I belong to the generation that had school drills for the Big One. Many of us can remember the look of terror in the eyes of our parents as we sat around the TV watching President Kennedy announce the "quarantine" of Cuba on October 7, 1962.
Will the world's families once again feel that horrible terror?
(cross-posted on Docudharma)
Kennedy and Khrushchev were able to avoid Armageddon in the 60s, but the election of Ronald Reagan with his inflammatory "Evil Empire" rhetoric and "Star Wars" misadventures re-heated the Cold War. The world once again appeared to be on the "Eve of Destruction."
I will always remember the 80s television mini-series "The Day After" and the sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach as I watched the scene where the ICBMs leave their Midwestern silos headed to destroy the Soviet Union.
When Mikhail Gorbachev became the leader of the USSR in 1985, Soviet-American relations improved, and over the next 15 years, the chance of a nuclear apocalypse seemed to wane significantly. Those of us who grew up in the 50s and 60s rejoiced that our children would not know the same fear and anomie that was an ever-present part of our youth.
Two pieces published on the Web today take us into the future under a McCain-Palin administration when, once again, the end of the world as we know it becomes a real possibility.
Physicist Gordon Prather writes about the effects of a nuclear war based upon modern research, especially data gathered after the Chernobyl reactor meltdown. Why talk about such a morbid topic?
John McCain, his handpicked successor Sarah Palin and their neo-crazy coconspirators are hell-bent upon incorporating Georgia and Ukraine, both former Soviet republics, into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Since they all realize that could well require us to go to war with Russia, sooner or later, perhaps it's time to revisit On Thermonuclear War, by Herman Kahn.
Especially if a President Palin subscribes to the views of her former Assembly of God pastor about The Last Days.
"I believe Alaska is one of the refuge states in the last days, and hundreds of thousands of people are going to come to the state to seek refuge and the church has to be ready to minister to them."
Read more about the likelihood of thermonuclear war under a McCain-Palin White House and its impact in "On the Beach."
McCain has been rattling the sabre against Iran as well as Russia. D. C. Examiner columnist begins "Time Machine: Bomb, bomb Iran," with this matter-of-fact synopsis:
Feb. 26, 2009 – "Long before President McCain was elected," the three-star general said, "he hinted at attacking Iran in songs and jokes. After the assault, he made his famous address. But we still need citizens to more fully appreciate the victorious details of Operation Bodacious Mayhem."
The most senior officers in each of the armed services nodded, while the young officer inhaled deeply, then began his briefing. "Very well, sir. As we all know, soon after his inauguration, President McCain ordered the attack on Iran on Jan. 29, 2009.
"Carried out with support from Israel and Britain, it hit at least 10 targets with tactical nuclear weapons and nearly 800 other targets with conventional weapons.
It is difficult for the White House to say whether it destroyed an Iranian nuclear weapons program because intelligence agencies said it did not exist anyway. Approximately 350,000 civilians and military were said to be casualties."
You'll have to read the rest yourselves to catch the surprising ending.
The McCain-Palin ticket's delight in war-mongering speeches and slogans is more than just a campaign appeal to xenophobes and ultra-nationalists. It foretells an escalation of the neo-con madness that has ruined America's reputation and all but destroyed the U. S. economy. Now, like a wounded animal, an America led by John McCain is likely to assuage its wounded military pride by resorting to the unthinkable. Rather than using American power to lead the world toward peace and justice, McCain and Palin, and their neocon and End-Timer friends, will take us into a new Dark Ages.