THE MODERN "NUCULER" THREAT

We've all forgotten the impending doom of the Cold War... the constant fear... the bomb shelters... the schoolhouse drills with children preparing for the worst, as if their flimsy desktops could shield them from the hellfire that loomed on the other side of their false security. With the fall of the Soviet Union, the United States became THE superpower, and our nuclear preparedness fell to the back of our minds.

     During the Republican 80's, you'll remember the push for a Strategic Defense Initiative... known as Star Wars... a shield of satellites and rockets designed to protect the US and its allies from a ballistic missile attack. This program fell by the wayside during the Clinton Years without a Republican administration to support it. It was viewed by many as just too expensive and unlikely a plan.

     With the return of Republican control, we see a new push for Star Wars, only this time referred to as a "Missile Defense Shield". Sounds good, right? It does until you realize that the only thing that kept us from nuclear war in the past was the threat of mutual annihilation. Everyone had their weapons aimed at everyone else, insuring that an attack would translate into mass suicide.

      A "missile defense shield" would (IF it worked) remove us from that threat of mutual destruction, making us a threat to every other nation in the world that can't afford a Star Wars system of its own. Some of these nations... China, North Korea, and Russia, for example... are frightening nuclear powderkegs rocked by the poverty and desperation inherent in the failure of governments who do not respect the rights of the governed and derive no concent from them. Remembering our nation's dubious distinction of being the ONLY country to ever use nuclear weapons on the civilian population of another nation, these States fear our actions, were we to successfully remove ourselves from under the safety blanket of the threat of mutual destruction, and could, theoretically, preemptively attack us to prevent us from reaching that goal. Why not? It's exactly what we would do.

    Likely, these nations would never attack otherwise, as most people value life... if only their own. The real nuclear threat is from terrorist groups lacking the resourses to lob missiles across the world like meatballs across the plate so we can hit them. These groups will more likely use methods that make a "missile defense shield" impotent, and lack the respect for life or fear of death that has kept this threat at bay for so long.

     So If you think your vote doesn't matter, think about this. A handful of votes allowed the current President of the United States to sidestep the will of the populous and gain power. The threat we are all currently under could have been avoided had the American people cared enough to do their homework and vote their conscience, but instead we have a President who coasted into power on name recognition and a HUGE war chest to further the agenda of his father's party's defense industry constituency and pad the pockets of party supporters while insuring our contempt in the eyes of the world around us. Thank you, Mr. President .