On Being the Bad Guys

Over there, over there

Send the word, send the word over there

That the Yanks are coming the Yanks are coming

The drums rum-tumming ev’ry where

So prepare, say a pray’r

Send the word, send the word to beware

We’ll be over we’re coming over

And we won’t come back till it’s over over there.

Johnnie get your gun, get your gun, get your gun

Johnny show the Hun you’re a son of a gun

Hoist the flag and let her fly, Yankee Doodle do or die

Pack your little kit show your grit do your bit

Yankees to the ranks from the towns and the tanks

Make your mother proud of you

And the old Red White and Blue.

-George M. Cohan, 1917

Sitting here at the Ford dealer getting the oil changed for the first time on the F-150. Apparently there's a recall, so I'll be here longer than planned. How did we endure these waiting rooms in the time before wireless internet?

The news over the last week on the national security front has been nothing short of stunning. DJT unilaterally lifting sanctions against Russia, ostensibly to lower the price of diesel when in fact every energy economist on the planet says it'll make zero difference in the market. It will, however, fund Russia's push to exterminate plucky little Ukraine, an effort that's gone into overdrive apparently after DoD also quit providing advance notice of incoming drone strikes aimed at Kyiv's energy infrastructure, just in time for winter. And this morning we hear that Ukraine's own drones have been hobbled because its Starlink connection was intentionally slowed, either by our own government or Elon Musk (they're blaming each other by inference, disclaiming any direct responsibility).

Not to mention that the money we're funneling into Russia helps fund Russia's assistance to Iran. We're literally paying to put our soldiers, sailors, and airmen at risk, while we actively assist Russia in destroying the democracy next door.

From the time we entered the world stage as a major player, which was arguably our entry into World War I, we've always professed to throw our weight on the side of good.

There have been missteps, and actions that were imperialistic bordering on genocidal at times--our behavior in Central America and the Philippines comes to mind. But overall the United States' use of our economic, political, and military power has made the world a safer, better place. Who'd want to go back to the Great Powers powder keg that exploded across the planet in 1914?

Well, DJT for one. And the Republicans who enable him. Musk's $300 million poured into the midterms isn't just to keep his taxes low---this is a multifaceted project to reshape who we are as a country, and one unfortunate facet of that campaign has been to pull the rug out from under our democratic allies and align ourselves with the very worst countries on the planet. It's like we're back in the summer of 1941, and stopped shipments of arms and food to Britain to choke off their ability to defend themselves against the aerial onslaught of our Nazi allies. Let's face it--with all the talk these days about purifying our blood, ridding the country of non-Afrikkaner immigrants, all the images of homoerotic, testosterone soaked ubermensches, there can't be much doubt that this government, this country, would side with the Third Reich over the effeminate Brits and their military buttressed with brown soldiers from the colonies.

What a dark time for those of us who remember. And this toothpaste isn't going back into the tube, not in my lifetime. We still need to vote, need to protest, need to try--not because we believe it's going to make a difference, but for the good of our own souls.

What are you doing to find a little "good trouble", as John Lewis so famously put it?