I grew up in a time when this tone on TV and radio was only a test or a signal of the end of the world. Anything other than a test meant that nuclear bombs were minutes away. Sometimes is was used to announce bad weather. I can remember only a couple of times when that was true where I lived. I am old enough to call the loud outdoor blasts that blare out in neighborhoods “civil defense” instead of tornado sirens. Following the EBS (emergency broadcast system) tone I waited to hear that it was only a test while the visual of what a nuclear blast would do to buildings and people ran through my head thanks to the films we saw at school twice a year. My sister and I must have looked worried one summer afternoon during the weekly EBS test. I remember her telling us. “They test this stuff and you can ignore it. It is scary, but the people in charge are not going to use the weapons that can hurt their families as well as ours. Do you hear the outdoor sirens too? No. So, there is nothing to be afraid of. Don’t be afraid, but pay attention. If you are out playing or out with friends and hear the sirens come home if you are not far away. If you are more than a five minutes from home go to your friend’s house. Their parents will know what to do. If you are at school the teachers will know what to do. Listen to them and do what they say. Ok. Alright. Now, go outside because it is a beautiful day.”
“The Day After,” a made for TV movie aired in November 1983. It told several stories about people living in and around Kansas City following a nuclear exchange. The very next day I had to give an eight minute speech in my “Introduction to Public Speaking” course on a topic I pulled from a hat. My speech was about the necessity of nuclear deterrence. In 1984 the BBC broadcast “Threads” which also depicted what people in London might experience in an exchange of nuclear weapons. Scientists can theorize, determine blast radius, and plot the course of radiation fallout that will damage humans, and all creation, at a cellular level. My father-in-law and other soldiers that landed in Japan following its unconditional surrender in WWII saw what nuclear weapons could do. He never spoke of it, but his body told the story of time spent in radiation fallout through a muscle disease and liver cancer. Only the ruins and survivors of the first blasts in Hiroshima and Nagasaki really know what these weapons can do, will do, when let loose.
President Obama, contrary to Republican talking points or perspective, delivered important and prophetic remarks at Hiroshima last week. Arguments continue about the necessity of dropping those crude weapons and the motivation behind the use of nuclear weapons. They indeed shortened the war, scared humanity, set off an arms race, a cold war, and now, if not secured by people who embrace the fear of mutually assured destruction (MAD), or disarmed by countries that have such weapons, there is a brand of political and religious fanaticism around the globe that would use nuclear weapons and lead to another, maybe the final, World War.
Below are the opening and closing paragraphs of President Obama’s speech at the Peace Memorial in Hiroshima.
President Obama Speaks at Hiroshima Peace Memorial
May 27, 2016
Seventy-one years ago, on a bright, cloudless morning, death fell from the sky and the world was changed. A flash of light and a wall of fire destroyed a city and demonstrated that mankind possessed the means to destroy itself.
The world was forever changed here. But today, the children of this city will go through their day in peace. What a precious thing that is. It is worth protecting, and then extending to every child. That is the future we can choose -– a future in which Hiroshima and Nagasaki are known not as the dawn of atomic warfare, but as the start of our own moral awakening.
David Brooks, my favorite thinking conservative, writes for the New York Times. I don’t think Brooks is the kind of ‘conservative’ that the GOP has become with its zealots and Tea Party caucus in this era of nullification of President Obama. And why do we now refer to the President as Mr. Obama? This further denigrates the Office of the Presidency. President Obama is President. He will be Mr. Obama or former President Obama when he leaves office early next year. Call me traditional, but I respect the Office even with those I disagree holding said office. The Representatives and Senators that I speak to, email, or Tweet are referred to by their title.
Brooks latest column explores possible reasons why some dislike former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton so much. An aside. Local, State, and Federal hopefuls for re-election or election are beginning their ad onslaught here in Oklahoma. Many in my area use the word “conservative” as part of their ad as an adjective for their way of seeing the world. Why is it important that a candidate for Sheriff note he is a conservative Republican? That’s not a particular reason to vote against him or for him unless he sees politics as part of being Sheriff which is a good reason to vote against a candidate. I’m one that thinks politics does not belong in law enforcement and policing. So, what does conservative or conservatism mean?
Conservative or Conservatism:
a: disposition in politics to preserve what is established b: a political philosophy based on tradition and social stability, stressing established institutions, and preferring gradual development to abrupt change; specifically: such a philosophy calling for lower taxes, limited government regulation of business and investing, a strong national defense, and individual financial responsibility for personal needs (as retirement income or health-care coverage)
the tendency to prefer an existing or traditional situation to change
(“Conservatism.” Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 24 May 2016.)
Based on that definition and simple observation of those that proudly and loudly claim ‘conservative’ as the adjective, compass, or perspective from which they practice their politics and order their worldview, I observe that a conservative would prefer male white patriarchy to the changing color, ethnicity, and gender of American political leadership. Limited Government for these candidates, from what I’ve observed, means bringing back the “Wild West” with guns, supporting life in the womb, but not with the economic infrastructure, education, and health care that makes it possible to pursue life, liberty, and happiness. Having read Brooks for a few years now, he is not the kind of conservative that deals in soft racism and misogyny that has come to the forefront during President Obama’s tenure in the White House. Many in my State legislature are the kind of conservatives whose legislative priorities are converting these United States into the collection of Nation States that make up the EU. They call it ‘states rights’ or ‘religious freedom,” but simple observation indicates that the New Confederacy would undo much of the social and civic contract that holds the United States together. They are, simply, trying to create ‘gated states’ to hold onto power and segregate. This is a post for another day.
Clinton’s unpopularity is akin to the unpopularity of a workaholic. Workaholism is a form of emotional self-estrangement. Workaholics are so consumed by their professional activities that their feelings don’t inform their most fundamental decisions. The professional role comes to dominate the personality and encroaches on the normal intimacies of the soul. As Martyn Lloyd-Jones once put it, whole cemeteries could be filled with the sad tombstone: “Born a man, died a doctor.”