close — the AP has called Pennsylvania for Trump which appears to give him the presidency, but Fox News isn’t ready to call it for Trump at this hour.
• The Trump-Pence team is bracing for impact — cautiously preparing for the increasingly real possibility that they have done the impossible and will have the enormous responsibility of governing come January.
• The media and markets are reeling — in total shock over what appears to be developing when they never saw it coming.
• We’re still praying Hillary can and will be stopped from every taking office.
• We’re still praying we can actually get pro-life Supreme Court Justices, and repealing Obamacare, and so many other positive policies.
• We’re cautiously optimistic. But we’re still “bracing for impact” as our new day begins here. May the Lord have mercy on us all.
• >> Here’s an additional interview I did yesterday on CBN News on Evangelicals and the elections.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8: Soon, we will know who the next President of the United States will be.

Yet as that moment approaches, I keep thinking of the takeaway line from the recent film, “Sully.” The last words the captain of that Airbus A320 told his passengers as the plane’s engines failed and they headed for a crash landing on the Hudson River were as chilling as they were sobering.

Brace for impact.

Like that plane, America is rapidly losing altitude. We need a captain who can steer us to safety. As you know, I have serious reservations about Mr. Trump. But I shudder to imagine Hillary Clinton at the controls.

Today, here in Israel, I did a live interview on Facebook with a reporter for the Christian Broadcasting Network discussing this very topic — brace for impact — in more depth. It runs about 17 minutes. Please click here to watch.

In the meantime, let us keep praying without ceasing that the Lord may have mercy on America at such a dangerous and decisive moment.

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UPDATE ON MY LAST COLUMN:  On Thursday, I wrote a column on this blog explaining why I changed my position from #NeverTrump to voting for the Trump-Pence ticket. I expected a range of reactions — from anger to disappointment to agreement — and got these and many more.

What I didn’t expect was the magnitude of the interest.

On a typical day, my blog receives between 3,000 and 6,000 views. Before this particular column, the most views my blog had ever received in a single day was just over 83,000.

But over the last few days, this column on my reluctant conversion away from the #NeverTrump camp went viral. On Thursday, it was viewed by 104,449 people. On Friday, it was viewed by 433,629 people. As of this hour, the column has been viewed more than 1.25 million times.

One of the folks who read it was nationally syndicated columnist Cal Thomas. He then quoted it in his latest column on why he, too, switched from being #NeverTrump to voting for the Trump-Pence ticket. It’s an excellent article and I hope you’ll take a moment read it and share it with others.

I don’t share this update with you to pat myself on the back in anyway. Quite the contrary, it was enormously difficult for me to change my position, and then go public with that change. But I think the enormous interest my article received was evidence, perhaps, that there were an enormous number of Americans similarly struggling with competing convictions and wrestling with how to reconcile them in such dark and difficult times.

To everyone who read the article, and commented, and shared it with others, let me just say thanks. I hope it was helpful and thought-provoking, regardless of how you ended up voting.

——————

[This column is based on my personal beliefs and opinions. I share them in my personal capacity as an American citizen and an author. They do not reflect the views of The Joshua Fund, which is a non-profit organization and takes no political or legislative positions.]

—————————–

• You can now pre-order my next novel — Without Warning — which will release on March 14, 2017. Click here for details.
• Order The First Hostage today — the new political thriller about genocidal ISIS leaders plotting a terrorist attacks against Israel, Jordan and the United States — available in paperback, hardcover, e-book and audio formats.
• Order THE THIRD TARGET today , the first in this new series — now out in paperback — the New York Times best-selling novel about ISIS capturing chemical weapons in Syria and plotting genocidal attacks on the U.S. and our Mideast allies.

———————-—-

• Subscribe (free) to the RSS feed (click here) and receive every new posting on this blog directly via email.

This is not easy for me. I did not get to this point lightly. Rather, it has been a matter of intense examination of the candidates and party platforms, studying the Scriptures (particularly I Samuel 8-12; see below), and listening to many thoughtful voices in the debate.

