Israel First Is Dead

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Darrell Castle talks about the election and gives his thoughts on why the Republican Party suffered such a crushing defeat.

Transcription / Notes

ISRAEL FIRST IS DEAD

Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 6^th of November in the year of our Lord 2026. My beat is politics because this is election week in America so that is the subject for this week. My position is that the Republican disaster in the mid term election was caused by Trump’s war on Iran and the resulting fallout from that war. Yes, I agree the real issue that was foremost on the minds of voters was how much things such as food and fuel cost but that cost has been driven much higher by the war and I believe people can see that.

From the title of this Report you might think that because of the election the war is over but no that’s not what I’m saying. In fact, both parties love war so much that I doubt if anything of substance in the war changes. I’m saying that this election was so bad for Republicans that the only way a Democrat could lose is if he or she was proven to have said something positive about Israel at some point in their lives. In an act of obvious desperation Trump announced two days before the election that he was cutting the $4 billion in aid to Israel each year. Obvious nonsense but my point is that he thought that would be a positive for Republicans.

The economy is so bad for people of modest means that they even elected candidates that stand in opposition to their own best interests. In Texas for example the people screamed about Joe Biden’s open borders, but not just open he fought to get illegals into Texas. The people screamed but only Governor Abbott stood in opposition and he still lost. There hasn’t been a Democrat governor in Texas in 30 years but there is now.

What I mean by Israel first is dead is that the idea that members of congress and the senate would put the interests of Israel over those of the United States is over. Trump insists that the election was not a referendum on his term because as he said he was not on the ballot but he certainly knows that this was the clearest rejection of the policies of any administration in my lifetime. The only one that comes close was LBJ being forced to refuse to run for a second term because of the Vietnam War. Once again the people are trying to reject stupid, pointless wars that are Israel first and America not at all.

If I thought that this new Democrat House and Senate would do something to reign in the insistence on making war against Iran I would be more at peace with it. I don’t think that will be the case but we will see. I’ve heard more Democrat victory talk about making war on those who supported Trump than making peace in the Middle East. My fear is that the Democrats are a lot more interested in war against Russia than Trump is. He almost seems a little sad to spend $100 billion in Europe’s proxy war against Russia. We will see but I would wager they will be eager to join Europe’s obvious preparations for war.

If I’m right about that and the Democrats cannot resist their obsession with war then nothing has been accomplished, but if they try to reign in the President and get America out of that boondoggle well then O.K. The two parties love war so much that even politics is war to them. They can’t wait to regain power so they can make war on their political opponents. I heard Hillery Clinton on video say they will go after the President, his administration, his family, and my favorite, his supporters. That is political warfare for sure so no more loyal opposition in this day and age.

No matter what Trump says now, this was a stinging rebuke for him, his war, and his economy. Exit polls across the country reflected that sentiment. In 2024 voters trusted him and he turned his back on them. He had so much promise to end forever wars, root out corruption, control the deficit, deliver job growth and return manufacturing to the U.S. but the voters found themselves poorer.

The great majority, 75% said they thought the economy was in rough shape, and 65% said they believed Trump’s policies made it worse. Specifically, 87% said they were very or somewhat concerned with the cost of gas and diesel fuel. 88% said they were concerned about the price of food and groceries. 86% mentioned the price of utilities as a concern.

So, his inexplicable decision to launch a war against Iran caused the extreme inflation in food and fuel and that is obvious for anyone to see. I called it inexplicable but I guess the explanation is in his relationship with Bibi Netanyahu, whatever that is. American voters can see what Israel is doing in Gaza and the Palestinian territories and no matter how much the administration wanted us to shut our eyes to it there were a few who refused to let us ignore it.

Tucker Carlson’s continuous reporting on the war and his constant holding the Gaza attacks up to the light kept people from just ignoring it. I guess if you think about it no president with the record of war that this one has should be affirmed in the midterms. When he was campaigning in 2024 the statement that he would be known for the wars he didn’t start was a very appealing one. I bought into it and I hoped for the best but it just never arrived. Exit polls showed 62% believe attacking Iran was the wrong decision. I am surprised that figure is that low because I think even Trump privately wishes he had not sold himself to Bibi’s demands.

If you still wonder about the results and why it was so overwhelming consider what the Consumer Price Index reported to us. The last one-year increase in prices overall 3.7% while wages fell 0.6% for private industry workers when adjusted by the rise in prices. To put it in simple terms every time a gallon of gas jumps in price working people take a cut in pay and it was completely unnecessary. The worst part for working people was that no one seemed to care that they were suffering and no one was working on a plan to help them. They noticed and they vented their anger the only way they have to do so.

Some people in the Republican Party seem to understand better than others what was happening. Take Vice President J.D. Vance for example. His analysis was pretty much on target as were the four reasons he listed for the results. His four were the four main things Trump promised to do but was unable or unwilling to do. 1. End the war. 2. Focus on the cost of living and inflation. 3. Put America first. 4. Change our relationship to Israel.

Vance went on to point out that it wasn’t a matter of Republican voters not showing up because they did show up but they voted for Democrats. This President was given a mandate by the people to accomplish the things Vance mentioned and he failed miserably to do it. Instead of stopping forever wars, making America energy self sufficient he launched Bibi’s war and left his party in ruins.

Now virtually all Republican politicians can see the ship as sinking and they want off the war ship before that happens. I am anxious to see how Marco Rubio handles it since he has been the President’s point man for conducting diplomacy related to the war. This democrat landslide would seem to make diplomacy impossible. Why would the Iranians want to talk and perhaps concede anything after such a rebuke by the American people.

Trump has said that he could work with Democrats if they want to work with him so we will see if that happens. I certainly have doubts about whether today’s Democrats want anything more than punishing Trump for beating Hillary. There are subjects that the American people seem solidly behind which would give them something to cooperate on. Stock trading by members who obviously are trading on inside information while in office. Enacting federal legislation to help their own stock trades would certainly be hard to argue against banning.

The subject that has come up before which is wall street companies buying single family homes thus driving up the cost of housing for ordinary families. The pharmaceutical industry advertising directly to consumers thus driving up the cost of medicine and making every problem one that only their drugs could solve. I’m sure there are many other things they could agree on but will they. I certainly doubt it but we will see. I miss the days which I admit were a long time ago when a party lost and a party won but they both tried to serve the nation.

Of all the people who commented on the election I like what Ron Paul had to say. His commentary on Liberty Report said that the Republicans deserved to lose but the Democrats didn’t deserve to win. That was well said Dr. Paul and I could not do any better. He pointed out that Trump was supposed to address the cost of living but a gallon of gas is now a dollar more than when he was elected. He added about $2 trillion of debt in the last year and seems to be doing nothing to slow what appears to be a debt day of reckoning on the horizon.

In conclusion, I will close with a quote from Dr. Paul which also sums up my own view pretty well.

“A choice between the Republicans’ corporatism and the Democrats’ socialism is a sad choice. The bright side is that the continued failure of both left and right-wing authoritarianism will lead more people to embrace the only path to peace and prosperity. Liberty.”

Finally, folks, as the Wall Street Journal said rarely has a president traded away so much political support so quickly. Right now, Republicans feel fear, not the politicians, the voters. Fear of open borders, fear of men in little girls’ locker rooms, fear of the destruction of women’s sports, fear of new language and the reassessment of English especially pronouns, among other fears.

At least that’s the way I see it,

Until next time folks,

This is Darrell Castle,

Thanks for listening.