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| In a nuclear attack, people just evaporate! |
The person or people to whom I am loyal, I am only truly loyal when I hold that person or those people accountable. If I am not loyal to a person or people, I can still hold them accountable rather than just trashing them and seeing myself as superior.
It is so very important to INFORM ourselves these days and stay PRESENT and not to become complacent and accustomed to a so-called new normal.
We are in the process of preparing ourselves for yet another war, a nuclear war at that. If for some reason, that disturbs us, then we need to begin letting our leaders know how disturbed we are and hold them accountable in particular, to cease with the rhetoric. The rhetoric is not a deterrent nor is it helpful. The rhetoric only increases the chances of nuclear destruction of the Korean Peninsula and surrounding area, and who knows just how far that destruction might go, perhaps even to our own soil. We definitely face the possibility of North Korea detonating a nuclear warhead in the upper atmosphere and who knows how that might effect our country’s power grid. Nuclear arms are deterrents, not bargaining chips. The economic squeeze is, and seems to be working. So let it work.
There are two people I have listened to lately, and I invite all of us to also listen as well.
One is Leslie Gelb, the man who Robert McNamara assigned to compile the Pentagon Papers. He has a unique perspective on the Pentagon Papers given that he was the one responsible for compiling them. He tells us that their purpose is to inform future leaders of the mistakes we made in engaging in the Viet Nam war so future leaders will not repeat the mistakes. Wow!
The second person is Masha Gessen who has lived under the autocracy of Vladimir Putin and sees parallels occurring in our country under our current leadership. Put aside any issues you have with her sexual orientation and simply read what she has to say.
http://www.nybooks.com/daily/2016/11/10/trump-election-autocracy-rules-for-survival/
http://www.nybooks.com/daily/2016/11/10/trump-election-autocracy-rules-for-survival/
I am not clear how I can hold our leaders accountable, but my first step is to inform myself and then to speak out. So that’s what this short blog is all about.
Just because we wake up tomorrow morning, and there is no rhetoric tomorrow morning, we don't want to become complacent and think the rhetoric is over. Saber rattling is archaic and it will not achieve peace. And I am not for peace at any price.
I am for mature, intelligent, thoughtful, engagement driven by what we have learned from our past mistakes. Just because Kim Jong-un may not be mature, intelligent, or thoughtful doesn't give us an out to being mature, intelligent, thoughtful in our engagement. The adage, "fight fire with fire" is a good tool for firefighters. But when leaders adapt such a stance, they are letting us see their preoccupation with filling their dead souls with prideful idolatrous images of themselves, which unfortunately will go up in smoke with the rest of us.
Thank you for reading.
