Dear Bob....I am Toni Tennille....yes THAT Toni Tennille....Muskrats, Love Will Keep us Together...all of that silly pop music stuff I am sure you have disdained for decades. I have been reading your emails for the past two years. My nephew, Michael Donaldson, recommended your writing to me and I have been fascinated by it ever since. I am 76 years old now, and a lot of what you write about today's business of music is beyond my understanding. I come from the era where you drove around the country with your single, and tried to get Music Directors at radio stations out in the middle of nowhere to play your 45. Anyhow....as you know, we were in the right place at the right time with the right music. Sheer luck.

I am writing today because I AM SCARED TOO!!!! Terrified, actually. I have always believed that our country will be relatively safe no matter what happens in the rest of the world. Naive maybe. But I see Trump, ramming a big stupid stick into several angry international hornets nests, and we are all going to suffer for it. This President is truly a loose cannon who has no understanding of what he is stirring up. God knows who is pulling the strings in his administration.....or maybe HE is, which is even more terrifying, I think.

Anyhow.....I just wanted you to know that you are not alone in your anxiety. I am right there with you. If I weren't an Agnostic, I'd be praying hard right now.

TONI TENNILLE
Facebook - The Real Toni Tennille
Lake Mary, Florida



Same as age as you. Like you, went to
Middlebury but only for a year.

TWO GUYS OUT OF THEIR DEPTH AS HEADS OF STATE EQUATES TWO GUYS OUT OF THEIR MINDS.

You are not alone in being afraid.

Jonathan Ehrlich


Just took some much needed comfort in reading that I'm not alone in feeling the same way right now. Thanks as always for your words.

Chris Jay, Army of Freshmen



One of your very best essays. Thank you.

Yuri Mamchur



No Bob, you are not the only one.
Please share this article with your list:
If a nuclear bomb is dropped on your city, here's where you should run and hide: www.businessinsider.com/nuclear-explosion-fallout-radiation-survival-shelter-2017-3

David Wildsmith



What about the fact htat the gas attack that started this could possibly be a sham?
That it was used to get things rolling because shithead was taking on a ton of heat and had to deflect the attention?
Something is definitely rotten in Denmark.
I just hope we don’t play the role of Hamlet this time around.

David Tobin



It's the boomers Bob. You guys are responsible for all of this. Now own it.

Toli Galanis



Great newsletter. I always feel like I've learned something after reading them.

re: North Korea. I live in Seoul as an expat and it's pretty funny how indifferent Korean citizens are to North Korea's posturing and threats. It's just "meh." THey've lived so long under this cloud that it's a but the-boy-who-cried-wolf. Insiders in the US military tell me that it's when you hear of embassy and military families shipping out that we should get worried. Not even a hint of that yet so if it's any assurance, things are pretty status quo as far as North Korea goes.

Woody Pak



I'm in Macao right now and Beijing is under curfew and I can't get there. It's quite unsettling .

Matt Gaines



Bob, I can't tell you Kim won't bomb the United States.
However, let me remind you that "they" called Khrushchev a madman too. There was no telling what he would do.
Then they called Mao a madman. There was no telling what he would do.
Now the latest "madman" is Kim Jong Un. And the Iranian mullahs.
We need a boogie man to keep those funds flowing to the militarists.
I think Kim is calculating individual surrounded by other mostly calculating individuals.
They have a good thing going for themselves. They have no desire to throw it away with a crazy attack on the United States.
The US is the only country that has ever used the Bomb. Japan at that time lacked the power to retaliate.
On our side, we need careful leaders who don't do anything stupid either. Maybe that's what you are really worried about.
Anyway, I'm sleeping soundly.
I live on the East Coast.
Best,
Tom Moore



I can't either. I know no one is flying the plane. And that this is happening is so frightening. Who and how can we get out of this deadly tailspin. Scared for real.