Anyone who has been tracking my writing during the course of this campaign knows how deeply concerned I am about Mr. Trump — his lack of experience, flip-flopping on issues, and the unkind and at times even vulgar or vitriolic language he uses against his critics. I had hoped he would be defeated in the primaries. Or challenged by a plausible third party candidate. Or would drop out after the release of the deeply offensive video of him speaking with Billy Bush.

But this is where we are. Now, it is truly is a binary choice between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. There’s no way around it, and the moment of decision has arrived.

True, I had previously stated that I could “never” vote for Mr. Trump. So I readily concede this is a reversal. I have no doubt I will disappoint some for changing my position. But this is where I am, and I want to explain how I got here.

The heart of the matter is this: I have been going through what many Evangelicals are going through – an internal battle between competing convictions.

I could never support Hillary. Indeed, much of my professional life has been fighting the Clintons, dating back to when I worked for Bill Bennett and Jack Kemp at Empower America, and for Rush Limbaugh as director of research. So the question for me has been this: should I vote for Trump, a third party candidate, write-in a candidate, or not vote at all? For many of my friends, this hasn’t been a difficult choice. For me it’s been difficult to determine which of my deeply held convictions should be elevated as paramount, even when the others I hold so dearly are being violated.

To be sure, my vote is not more important than anyone else’s. I know many Americans are struggling the same way I am. Indeed, in writing this I’m not even trying to persuade you to agree with me. I have friends whose deepest convictions tell them they simply cannot vote for Mr. Trump, that they will trust the sovereignty of God and live with the consequences. I respect them. I don’t question their motives. I know exactly where they’re coming from.

But for those who are interested, here are ten reasons why I have decided to vote for the Trump-Pence ticket:

