fool me once...

Can you hear it? Can you hear that song, playing again? It was a big hit a few years ago. Really catchy, had everyone singing it. But after a while, more and more people began to realize that it wasnt really a very good song. It continued to play, though, 'cause, boy, the DJ's sure seemed to like it. One began to think of Alan Freed, they liked it so much.
Now you're starting to hear that song again. Oh, they tell you it's a new song, but it's the same artist, with pretty much the same back-up band, and by golly if it doesnt sound pretty much the same as that first song, the one you're really starting to hate the sound of.

So, how many people are gonna buy it anyway?

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I think I've said before that George Bush is a crazy Apocalyptocrat who has the hubris to believe that he would be doing Jesus a big favor by bringing on Armageddon. It may not be true, but there are "omens" in his behavior.

I've also mentioned my beliefs concerning the practice of pre-emptive strikes by the United States against our so-called "enemies". But let me say it again anyway:
I believe that the existence of first-strike nuclear attack plans, or indeed any plan that uses nuclear weapons for anything but retaliation for a nuclear attack on ourselves, proves the existance of a moral vacuum in Washington so great, that it threatens to suffocate the entire country. That the religious communities of this nation have not risen up in unified protest against something so evil only proves that anything that Organized Religion may say about ethics and morality is only so much rhetoric, a spewing forth of words with no other purpose than control of the masses.

In 1945, the United States dropped the only two nuclear devices ever used for any purposes other than testing. As a result of these two rather small bombs, 300,000 Japanese died. Let me say that again:

Two small cities, two "small" bombs, 300,000 dead.

We probably knew there would be a lot of destruction, that was the whole idea. But I like to think that while we knew intellectually the great destruction that would be wrought, we didnt really know what we were unleashing. I like to think that we were almost as shocked as the Japanese. Today, though, we have no such luxury, our time of innocence is done. If we use atomic weaponry against anyone, we do it knowing full well the devastation, both immediate and lingering, that we will create. Such an attack might be justified, after a similar attack upon us. Perhaps.
But.

Should the U.S. be the first to use a nuke, then all bets will be off. Someone, somewhere, will make it a priority to set off a nuke in the U.S., because once we have done it, it becomes a retaliation in kind.
But I also find myself worrying about the possibility of a nuclear attack by terrorists upon the U.S. (without a "pre-emptive" strike on our part). Should that happen, it would be easy to guess who the Bush Administration would blame, regardless of the facts. And once again, fear would be exploited for the purposes of people who appear to have the ethical fortitude of a snuff film producer. (When I say this, I may be talking about our leadership, but someone had to make the decision to put them there; someone has to take responsibility for those who are in office being in office. Yes, I'm talking about you.)
Hell, it doesnt even have to be a nuclear attack: "Our enimies have attacked us agin, but we will be stronger than they are, and kill them back. Imagine if they had used nukular bombs supplied by Iraq! Let's roll now, and bomb the shit out of them! On to Megiddo, er, I mean Tehran!!"

A few thoughts:

• Islamists work on an "eye-for-an-eye" system of justice, especially the fundamentalist types (the ones we happen to be fighting with).
• Islamic fundamentalists are no more willing to back down than Christian ones are.
• There is already an Islamic country with nuclear capability: Pakistan. Should BushCo be stupid enough to use nukes upon Iran, how long would President Musharraf be able to hold off protesters already inflamed by his alliance with the U.S.?
• Should Pakistan fall to fundamentalist Islamists, how long would it take for India, and their nuclear capability, to become involved?
• Should the U.S. use nuclear weaponry for the third time in history, how much moral authority could we possibly have left? None? I suspect we would carry a negative ethical balance, to go with our growing financial poverty.
• Where is Israel in all this debate? If the U.S. used nukes in Iran (or anywhere in the Islamic world, for that matter), then the second nuclear weapon aquired by any Islamic fighters would be used on Israel. Bet on it.

We were lied to once before. No reason given at the time as to why we were invading Iraq has proven to be true. Now we are hearing practically the same words given to as reasons why neighboring Iran should be invaded (augmented, of course, by the new lies for why we invaded Iraq). Why should this story be any more true this time than it was the last?
Find out who your senator is. Write him a letter stating in no uncertain terms that anyone supporting an atomic attack will recieve your utmost efforts to have that person removed. Send a copy to your Representative, too. Maybe send one to your governor, just for re-enforcement.

Atomic Bombs dont kill people. People stupid enough to use atomic bombs do.
By the millions.

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And whatever you do, DO NOT INTRODUCE GEORGE BUSH TO THIS MAN!!! (props to Johnny Rawhide@ Stinkhorn Rodeo).