Sandra



Every time I hear a comment about Hillary losing it stifles me. Were it not for the archaic Electoral College (that was conveniently designed to help mostly white populated states where Non-Anglo Americans had no desire to live there), Hillary won the popular vote by 3 million along with an untold number of provincial ballots mostly from inner city districts that were NOT counted.
You try to say there's equality between the Democratic Party and the Republicans when it comes to war....but that's a lazy, ignorant hypothesis. Republicans are notorious neocons and they stole this election.
Apparently, we have hundreds of thousands of missile in that could intercept any nuclear attacks from North Korea.
I am a proud San Franciscan who wonders about a world without Los Angeles. Keep the citizens alive in the desert but farewell to the city of Lost Dreams. Hmmm just a thought.
You're funny Robert. Drop that comment about your grandparents 3 story abode. Are we supposed to be impressed? What exactly did it have to do with your point.
To the Chumpsters out there, thanks a helluva lot....8 years of a dumb quasi-Texan and now a potential 8 years with an inarticulate racist who swims in the seas of mendacity like bottom feeding parasite. You think he's still so wonderful, do you? There's a reason why some of us know only New York and California and nothing in between.

Naomi Klein is a visionary. We can only pray that what seems inevitable, won't happen.

Kirk Bonin



You aren't the only one who is freaked. I feel the weight of a looming disaster that could possibly change life as we know it if terrorists should successfully target our country's aging power grid or oil refineries. I'm stockpiling shit as much as my limited budget will allow - food, water, survival supplies. I'm a 57 year old blues musician and I'm appalled to find myself turning into a prepper because of this underlying sense of urgency that sends chills up my back when I read the news.


Laurie LaCross-Wright



Yeah, I can't stop looking for updates on what appears to be one awful weekend of death. I also keep wondering if things were always this bad. And then I start cycling through memories of what I now think of as freewheeling carefree days when I didn't give so much attention to all these grave matters.

I do read Hamlet all the time. We should all read it more often. It's possible to hide an adult consciousness a bit inside of an "antic disposition" and have some minor relief from the pain and trauma of human societies. And of course, we are all living inside of a play inside of a play inside of a play. Though the blood is compulsory, thanks Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, we have great power to will ourselves into puzzles and into abstractions of reality. So, I don't know if tuning into the boob tube is as useful as harnessing our anxiety and fear as creative tools.

It's all one long day, isn't it?

Keep writing, BL. We are reading.

:-)
You don't know me,
Bryan Sanders




It's a mess Bob. Who ever thought we'd end up feeling "safe" at the tip of Africa. Yes, we've got our political and racial issues but they seem small in comparison.

Come visit.

Darren



Oy Vey. I hear ya...

Josh Dorf



I hear you loud and clear. Have you tried chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo?

It has a very calming effect.

www.sgi-usa.org/memberresources/introducebuddhism/winninglife/docs/The_Winning_Life_ENG.pdf

Best,
Sam Nardella



Again your political views so confuse me. You say this, "And I haven't been so afraid this century. Haven't been afraid for decades. Yes, 9/11 happened, but that was in New York, first stop for Europeans, a bit more of a hop, skip and a jump from the Middle East, but the centralized city, Manhattan, makes a perfect target."
So it is ok they flew planes into building killing thousands? Yet the US drops a bomb on uninhabited desert (for the most part) and this scares you?
They cut off head with basically a steak knife, burn people alive, throw homosexuals off of balconies. Fathers engage in "mercy" killings.
And a bomb scares you?
I will never understand the left.

William



It is crazy that we're only 3 months into a brand new president and the bombs are already dropping - wars are threatened and he hops off to Florida resort weekends on taxpayer dime - and nuclear war is in the air. Not only is his finger on the button but he's openly talking about pressing it.

It's hard to shut it off when everything from this administration feels like psychological warfare.
They win when we tune it out and want ignorance. Ignorance is bliss - but only if there's an inhabitable world left.

Jared Shelton



Thank you for saying this bob. I feel like the general populations of 'the west' have been bullied and bruised by stagnation and general despair into a malaise of isolationism and fear. Ergo Trump & Brexit. But why?