1. The most important is this: Hillary Clinton must never be elected President under any circumstances. She must be stopped. As I have written, she would be an absolute catastrophe for America. Should she be elected and the Democratic Platform enacted, this dynamic would accelerate the country towards divine judgment and implosion.
2. Hillary and her advisors may have committed federal crimes. The decision by the Director of the FBI to reopen the criminal investigation put into sharp relief for me  the gravity of the situation facing us.
3. Electing Hillary could very well lead to a constitutional crisis that could paralyze the federal government and make us vulnerable. These were points made this week by Doug Schoen, a senior Democrat pollster and strategist who once worked for President Bill Clinton. Schoen announced that he – a long-time Hillary supporter – could no longer in good conscience vote for her. This helped persuade me that I could no longer in good conscience avoid casting a vote to stop her.
4. Aside from criminality, Hillary is the most corrupt and flawed candidate ever to run on a major party ticket for President. Americans are exhausted by the culture of corruption and scandal that perennially surrounds the Clintons. Four more years would distract us from tackling the serious challenges facing the American people.
5. Hillary Clinton is the poster child for “politics as usual” at a time when we need change.
6. Yes, as I stated above, I have deep reservations about Mr. Trump. I have not sugar-coated these concerns. Rather, I have written and spoken about them throughout the campaign. In January I wrote 39 reasons why a Trump presidency would be a catastrophe (see here and here). I concede this could still turn out to be true. But it also should be noted that in the ten months since I wrote those columns, an excellent Republican Platform was drafted and approved. Also, Mr. Trump has made a series of very specific and attractive commitments. He has promised:
   1. To pursue pro-life policies at the federal level
   2. To appoint Supreme Court Justices in the model of Antonin Scalia (and has issued a specific – and impressive – list of names from which he promises to draw to make his appointments to the Court
   3. To defund Planned Parenthood
   4. To rebuild the American military
   5. To protect America’s borders
   6. To strengthen America’s alliances with Israel and our Sunni Arab partners
   7. To repeal and replace Obamacare
   8. To cut taxes, reform the tax code, revitalize American manufacturing, create jobs for Blue Collar Americans, and expand economic freedom and opportunity for all Americans
7. Do I have concerns as to whether Mr. Trump will keep all of these promises? Yes. But I have come to believe it is worth electing him in the hopes that he will keep his word. I am certain Hillary will aggressively pursue an agenda that goes against everything I believe.
8. I believe Governor Mike Pence would make a superb Vice President.
   1. Lynn and I know Mike and Karen and have the highest respect for them. In our personal time with them, we have been deeply encouraged by their humility and character.
   2. Mike and Karen are devout Evangelical Christians.
   3. Mike is a principled conservative and is deeply knowledgeable and experienced in economic, social and foreign policy matters.
   4. Karen is a great friend, soulmate and counselor to her husband.
   5. More recently, we spent time with them in Jerusalem when the Governor led a trade delegation to Israel. They love Israel deeply. They love the Jewish people. Mike gets the seriousness of the threats posed by Radical and Apocalyptic Islam and is serious about countering them. He has deep respect for our Sunni Arab allies and understands the importance of working together with all our allies in the Middle East to counter Iran and ISIS.
   6. Mr. Trump was wise to choose Gov. Pence to serve as Vice President and deserves credit for the choice. If this is a signal of the type of leaders he will appoint in office, this would be a good thing.
9. Hopefully, Mr. Trump would also appoint solid, experienced conservatives to key positions throughout the Cabinet and Executive Branch. I know for certain Mrs. Clinton would appoint hardcore liberals if she is elected.
10. Finally, I have been studying I Samuel chapters 8 through 12 as I’ve been wrestling with the question, “Can I vote for a candidate for whom I have serious reservations?” In this fascinating passage, the Hebrew judge and prophet Samuel is grieved by the direction ancient Israel is going. He is grieved by Israel’s rebellion against the Lord. They want an earthly king, someone tall and strong and decisive — rather than the Lord — to govern them, lead them, protect them and solve their problems. Samuel goes to the Lord with great anguish to protest, but the Lord tells him three times to “listen to the voice of the people.” The Lord even directs Samuel to publicly anoint and bless a seriously flawed and woefully inexperienced man named Saul to be the king. The Lord does this even though He knows that Saul will fail the people and need to be replaced. But the Lord gives Samuel one further directive: Make sure the people understand what they are doing, and how urgently they need to turn back to the Lord – not to a man – to see their nation blessed and saved. “Now then, listen to their voice,” said the Lord. “However, you shall [also] solemnly warn them.” Did God tell Samuel to support a flawed man for the highest position of leadership in the nation even though it went directly against Samuel’s conscience? Yes, He did. But Samuel was never to stop calling the nation back to the Lord until the day he died. Now I am not Samuel, and Mr. Trump is not Saul. The details are different. But the principle is intriguing, and it has been helpful to me.

Today, I live in Israel and am a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen. But I was born and raised in the United States. I am an American citizen and profoundly grateful for this birthright. Heroic men and women have laid down their lives to give me the right to vote, and I am grateful. I can’t say I am happy with the choices I have, but I am finally at peace about what I should do.

To be clear, I am not endorsing Mr. Trump. I am simply saying I am going to vote for him (by absentee ballot) because Hillary must be stopped.

In the meantime, I will continue to pray faithfully and earnestly for the Trump, Pence, Clinton and Kaine families and for their teams. I will pray the Lord has mercy on them, and mercy on each and every American.

Finally, I will also keep meditating on a sobering passage of Scripture at this critical moment — 1 Samuel 12:22-25 – and encourage other believers to do the same:

“For the Lord will not abandon His people on account of His great name, because the Lord has been pleased to make you a people for Himself,” said Samuel to his nation. “Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you; but I will instruct you in the good and right way. Only fear the Lord and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you. But if you still do wickedly, both you and your king will be swept away.”

——————

[This column is based on my personal beliefs and opinions. I share them in my personal capacity as an American citizen and an author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of The Joshua Fund, which is a non-profit organization and takes no political or legislative positions.]

—————————–

• You can now pre-order my next novel — Without Warning — which will release on March 14, 2017. Click here for details.
• Order The First Hostage today — the new political thriller about genocidal ISIS leaders plotting a terrorist attacks against Israel, Jordan and the United States — available in paperback, hardcover, e-book and audio formats.
• Order THE THIRD TARGET today , the first in this new series — now out in paperback — the New York Times best-selling novel about ISIS capturing chemical weapons in Syria and plotting genocidal attacks on the U.S. and our Mideast allies.

