Hello 1984, I kinda missed you.
No, this isn’t a retrospective about my youth, I’ve spent too much time remembering days gone by recently.
I’m talking about living in a world where nuclear war was always an option. I’m talking about a Russian premiere talking about boosting preparedness for nuclear war.
I grew up in that world. I knew that the world could always end in about an hour. I was happy to grow up within 90 miles of Chicago, my end would be quick. I read “On the Beach” and watched the movie too. And like everyone in 1984 I watched “The Day After”, the made-for-TV depiction of nuclear war and its aftermath.
We’re back to those days.
Maybe it’s a good thing. I liked movies like “War Games” or “Dr. Strangelove”. I liked the joke that the world could just end. And we all existed with that knowledge and lived with it.
When Russian bully Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to prepare their nuclear arsenal, we all took notice.
And I started thinking about my children. My youngest daughter was born in 2001. She never knew an America that wasn’t at war. When we finally pulled out of Afghanistan, I felt hope. A little peace.
Nope.
We’ve survived a two-year battle with a deadly virus, an anti-democracy president who tried to overturn a free and fair election and now, we must stand up to a bully threatening to blow the world up if he doesn’t get his way.
And we’ve all been reminded what a hero looks like. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has shown us. In 2018 he stood up to America’s bully of a president when Donald Trump tried to extort him into lying to help him win an election.
Ukraine reminds us about what we used to be – brave, defiant, resilient. They’re most likely going to lose but their battle has been heroic and valiant.
And America has been a leader in building a united front against Russia. Europe, NATO, all the places that Trump attacked, have imposed crippling sanctions on Putin. We’ve supplied everything but troops. It shows. The sanctions and the Ukrainian valor have shook Russia.
Thus, Putin’s nuclear Saber rattling.
Biden has orchestrated much of the sanctions, repairing crippled relationships with NATO countries, allowing them to take credit for their actions, and building a coalition.
I wish he could do more but Americans have been at war for two decades — we need a break. Until Putin attacks Poland or China attacks Taiwan, we’re taking a break.
But we’ve learned something these last few days. We’ve remembered that this country loves underdogs. We’ve watched a former USSR satellite show us what it means to defend democracy. And we’ve watched a bully get punched in the nose.
Our former president just called Putin a genius. Zelensky has exposed him for what he truly is… and it’s not a genius.
Lambert's Look 
Great post, David! My favorite comfort reading is Regency romances. Not so much for the descriptions of an almost fantasy way of life, but (at least in the better books) the reality of war against a megalomaniac aggressor who had the support of too many of his fellow countrymen. I’m seeing far too many similarities here, when I had hoped humanity had grown past this ugly way of relating to the world. I am so done with insecure petty despots who think they have to rattle sabers. Bullies need to grow up.