I remember after 9/11 - I was about 12 - I saw a man on the news from the US (imagine a sweeping generalised white man, white hair, baseball cap, polo shirt) saying 'we're gonna make a big fucking glass creator out of the middle east' - he got his wish I guess. He must have felt like we were huddled behind Moab and the might of those B52's because it protected him and the rest of us - but what's it really done? Absolutely the opposite. The world is way - WAY more unstable now than it was when I was a child, born the year the the Berlin Wall fell. For what possible reason are we now looking at the brink of a nuclear war with North Korea?! A state we know is best left ignored. Why are we, again meddling in the Middle East bringing more instability to Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. We've bombed our way into an extremist's wet dream - endless justification for countless acts of brutality.

So it's like the fight in the play ground where you say 'yeah if you fight me, I'll fight you back and I'll beat the crap out of you' but then you both just end up getting hurt and realise there no real winner; only a few black eyes and animosity that stinks out your personality for a couple of weeks.

We're on the verge - as the human race - of the utopia that's been written about. Technologically we're ever so nearly there, ever so near to post scarcity - where food is produced and put into its designated mouth and not wasted - where transport is automated and abundantly cheap - where we've harnessed the suns power and run our broken capitalist system off it until people realise there's no need to perpetuate the farce of working in data entry or for a law firm. The loom freed the weaver - the car freed the horse - AI will free mankind.

But we need to stop distracting ourselves with meaningless shit on TV and blowing each other up and do some fucking work!

Aren't we all in this together?

Lewis Fieldhouse, London



NOBODY IS GIVING UP OUR RIGHTS DUMMY. What do u think the 2nd Amendment is all about? LIBTARD.

Aristedes aka Mr. Melody



I'm with you Bob! I'm 59 and grew up in Ann Arbor Michigan. I've lived in the SF Bay Area since the late 80's and it's obvious that this area is a bubble. No one believed that Trump (Agent Orange) could win. But here we are! It's worst than Dr. strangelove
I'm bombarded everyday by elected officials on the Democratic side begging for money. I thought that was part of the problem... Money in politics . It feels like no matter how much one gives, it's never enough...
Nothing gets done for the average schmo. Anyway.
...and now this narcissistic crazy tweeting idiot, fueled by dark money and even darker political movers, is stirring up revenge and hatred ...!? WtF ! I can't even turn on the news or listen to it on the radio! I know I should, but I've been burying my head in the sand. It upsets me so much.
That said, I'm heading to the streets tomorrow in protest!
See you there! Thanks for your heartfelt writings ! I appreciate them!
Sincerely
Chipley Trombley



Bob
We would not be in these Dire Straights if our Last President didn't go around bowing to other leaders of the World and apologizing for our Country's past actions. Then to draw meaningless lines in dirt - sand or whatever and not follow through was not only demeaning but our status in the world plummeted. Our words became meaningless. Our friends became skeptical. Our enemies no longer feared us!!

Bullies love a coward! Taunt taunt taunt! They get their rocks off! Or maybe their nukes in this case!!

Eight years later - now it's us (you) that have fear. And you say to lay the blame at the feet of Trump. You kid me? The Bitch Killery pushed the Russian reset button. Joke. Took out Gaddafi. Joke. Abandoned Ambassador Stevens in Benghazi then blamed a YouTube video. Sickness! Obuma paid ransom to a terrorist country - in cash. Stupidity!


You really need to rethink why you're feeling afraid.

M. Vaughn Duck
Nice, France.



Seattle has a nuclear arsenal. Seattle is the place.

Kai Strandskov



Surely the best, most moving, honest and relevant piece you have ever written, Bob. Thank you.
Annie Nightingale
London



Bob: I hid food in my basement in case they dropped the bomb........
I lived right outside of D.C. in the late '50s- would have been part of the hole.
The Cuban Missle Crisis - my dad was the public information officer
at Alameda Naval Base that year.......my school was having a field
trip to the base. Dad met the buses and told us to go back to school,
we were not allowed on the base. I'll never forget it.

I'm also worried about Korea, living in Oregon, I worry. And
I can't believe I still have to worry in 2017........I thought those
childhood fears were behind us.
Katie Bradford, Portland.



