By removing Hezbollah from its terror list, the Arab League has sent a message to Iran and its terror proxies that they have a green light to pursue their terrorist attackers not only against Israel, but also against some of the Arab countries, especially the Gulf states.

Many Lebanese citizens and politicians are convinced that Hezbollah, together with the mullahs in Iran, are determined to destroy Lebanon by dragging it into war with Israel

Every child in Lebanon and the rest of the Middle East knows that the Lebanese army, along with UNIFIL forces, have failed to secure the border with Israel and combat terrorism.

"... Americans don't know... that there was an agreement signed [for Lebanon's undersea gas fields] between international companies, including American companies, European companies, all this under the umbrella of the Iran Deal... All these capitalists and companies who want to make money... are pressuring everybody to respect a ceasefire but also a status quo [in Lebanon]. Now, who loses? The Israelis and the Lebanese. The Israelis, if you put pressure on them. [saying] don't do any action [against Hezbollah], Hezbollah will reinforce and reinforce and they will pull another October 7 from the north against Israel. And the Lebanese, once Hezbollah is protected from Israel... they'll go and finish off the... Christians, Druze, Sunnis who oppose Hezbollah." — Walid Phares, Middle East expert, X.com, July 2, 2024.

Candidates past their prime go up to bat because they have the biggest networks of fellow politicians, donors and party activists. It's as if Major League Baseball favored players on the basis of seniority and how well they networked, not based on how well they can pitch or hit.

Voters self-importantly think of elections as the big political competition, but that's like judging companies based on the keynote addresses of their CEOs. Elections are the least important part of politics. All the really important parts of politics happen behind closed doors. What politicians do isn't run for office, they network, they cut deals and they plan their careers.

That network, which we occasionally call by wholly inadequate names like the "establishment" or "D.C. insiders" is the reason Biden is up again in 2024. And why he can't be gotten rid of.

But where did Obama come from? He came out of that network of radical activists, donors and government personnel now running the country. Obama is not a brilliant genius or one-man dynamo, he was a lazy and unoriginal activist lawyer, one of tens of thousands of Ivy Leaguers who join the political side of the network....

It's not really Biden's 'turn' though. It's the turn of the strategists, lobbyists, staffers, donors, allies and more nebulous figures known as 'friends' whom he accrued over the years. They're invested in his success, and they're profiting from it. And they won't easily give it up.

It's not just about Jill and Hunter Biden. Joe Biden has tens of thousands of political mouths to feed. Money has been collected, favors promised, people have bought homes in D.C. bedroom communities, lobbyists have secured fat contracts and donors have opened up their wallets.

Replacing Biden with another candidate would upend much of D.C., put tens of billions of dollars in flux and create massive instability in this corrupt local economy. Much of D.C. would rather ride it out (especially since the campaign people will make just as much money if Biden loses) and preserve the integrity of the networks and the illicit pinkie swears that allow special interests to buy influence without having to worry if their man will suddenly be swapped out.

That is what "it's his turn" really means.

Not just Biden, but many, if not most, elected officials are figureheads who exist to broker favorable arrangements between their personal networks of donors and staffers, and those of other elected officials, and the ones in the bureaucracy that actually make policy. The revolving door between staffers, personnel, appointees and lobbyists who move between administrations, offices, boards, corporations, think tanks and firms is the actual force that runs the country more than most elections.