A Two-State Solution?

In the unhappy Middle East, one of the abiding beliefs is that the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian impasse lies in the "Two-State Solution," under which Israel coexists in peace with an independent Palestinian state consisting of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip*.

Official support for the Two-State Solution has been the official US policy for many years, although there's some indication that the Trump administration may be willing to jettison it in favor of full support of Israel.

But if the Two-State Solution doesn't work for the Middle East, perhaps it will work here at home as a way of separating Republicans and Democrats. Consider the electoral college results for the 2016 Election, represented as a map showing red (Republican) and blue (Democratic) states ...

The discontinuous areas of the West Bank under Palestinian control and surrounded by annexed or controlled by Israel are analogous to the situation of the blue states in the American heartland, surrounded by seas of red. Perhaps we are moving toward our own Two-State Solution, in which angry, bitter Conservatives live together in their own walled-in, law-and-order nation bordering a sister nation of angry, bitter Liberals**.

Have a good day here in the Disunited States of America. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

* There are precedents for a geographically-divided nation ...  following the partition of India into Hindu and Muslim nations in 1948, the Muslim portion consisted of "East Pakistan" and "West Pakistan." "East Pakistan" later broke away to become what we now know as "Bangladesh." Another precedent can be seen in the one-time "United Arab Republic," a short-lived union between Egypt and Syria that existed from 1958 to 1961. History appears to show that such geographically-divided nations don't work in the long run.

** There's also a precedent for a geographically divided political entity in this country ... look at Michigan.