Okay. He and I haven’t spoken and I disagree.

"Now, she talks tough, she talks really tough against Putin. And against Assad. She talks in favor of the rebels. She doesn’t even know who the rebels are. Every time we take rebels. Whether it's in Iraq or anywhere else. We are arming people. And you know what happens? They end up being worse than the people." -  Donald Trump, 10/9/2016

Mike Pence and Hillary Clinton could, if required, find plenty to argue about on the subject of Syria. But, as full initiates of imperial orthodoxy, they are in agreement on the essentials of American policy. Trump is not. In the debate he quite deliberately stepped outside the bounds of accepted speech when he challenged the identity of the rebel forces under attack in eastern Aleppo. My guess is there are ex-military who have his ear and fill it with their opinions that were frustrated politically during their time in command. Not all generals agree with the prevailing strategy of the empire. Didn't Trump reference MacArthur in the first debate? He may even still be listening to Manafort.

In his lust to discredit his opponent and a Mideast policy that stretches across administrations of both parties he is uncovering facts that are not spoken of at the electoral dinner table. The nature and allegiances of the armies involved in the fighting in Syria are not secret but there is a consensus observed by all candidates in the election but one that, at least at present, the Russians and Syrian state are the bad guys in Aleppo. That Trump would question this, however else he confuses his story, is more than likely the reason his party is deserting him.

The disclosures from the Friday before the debate are ugly but are not the source of the rift between the candidate and his party. They are more in the nature of a escalated warning to him that he must conform in thought, word, and deed to the norms of American politics or he will not be permitted to take office. Had he fallen to his knees and begged forgiveness he would probably been taken back in the fold. That's how powerful is the need for the system to have two anointed candidates. Having refused to do this he is now in open defiance of his nominal party. It's hard to see how this ends well for him. My guess is that Pence will be convinced to pull the plug.

But the forces that have rallied with unquestioning loyalty to this campaign will not dissolve with his exit or defeat. Their relation to the Republican Party will become critical and could destroy it. Clinton sees these political shadows but she is not prepared to fight them. Nor can she be relied upon as an ally when the working class is defending itself.