No, actually - you should't relax, Bob. Too many Americans zone out and tune into the Kardashians or whatever their preferred diversion is. You're doing the right thing. Vigilance is the only antidote when things get scary. To do otherwise hands the keys to the car to folks who are not tested on the global stage and don't yet deserve our confidence. (Do they ever!). -t

Tony D’Amelio



U got that right uncle bob

HYIM



No you're not the only one. We're all afraid, everywhere.
In Europe we have the general feeling Trump should be impeached before he will get us all killed. He's like the big fat bully back in elementary school. He will not back down but nor will his enemy. And you know what happens when people are getting frustrated, they'll do crazy things even if it would mean it's the last thing they'll ever do. They don't care anymore, it's just about their pride and personal feelings and they'll do whatever it takes to make their last blow count.

But when the dust settles, we're the ones left in the schoolyard facing the consequences because some of the kids in the schoolyard have access to WMD's. And like you, I'm afraid they will hit L.A. or New York first. Or an oil field, whether it's in the US or outside. Somewhere where it makes an impact.

Or maybe not right away.....maybe the first thing they'll hit is a country that happens to be somewhere in the middle where it has no impact but can be seen as a 'last warning'. Maybe the Netherlands (where I currently live) will one day become a chapter in history books as collateraldamage.

The general feeling (or hope) over here is that Trump will either be impeached, or stopped by one of America's own agencies/services before his 'personal' real enemies get to him. And that's perfectly fine with us, we just hope it will be quick enough before he takes us all down.

Why aren't their mass demonstrations? Even the most conservative right wing republican Obama hater should be able to see that Trump is going to destroy this beautiful nation? We're not talking fiction here anymore. It's no a 'what if' scenario. I've seen more people protesting against New Coke back in the 80s?

We are human and we all make mistakes. But learning from them is what makes the difference. And you don't need to be an apt pupil to see that if we don't wake up soon enough, we'll all face the dire consequences.

Remember the feeling we had back in the 80s? The videos for Land of Confusion and Relax? Quite scary, right? But it's a lot worse now....

No Bob.....you're not alone. We're all afraid....
All the best,

Björn de Water



Nope. Got home from my gig last night and watched the news with a very sick and nervous feeling in my guts. Trump and Kim Kong are both total lunatics!!

Steve Young



Thank you for this, Bob.

Adam Blake



Bob, I've never written/replied till now. I'm in New Zealand.

To your question, am I the only afraid one...? Ummm... no. I mean NOOOOOOO....!

Even way down here, I've gone from laughing, to incredulous, to pissed off at your country's voters. I have no real right to be in one sense, but the fact it it does matter and does affect all of us. By "us" I mean humans.

The US has elected a moron. As the Chinese have said, he's as ignorant as a child, yet has such power and respeonsibilty that he has no aptitude or value set for.

So no, you're not alone. All I hope for is that there's enough of "you" to rein him in by shaming, ridiculing, cajoling and that Govt Officials tie his hands (should I say coach and guide him).

Duncan Wylie



You're MOAB piece was thoughtful, thorough and well articulated. I wish I could disagree with just a single statement in it, so I could at least feel a tiny bit less stressed over the state of world affairs as I see them. I can't. Diplomacy now seems to be the tactic of last resort for many leaders of powerful nations, including Putin and Trump, whose egos appear to often override common sense. Add to that the inexplicable behaviours and ominous sabre rattling of utterly mad tyrants, such as Kim Jong un and Assad, and it makes average people like you an me feel completely vulnerable and powerless. And, yes, frightened. Those of us who lived through the Cuban Missile Crisis as kids lived in a world that was still reeling from the horrors and aftermath of World Wars I and II -- a world that had to wait days or weeks to hear, digest and react to events around the globe. Today's instant communications make international crises seem like a global reality show, which we can only watch, aghast, as spectators. Despite that, regardless of race, nationality, or beliefs, we all share 99% of the same DNA and a single planet; yet, somehow, greed, religion and a lust for power seem to blind us from the inevitable conclusion of self destruction if we continue down this unsustainable path.

So, no, your are not the only one who's 'freaked out.' And thank you for such a depressing, albeit necessary essay.