———————-—-

• Subscribe (free) to the RSS feed (click here) and receive every new posting on this blog directly via email.

Finally, the battle to liberate Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, from the bloodthirsty clutches of the Islamic State is underway.

With Iraqi Christians, Yazidis and other minorities suffering nothing short of genocide, the Iraqi military is currently engaged in a serious, systematic, albeit long-overdue campaign to crush ISIS and restore safety and stability to northern Iraq once and for all. Baghdad is working with a coalition that includes Iraqi Kurdish paramilitary forces known as the Peshmerga, backed up by U.S. intelligence, air support, special forces and tactical advisors.

This is good news, and I’m encouraged by early reports of progress, as this is a strategy to defeat ISIS that I’ve been advocating for some time (see here, here, and here).

The big question, as I see it, is not whether this coalition will ultimately be successful in liberating northern Iraq from ISIS (I believe they will be), but what happens the day after ISIS is gone. How will order be restored? How will the Christian community begin to rebuild their lives? And how will Baghdad help, rather than harm?

To this end, I wholeheartedly support an initiative by senior Iraqi government leaders to create a new province in northern Iraq — including the Nineveh Plain — that would specifically serve as a safe haven for Iraqi Christians, Yazidis and other minorities.

There once were some 1.5 million Christians living in Iraq. Today, after so many years of war and terrorism and now a systematic effort by ISIS to annihilate the Christian community, there are today fewer than 350,000 professed followers of Jesus Christ in the country that was the birthplace of Abraham and Sarah and the home of many Biblical prophets, from Daniel and Ezekiel to Jonah and Nahum, to name just a few.

To their credit, a number of current Iraqi leaders are being clear that they don’t want their Christian community to have to flee to Europe or America to find protection from ISIS. They don’t want ISIS to be successful in their declared mission to “break the cross” and annihilate Christ-followers in Iraq. What’s more, some of them have come to recognize that the only way to build a stable, healthy, lasting republic is to help Christians there not only survive but thrive. Among other things, that means giving Iraqi Christians a real stake in governing themselves.

The creation of a new province in northern Iraq has been a topic of discussion for several years within the upper echelons in Baghdad. With the liberation of northern Iraq finally underway, the discussion is now picking up tempo, as is international support for the idea.

Last month when I was in the States, I had a very encouraging phone conversation with Congressman Jeff Fortenberry who has spent a great deal of time examining the issue. He recently introduced a bipartisan resolution towards this end and is urging both Congress and whomever is elected the next President of the United States to support a new Iraqi province to protect the Christians.

Fortenberry has impressive street cred on the issue. Earlier this year, the Nebraska Republican led the effort to persuade Members of Congress to officially define the ISIS slaughter of Christians as genocide. In March, the House passed Fortenberry’s resolution by a unanimous vote of 383-0. Two days later, the Obama administration finally agreed to formally define the actions of ISIS as genocide.

Working closely with Fortenberry and his colleagues on these matters is Robert Nicholson, an Evangelical Christian and public policy specialist based in Manhattan. Nicholson has written and spoken extensively on the subject of protecting and strengthening persecuted Christians in the Middle East. After talking with him at some length, and reading a good deal of his work, I believe Nicholson is making a principled and effective moral and strategic case for the U.S. fully backing the creation of such a new province. I especially commend his most recent article, “The Strategic Case For A Safe Haven In Northern Iraq,” to your attention.

“This province would not be an externally created construct,” Nicholson wrote with several colleagues earlier this year. “It would be a political recognition of the province’s underlying ethnic and cultural makeup, building on what has already been taking place. Indeed, on January 21, 2014, Iraq’s Council of Ministers ‘agreed, in principle, to turn the districts of Tuz Khurmato, Fallujah, and the Nineveh Plains into provinces,’ pursuant to Articles 61 and 80 of the Iraqi Constitution. What remains is for the United States, its allies in the coalition against ISIS, and regional partners to support the Iraqis as they begin a transition toward greater federalism and greater protection for the country’s most vulnerable communities.”

