I haven\u2019t thought seriously about the reality of nuclear war since 1988.\u00a0 That year I moved from New York City to a small New England town.\u00a0 And one day the town fire alarm was sounded.\u00a0 I had never heard anything like it and I assumed it was an air raid siren.\u00a0 Luckily a neighbor straightened out my thinking and told me these were a regular feature of town life.\u00a0 But for just a minute I was desperately trying to figure out where the kids were and where was the best place to bring them for safety.\u00a0 Never in my life before did I ever worry about nuclear war, nor since.\u00a0 And once the Soviet Union imploded it no longer seemed like something that could happen.\u00a0 No one would be stupid enough to push us into nuclear war.<\/p>\n
Well, that was before I imagined Joe Biden as president.\u00a0 Now I\u2019m not saying Joe Biden is brave enough to start a nuclear war with the Russians.\u00a0 Joe talks tough in speeches about going toe to toe with Putin.\u00a0 But in reality, I think he\u2019d be afraid being in the same room alone with the Russian.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s not brave enough to start a nuclear war but he\u2019s stupid enough to start one accidentally.\u00a0 Putin seems to be an egoist and Biden has said some provocative things about him.\u00a0 If things go poorly for Putin and his back is against the wall, he might decide to settle scores with those he hates.\u00a0 Now that is a sobering thought.<\/p>\n
This is just something I thought about today, not as something that has me frightened, but as something surprising.\u00a0 I guess in some sense I stopped thinking that nuclear war was still something to worry about.\u00a0 And now I don\u2019t think that way any more.\u00a0 And maybe I should never have stopped worrying about it.\u00a0 Truthfully, nuclear weapons are a balancing act.\u00a0 And if that balance ever slips the probability they\u2019ll be used goes from extremely low to fairly high very easily.\u00a0 And when that happens who you have in charge of them becomes even more critical.\u00a0 The judgement and reputation of the man with the nuclear football could be the difference between peace and destruction.\u00a0 Would you want that man to be Dementia Joe?\u00a0 I know I don\u2019t.<\/p>\n
I know one thing for sure.\u00a0 It makes a lot of sense to live far away from large American cities, not only to avoid the crime and chaos they now represent for residents and neighbors but also because they\u2019re on the target list for Russian and Chinese ICBMs.\u00a0 This sounds slightly melodramatic and pessimistic but honestly, pessimism is now becoming the default setting when I think about our government.\u00a0 The level of dishonesty and just plain stupidity it exhibits makes it the biggest threat to my family\u2019s future.\u00a0 So, I have to be pessimistic.\u00a0 Let\u2019s call it realistic instead.<\/p>\n
When the election memes for 2024 are being thought up it wouldn\u2019t be a bad idea to have one of those \u201cWho\u2019s answering the phone at 3 am at the White House?\u201d commercials to remind the voters that Dopey Joe isn\u2019t even sentient at 3 am.<\/p>\n
So that\u2019s what I was thinking about today.<\/p>\n
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