Bob Kennedy,
Toronto



Damn right you should be afraid, Bob. The guy in charge cares about one thing: his approval rating & now he's seen his numbers take an uptick after 'my military' (good God!) dropped some ordnance. And he says they have carte blanche to strike. What could go wrong? Add his utterly strange personality...that 'chocolate cake' interview should give historians a laugh somewhere down the road, if we survive. Yeah, feels like any long range planning is pointless right now. Our fate rests in the hands of a guy who is completely disconnected from history. Jeff Hayward/Maine



I was out with 6 lawyer friends and mentioned my distaste with the "fetishization" of this bomb by the media and by the populace. They jumped my shit and talked about how the bomb was dropped and how it worked for 10 minutes. We have lost our way. We are the people we were afraid of.

Michael A. Becker



It’s about time that people is the USA started to feel afraid of what their President might do, and what he might cause others to do. This is why we in the UK joined CND and marched in the sixties, and why women camped at Greenham Common. We thought that things had moved on, but now it’s hard to believe that any more. And it’s not just certain foreign leaders who are ‘not rational people, they're power-hungry overlords, who are more worried about their image than safety’ . Your own President is just the same, with the difference that he has the resources of a super-power to call on. We should all be scared, and we should realise that being scared isn’t the same as being weak. NOT IN MY NAME.

Mike Donovan



Also, what does KJU get out of bombing the US? His ground troops are going to overrun LA? He's gonna take over San Francisco? Hell, even the SF politicians can't run the city well. You think he wants that headache? He might be crazy, but he knows his country would be vaporized if he sent a bomb our way. Of all the geopolitical things to worry about, this ain't it. Take a Xanax.

Steve Hurlburt



It is scary. But there's an excellent article written by Carolyn Glick a few years back called Israel The Strong Horse (a jump off from a book by the same name if I remember correctly), and the idea is that in the worldview of regimes like ISIS anything less than dominate strength is seen as weakness, and weakness is what empowers them.

carolineglick.com/israel_the_strong_horse/

Observing world events with that perspective in mind has been especially enlightening.

Jenny Sjolund



.......yup.

Tommy Allen



Seems like every side/Country/person/leader calls upon their god(s) to help them... but really God, PLEASE help Humanity!

scared too

Joe Schneider



Don't relax.

And for the bozos - yes, I chose the word carefully - who say it's ridiculous to compare him to Hitler, I just want to ask them a few questions to see if they actually KNOW anything.

It started this way. Hitler was voted in with a small majority. He ramped up the rhetoric. Blamed others - Jews, gypsies, "foreign" powers. Turned up the volume. Built up the military.

"Make Germany great again".

Surrounded himself with crazy suck-ups and then the others followed. Next, he invaded a small piece of Europe.

Approval ratings soared. A crazy man had the power. And, he used it.

Don't get comfortable Bob.

More history.

President Truman wanted to use the Atomic Bomb on North Korea in the Korean War.

Eisenhower, the last decent Republican President and a REAL soldier, talked him out of it. He knew too much about death and killing.

One nuclear bomb puts so much radiation into the atmosphere for so long that cancer deaths will spike everywhere including America.

As for two or three-well, just listen carefully to the lyrics of the 60s folk song "Just a little rain".

That's why Trump tested the waters with a non-nuclear weapon first.

This is madness.

But Trump pulled it off.

The bozos aren't talking anymore about Russian collaboration, about treason, or about his business dealings.

"Make America great again"

Be afraid. Very afraid.

Sieg heil.

John Parikhal



Hi Bob. I lived through the Cuban Missile crisis. Was living at a Air Force base in Texas so mom and dad knew we would get whacked if things got going.

I too think we are at a dangerous cross roads. Kind of a damned if we do, damned if we don't. If North Korea can deliver nukes to LA, the blackmail of a lunatic will have begun. Iran will have them in short order and neither coast will be safe.

The Chinese are the only ones who can address this and Trump is wise to put that requirement far ahead of all other discussions and negotiations with them. No longer a currency manipulator. That was the first "give" in the program. One of the great things about Trump is he is pretty transparent.

