Dear Friends,

CHARLES GOLDMAN JOINS ME FOR THIS WEEK’S PROGRAM:

(01:31) US/NATO missiles bombing Russia could lead to nuclear war;
(18:28) Trump and Vance’s “Haitians eating pets” lie is causing real-world damage;
(37:44) CO2 pipelines: Where’s the Democratic opposition?
(53:40) Party planning, past and present, with Kathy Byrnes Fallon.

I usually look forward to writing this blog. Not so much when the topic is nuclear war.

Ok, so now that I’ve lost half my audience (I get it: who wants to discuss nuclear war?), let me ask the remaining half to indulge the urgency of this message.

Not my message, so much, but the message of Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, founded in 1945 by Albert Einstein, Robert Oppenheimer, and others. The work of this prestigious organization includes the Doomsday Clock in response to the threat of nuclear war and other existential dangers.

Earlier this year, the Bulletin’s Science and Security Board wrote that, “in large part because of Russian threats to use nuclear weapons in the war in Ukraine” they were moving the Clock to 90 seconds to midnight, “the closest to global catastrophe it has ever been.”

If we were 90 seconds from global catastrophe before President Biden said he might allow Ukraine to launch long-range missiles deep inside Russia, the Clock certainly has advanced further in the wrong direction.

Vladimir Putin’s unsurprising response to President Biden? Allowing long-range strikes “would substantially change the very essence, the nature of the conflict. This will mean that NATO countries, the USA and European states, are fighting with Russia.”

For further clarity, Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, announced that Russia was revising the list of circumstances under which it would consider using nuclear weapons, a change “connected with the escalation course of our western adversaries.”

Biden’s taunting, almost childish response to Putin? “I don’t think much about Vladimir Putin. Putin will not prevail in this war.”

Biden’s arrogance is outdone by top House Republicans, who wrote in a letter to the President on September 9, “It is far past time the administration reverses course and lifts the remaining restrictions on Ukraine’s use of US-provided weapons against legitimate military targets in Russia.”

Who in Congress is speaking out against Biden’s threat? Crickets. I can’t find an opposing statement from a single Republican isolationist (not Matt Gaetz, not Rand Paul) nor a single Democratic progressive (not AOC, not Ilhan Omar). Heck, not even Bernie Sanders.

The corporate media’s response has been what we’ve come to expect in the build-up or expansion to any war: mouthing official talking points while silencing voices of dissent.

Don’t share my concern? Maybe it helps to flip the script. Earlier this summer, Russia sent warships and a nuclear submarine to Cuba. Should we be surprised if Russia next sells weapons to Cuba? What if Russia then tells Cuba it’s ok to use those weapons to attack targets within the US? That would certainly be considered an act of war by Russia against the US.

This is not a fun topic. But if we’re truly concerned about our kids, our grandkids, future generations, and life on Earth itself, the increased threat of nuclear war is a frighteningly real challenge we must confront.

We can each start by contacting President Biden and the presidential candidates:

— Tell them you’re against allowing Ukraine to use long-range missiles in Russia.

— Tell them you want an immediate end to the war and a negotiated settlement.

— Tell them to commit to working with other nations for nuclear disarmament.

If you contact them, please share your letter, email, or phone call with me. I’d appreciate knowing I’m not alone in how I think and feel about this.

Thanks for reading, listening, and taking action.

Ed Fallon

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