I  agree, and I’m committed to doing everything I can to encourage more support in the House for Rep. Fortenberry’s resolution, and to create a Senate version, too.

Four times in recent years, I’ve had the opportunity to visit, preach and teach in northern Iraq. I’ve traveled twice across the Nineveh Plain, and had the honor of meeting with persecuted Christians there. Indeed, it has become a great passion of mine to find ways to support and encourage and even fund the pastors and Christian leaders of Iraq. I don’t believe the creation of a new province and thus a safe haven will solve all their problems. But I do believe it’s vital that Western Christians stand with our brothers and sisters, especially as they face genocide. We should do everything we can to help them recover from the tyranny of ISIS, and to help the Iraqi Church be a witness and blessing to their Muslim and Yazidi neighbors who have suffered so greatly under ISIS, as well.

[This column is based on my personal beliefs and opinions. I share them in my personal capacity as an American citizen and an author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of The Joshua Fund, which is a non-profit organization and takes no political or legislative positions.]

—————————–

• You can now pre-order my next novel — Without Warning — which will release on March 14, 2017. Click here for details.
• Order The First Hostage today — the new political thriller about genocidal ISIS leaders plotting a terrorist attacks against Israel, Jordan and the United States — available in paperback, hardcover, e-book and audio formats.
• Order THE THIRD TARGET today , the first in this new series — now out in paperback — the New York Times best-selling novel about ISIS capturing chemical weapons in Syria and plotting genocidal attacks on the U.S. and our Mideast allies.

———————-—-

• Subscribe (free) to the RSS feed (click here) and receive every new posting on this blog directly via email.

With just one week to go to Election Day in the U.S., here are three new and significant developments worth noting.

First, it is becoming increasingly clear that the FBI’s decision to re-open the criminal investigation of Hillary Clinton and her most senior advisors, including Huma Abedin, has grave implications for the country.

• The Bureau has reportedly found some 650,000 emails on the computer of Abedin’s estranged husband, former Rep. Anthony Weiner.
• All of those emails have to be carefully reviewed to see what they contain, including classified information. Then the evidence must be assessed to determine if criminal charges should be brought against anyone.
• It could take several weeks, or even months, to complete the investigation. Even the mainstream media is beginning to see the significance of this. “FBI officials are unlikely to finish their review of new emails potentially related to the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private server before the November 8 election,” reports CNN.

Second, a senior Democrat strategist has just publicly announced that he cannot support Hillary for President and warns a “constitutional crisis” will ensue if she wins.

• Doug Schoen is a highly respected pollster and political strategist for the Democrat Party. He has known the Clintons for more than two decades. He worked for President Bill Clinton. And until this week, he has supported Hillary for President.
• But on Monday he warned of a “constitutional crisis” that will ensue if America elects a candidate who is actively under criminal investigation by the FBI.
• “I am now convinced that we will be facing the very real possibility of a constitutional crisis with many dimensions and deleterious consequences should Secretary Clinton win the election,” Schoen wrote in a column for The Hill and for Foxnews.com. Donald Trump likes to say that the Clinton email scandal is worse than Watergate. I remember Watergate very well. What troubled me most, other than the crimes committed, was that the United States was paralyzed and unable to act. President Nixon and the government were rendered impotent, unable to govern and meet its responsibilities to the American public. I worry that the same thing could happen after a victory by Secretary Clinton and could carry on into her term of office.”
• So with seven days to go, Schoen said he will not vote for Clinton — stunning — you couldn’t make this up if you tried.
• To be clear, this is not a Republican operative, or a conservative strategist, or an Evangelical leader making the case of a grave threat to American democracy. This is a top Democrat who has been part of the Clinton-Obama team for decades, breaking with Hillary in the final week of the campaign. Unbelievable.
• Here’s the transcript, and a link to the video.

Third, another long-time strategist and pollster for the Democrat Party says he now believes the news about the FBI’s criminal investigation will cause undecided voters to turn against Hillary in significant numbers and that “the dam is about to break.”