This transparency is allowing, no forcing us, to see and look at, with a very bright light the issues and problems that have festered in the last dozen years. The Middle East, Korea, the resurgence of the Soviet Union, radical Islam, countries without boarders, unfunded social welfare Programs, a general and consistent decline in Judaeo/Christian values and norms.

It happened on our watch Bob. We
screwed up and let our country (and the rest of the world) become ruined.

The major issue with our country is lack of cohesiveness. Many have enjoyed the bashing of the elections and the results. Whipping too many of the American people into a fury of fight and difference rather than peace and collaboration. It is a climax of the last decade of build up of the approach from both the left and the right.

And it is really about selfishness. The it is all about me country we have become.

Have you read "The Fractured Republic?" You should if you haven't. It does a great job showing how we got here.

Best,

John Kendig



Come on now Bob, you were 9 and scared during the Cuban Missile Crisis......... It wasn't you who was scared , but the people around you who scared you . I was in college and was not scared at all. Call me naive ,but without media pushing negativity in your face , we didn't really know a lot about it.. I was in Massachusetts , where Kennedy was "top dog" and cover profusely by the media.......... I know many people my age were eligible for service in war and were either totally antiwar ( flee to Canada ) but most were proud to be of service to their country. The beatniks were prominent in Mass. , but not the hippie movement at that time. Most anti anything protests were "underground" or passive.

Cathy Hancock



Yeah Bob. Being afraid for yourself is one thing. Being afraid for your entire civilization is quite something else. I agree.

Matthew Antolick



I hear you. Saw what could be coming years ago and we picked up and moved everything to a rural countryside in Costa Rica last year. If you want to relocate I suggest going somewhere with water.

Janine Jordan



Read this. And get ready for more shots of Trump wearying his Commander-in-Chief wardrobe. The draft dodger is playing army.

www.theglobeandmail.com&utm_medium=Referrer:+Social+Network+/+Media&utm_campaign=Shared+Web+Article+Links" class="url" target="_blank">beta.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/trump-craves-praise-we-praise-him-for-bombings-what-possibly-could-go-wrong/article34703117/?ref=www.theglobeandmail.com&utm_medium=Referrer:+Social+Network+/+Media&utm_campaign=Shared+Web+Article+Links

Dave Logan



You are not alone. Keeps me up at night too. Brinkmanship. Perfect description. N Korea could not at this point have much of a chance of actually reaching the west coast with a missile. For me the truly terrifying thought is that this may be the prelude to a power grab by this administration.

Wally Wilson



Dead on.

L. Morales-Spencer



Once again I am with you on this.
I am obsessed with the news. Fall asleep listening, wake up reading.

For the first time in my life I thought we need to have a plan!?. Living on Lake Ontario
( across this huge body of water is Canada) do have an escape route? Or do we stock up on bottled water in our basement? What do we tell our 3 small children? How do we walk that fine line of being aware & prepared without becoming freaked out and paranoid?

Or does it even really matter....

Keep writing and I will keep reading.
Nice to know I am not alone.

Alayna Alderman



On the one hand, it’s absolutely reasonable to be very worried when we have a Commander In Chief who is a bully, narcissist and has zero experience in governance or foreign policy.

The only thing that I take solace in right now is that the one good thing Trump did was select James Mattis as secretary of defense. That guy is no joke. He knows his stuff, is about as highly respected by the military as they come, and is probably the biggest grownup in the administration. He’s seen some shit. He’s not going to advocate for reckless foreign policy, and I think (hope) Trump knows enough by now to listen to the guy.

Also, the fact that China is getting sick of North Korea’s shit tells us that this isn’t just about unchecked U.S. aggression, this is something we need to legitimately be concerned about.

In the end, all we can do is hope as always that cooler heads prevail.

Zach Ziskin



I'm right there with you. Hayes, Maddow and O'Donnell, with a dash of Cooper and Lemon. Hold the Jeffrey Lord.

Tom Quinn



Hey Bob, thanks for the column.

