I have no platform. I have no audience. I have no real outlet or clout. Yet, I, along with many Americans, feel the urge to tell the world that I am not ok with what is going on in this country. We are not ok with it. We do not want to obliterate a civilization. We do not want authoritarian rule. We do not want to threaten our allies. We don’t want any of it. At least I don’t.
This moment feels heavy with historical implications – as though someone twenty years from now might be looking to see who stood up against this, who spoke out. Sharing a few thoughts here and replying to a few Bluesky posts is my only way to be “on the record” as being against the atrocities America may soon commit.
My prediction, and I hope I’m correct on this, is that 8pm eastern time will come and go without major incident. There may be a significant bombing campaign in Iran. There will likely be war crimes committed in bombing civilian infrastructure. But, I think the threat of a “whole civilization” dying tonight “never to be brought back again” will not be carried out. Moreover, I wouldn’t be surprised if some miraculous “breakthrough” is announced so that Tr*mp can save face when/if Iran calls his bluff. He may, as has happened several times already, simply lie and say Iran has capitulated. “We won.” I also suspect that more than a handful (or maybe most) republicans are in on the plan which is why so few of them seem to be taking action or speaking out.
What seems less predictable is how Iran will counter. Will they preemptively strike US targets? Are there sleeper cells in the US? Will they use our own logic and previous justifications for war (our preemptive wars) to launch an offensive? Even scarier is the thought that another nation, or several others, might decide that for the good of the world there needs to be a regime change in America. Bullies, sometimes, get their comeuppance. Chickens, sometimes, come home to roost.
Of course, the scariest of all scenarios, is that the US orders and carries out devastating strikes using tactical nukes. Should that come to pass, I think we can expect martial law here in the US. This (and many of the actions leading up to it) may be a test run to see if the military will follow orders. The administration has purged the military of top commanders and installed loyalists. One could view many of Tr*mp’s actions as gradual escalations to see what his administration can get away with (threatening Greenland, strikes against boats, kidnapping a foreign leader, starting a war, threatening to pull out of NATO).
I don’t want to believe any of this is true, much less possible. It makes me feel like a conspiracy theory kook. Yet, here we are. All of this is batshit crazy. I can’t believe that we’re all waiting for prime time to see if our president bombs another country back to the stone ages like it’s another episode of the apprentice and we’re waiting to see who gets fired. Isn’t there some sort of petition we can all sign? maybe a hashtag we could use? Aren’t there any neighborhood kids with some kooky ghost scheme that could stop this? Where’s the mystery machine when we need it?
And if Tr*mp’s bluster works and Iran open the Strait, he’ll feel both proud and vindicated, but the world will know to never trust America again. Moreover, some other rouge state will likely rise up and one day call our bluff. We’ve crossed into very dangerous territory (we probably crossed that line a long time ago). The world is less safe because of this and I do not consent.