The cold war was a good thing, in a way...

This was supposed to be a Farcebook post, but I got long-winded so I decided to blog it instead. I haven't blogged in a while, so here ya go.
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So.... this thing with North Korea.... Normally I would scoff at their threats as the blustering of propaganda-loving maniacs. But that was when we had strong leaders in Washington, not leaders who go around apologizing to our enemies bowing to others as if we’re their subjects, and saying that our Constitution, the very foundation of our country, is outdated and short-sighted. With Obama as President, John Kerry as Secretary of State, Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense..... I fear how this is going to turn out. I don't know much about this Thomas Donilon guy that’s the National Security Advisor, but if Obama picked him, it can't be good.

Hey, all you teens and twenty-somethings, and even those in their thirties... There is a lot more going on out there than The Walking Dead and Duck Dynasty. Take a look at the world you're living in. It's a scary place. Scarier even than zombies. Your apathetic outlook is very possibly about to be shaken to the very core of your being, and you don’t even realize it. You voted in this current administration with a very short-sighted mindset and didn't consider the repercussions of placing an inexperienced socialist at the head of our government. He’s destroying our economy (stop blaming Bush, he hasn’t been there for over 4 years) he’s contributing to the moral erosion of our society, and he’s weak in the eyes of our enemies. And if the President appears weak, America appears weak.

You haven't been affected much by terrorism. Even 9/11 is a fading, vague memory for most under the age of 25. Most of you haven't been affected by the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, because you haven't been THERE (thank you to those who have, you are truly heroes!). You've lived in relative peace, and unfortunately that has made America soft and weak. Terrorism has rarely affected us in our homeland and that has made us apathetic. We see the numbers and hear stories about the bad things that have happened in the wars, and we say, "That's terrible!" Then we turn on The Big Bang Theory or the XBox and go about our lives. I'm beginning to think that winning the cold war was a really bad thing. It took away the fear of the Red Menace. A little fear is good in that it keeps you aware and prepared. But, it also has diminished patriotism in the USA. It’s eroded our national pride. But the collapse of the USSR has done far worse things to the world than if they were still one of the top two world powers and we still lived in fear of their nuclear warheads.

It fostered terrorism. People look at Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran as the terror related countries. And clearly they are. But the many of the states created by the collapse of the USSR are dominantly Muslim. Azerbaijan. Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan. Tajikistan. Turkmenistan. Uzbekistan. The Soviet Union was able to, for the most part, keep control over the people of these regions, and over places like North Korea, and even Pakistan to some degree. Now some of these countries have weapons grade uranium and plutonium, and Pakistan has nuclear weapons. Check out this web site for more concerning information regarding post-soviet nuclear issues. http://www.cfr.org/weapons-of-terrorism/loose-nukes/p9549

Yes, terrorism happened during the time of the USSR. But, mark my words here, terrorism is going to come home sooner than you think. Israel has lived with suicide bombers and gunmen shooting up marketplaces for a long time. I’m shocked it hasn’t happened here much yet. We had Nidal Malik Hasan kill 13 people at Fort Hood in Texas. There’s been numerous other Islamic attacks in the US in the past 40 years. Most of them you’ve never heard of or you’ve forgotten. http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/pages/americanattacks.htm gives a good list. Check out the rest of that site too, it’s interesting.

I truly hope that the actions and threats coming out of North Korea are propaganda and bluster. But this time it may not be. America appears weak these days, and the North Koreans are desperate and crazy. They may be expecting Obama to cave under the threat of nuclear action, hoping, rather than standing up to them, he’ll just send them money to be quiet for another year or two. That’s probably what he’ll do.

So, go back to your XBox. Go back to your Game of Thrones. Go scream 'Go Green' and '1%' and all that while you can. But I have a feeling your world is about to change.