• Patrick Caddell was President Jimmy Carter’s pollster.
• He helped design the Carter re-election campaign in 1980. He helped Carter drive the narrative that Ronald Reagan was too conservative, too dangerous and unqualified to be president. He was certain Carter was going to win — his own polls had Carter up big — until the final weekend of that campaign.
• At the last moment, “undecideds” broke decisively against Carter and for Reagan.
• Caddell now says this campaign feels like 1980 — in large part because of the FBI investigation, he believes it’s possible that a significant percentage of the remaining 12-15% of undecided voters could break against Hillary in these final days.
• We’ll see. There could be many more twists and turns in this final week — indeed, you’d almost have to expect them given the pattern of this race.
• That said, it is noteworthy that long-time senior Democrats like Schoen and Caddell are warning that events could shift rapidly because of the deep distrust Americans have towards Mrs. Clinton and their exhaustion with the culture of corruption and seemingly never-ending seasons of scandal. Many Democrats — notably the Bernie Sanders supporters — are also exhausted by the Clintons and want change.

DOUG SCHOEN: As you know, I have been a supporter of Secretary Clinton… But given that this investigation is going to go on for many months after the election… But if the Secretary of State wins, we will have a president under criminal investigation, with Huma Abedin under criminal investigation, with the Secretary of State, the president-elect, should she win under investigation.

Harris, under these circumstances, I am actively reassessing my support. I’m not a Trump…. 

HARRIS FAULKNER, FOX NEWS: Whoa, whoa, wait a minute. You are not going to vote for Hillary Clinton?

SCHOEN: Harris, I’m deeply concerned that we’ll have a constitutional crisis if she’s elected.

FAULKNER: Wow….

SCHOEN: I want to learn more this week. See what we see. But as of today, I am not a supporter of the Secretary of State for the nation’s highest office.

FAULKNER: How long have you known the Clintons.

SCHOEN: I’ve known the Clintons since ’94.

I share these with you not as a political analyst trying to handicap the “horse race,” per se. There are plenty of pundits out there offering their educated and not-so-educated guesses on who will win the American presidential race, how and why. I’ve certainly done my share of political analysis in my career, but that’s not my purpose here.

Rather, I’m writing as one seeking to “analyze this present time,” not simply through the lens of geopolitics and economics but through what I call “the third lens,” the lens of the Scriptures. In the Hebrew Scriptures — notably in Ezekiel chapter 33 — the Lord speaks of the importance of being a “watchman on the wall.” If you see threats coming against a nation, you must be faithful to warn people of those threats and give them the opportunity and the time to take action.

In my fiction and non-fiction books, and in my columns and speeches, I have consistently sought to warn people of threats I see coming against the United States, against Israel, against our Arab allies in the Mideast and around the world, and against the Church. As the author of Implosion: Can America Recover From Her Economic & Spiritual Challenges In Time?, I’m deeply concerned about the direction America is headed, and never more so than right now. I believe America is not simply facing a season of decline but is in danger of outright collapse.

Thus, I have been praying earnestly that the Lord would give us a president who could help turn this ship of state around and get America heading in the right direction. We need much more than that, of course. We need a sweeping spiritual revival in the Church and another Great Awakening across the land. But a president who truly understood the enormous threats America faces from within and without, and who was serious about helping lead the nation back to the right track, could be of critical help.

Hillary Clinton is clearly not that candidate. As I have warned throughout this year, a Hillary presidency would be a catastrophe for America. The news of the last few days simply underscores this.

To be sure, I’ve written in detail about Donald Trump’s serious flaws and the risks a Trump presidency would pose. I haven’t sugar-coated the truth about either candidate. Rather, I’m trying to be honest in my analysis, even though many of my readers don’t want to hear it, so people understand the risks the nation faces from either candidate.

Today, I focused on Mrs. Clinton, because of these three significant new developments.

Last point: I will continue to pray faithfully for each of the candidates and their families and advisors. And I will continue to pray that the Lord will be merciful to America. The nation has many hard days ahead no matter who wins next week. Rather than be anxious or discouraged or angry, however, the Lord calls us to be “joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer.” (Romans 12:12)