What kind of a person are you?
Did you giddily stay up until midnight to catch the latest Minuteman III launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base, like a kid waiting for Santa Claus?
Or did you sleep like a baby through the test launch of one of the world’s most technologically advanced weapons systems happening right in our backyard?
I fall under the latter category. Isn’t that how most Americans are? We’re all just trying to make ends meet, get home safe, while the military is on alert with nuclear warheads.
But we aren’t the only ones. Been paying attention to North Korea and its brutal, baby-faced dictator Kim Jong-un lately? He’s ready to go into all-out nuclear war with the United States, but only if we try something first, he claims.
And who in their right mind is really comfortable with President Donald Trump being the one to handle this very precarious geopolitical situation? The decision to launch a nuclear attack falls on him, and the young men and women trained to launch these weapons at Vandenberg are sworn to follow that order.
It’s not a very comforting thought that the leaders of these two countries poised for conflict are incredibly thin-skinned, used to getting their way, and viciously obstinate when they don’t. The decision to plunge the planet into another World War, or worse, nuclear Armageddon, depends on two fragile egos that inherited vast power from their daddies.
OK, so Trump isn’t in the “dictator” category, that’s true. But, he sure seems to hire the same decorators. His gold-fleeced palatial taste is strikingly reminiscent of the homes constructed for Saddam Hussein or Muammar Gaddafi. And, his distain for the news media, the judicial branch, and the Constitution put him in like mind with generations of tyrants.
But what are we supposed to do? Not all of us are content staying home—many are compelled to protest.
The May Day rally in Santa Maria is just the most recent of several demonstrations since Trump’s inauguration, but this one saw the confluence of several organizations in education and labor, including the Santa Maria Elementary Education Association, the Allan Hancock College Part-Time Faculty Association, the United Domestic Workers, and UFCW Local 770.
They came together to celebrate the International Day of the Worker and Day of the Immigrant and to stand up for students and families regardless of immigration status. They were joined by other political/activist groups like the Santa Barbara County Action Network, the Democratic Club of Santa Maria Valley, and the Central Coast Alliance for a Sustainable Economy (CAUSE).
To a conservative or Trump supporter, I’m sure the rally seems like a meeting of the “usual suspects,” and to a certain degree, they’re right.
But here’s what I want to hear from conservatives, and especially Trump’s dwindling number of supporters: How do you justify this presidency? How do you justify the lies? How do you justify the escalation of conflict with a tiny, yet well-armed country like North Korea?
We’re seriously discussing a nuclear war here. No one should abide this as the new normal.
The Canary doesn’t fly during the missile launches. Send your thoughts to canary@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in May 4-11, 2017.