Crazy times indeed. The nation is clearly divided in partisan politics, and unfortunately our orange Cheeto-fingered, self-proclaimed "pussy grabber", Chump, isn't even the least bit trifled with any real concerns of the American people while he vacations at his Mar-a-Lago estate playing golf and stuffing his puffy little pie-hole with chocolate cake on tax-payer dollars while he whimsically authorizes preemptive military strikes, and bombards his Twitter account with insanely ill-informed and unsubstantiated propaganda about "wire-tapping" allegations and #maga bullshit that only serve to obfuscate facts and enhance his obvious narcissism and megalomaniacal agenda. It's getting to the point where even Spicer is at a loss for words... what a sad state of affairs. Let's hope he doesn't finally piss off this other reckless, bullying, half-cocked sycophant that will ultimately hand his ass back to him at innocent people's expense. I pray for us all.

Regards,
Mark Lane



Coupla points Bob. 1. Don't fall for the propaganda — (yes it's a bad country but) the leadership of NK aren't crazy or irrational, they have one motive and it's survival. They saw what happened to Saddam and Qaddafi and they aren't going to let it happen to them. They've run the country since 1947, no way they would have pulled that off if they weren't rational. (As a not unrelated aside, why do you think Putin took over the Crimea? Power-mad dictator? Or calculated pushback after we overthrew the Ukrainian government and turned that buffer country into a CIA funfair?) And 2. Ask the people of Flint if they care about some foreign entity poisoning the water. We have to stop this nonsense and get our own house in order.

Charles Kennedy



"ISIS is comprised of bad guys, I get it."
Respectfully ... don't believe you do, actually

Robert Carey



Bob

Relax.

USA, Russia and China already decided the outcome. Obama was MIA rollover for 8 years and a re calibration is occurring. It’s just theatre.

Read the alternative history of the CMC foreignpolicy.com/2012/10/08/the-myth-that-screwed-up-50-years-of-u-s-foreign-policy/

Fake news back then.

Rick Vogt



Move back here to Vermont! :)

Bob Kalill



Pack it up Lefsetz and stick to music.

Paul Cibrano



It's not just you...there's plenty of us scared about the country's rapid move towards militarizing international conflicts. After ignoring MSNBC for the past bunch of years I can't get enough of Rachel and team. A short book you should consider, written by Yale historian Timothy Snyder, is"On Tyranny: 20 Lessons From the 20th Century".

Gene Joly
Thousand Oaks



You would enjoy this extremely informative and interesting history lesson on nukes. You get thorough descriptions of their power, Truman's decision to use them, the psyche and decision points behind having to make that decision and more. One of the main points is not to live in fear, but don't lose sight of how fragile the world can be, and understand the massive power we put in the hands of our President. Highly recommended for anyone...particularly those like me who were not alive during that era.

Dan Carlin's Hardcore History - Destroyer of Worlds:
itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/dan-carlins-hardcore-history/id173001861?mt=2&i=1000380386551
-Jason



Dear Bob,

No, you are not the only one. Throughout the election campaign that I followed intensely I feared this the most.
The one pervasive thought going through my mind was "Has my country lost it's frigging mind putting the world's
biggest military in the hands of narcissist like Trump????"

It was predictable that this man turned President would be a bull in a china shop and was capable starting WWIII
on a whim. He actually said and I quote "I made the MOAB decision while eating the most wonderful piece of chocolate!!!!!

So in turn I have to quote you. How the hell in this crazy fucked up world did we get here? I have nothing but stressed and sleepless
nights thinking about how this idiot could actually be the catalyst for the end of the world.

From my perspective, now living in Paris for the last 15 years and not being influenced by US media outlets, Trump is simply doing a
spin a la Rogers & Cowan to take the focus off the fact that he should be impeached and jailed for High Treason by colluding with the
Russians. The inevitable truth of which will be revealed hopefully before he starts a war that could end the world.

Let Love Rule,

Dan McConomy




Bob, dial up your shrink..........your slipping away.

Bill Jackson



Wow. You hit the nail on the head here. I remember practicing 'duck and cover' in grade school and discussing whether or not I'd want to, or could, survive the nuclear holocaust on the school bus trip home. I'm afraid, too!
Carole A.



History is not a forecast of Destiny. But it gives a forshadowing of the range of outcomes. I too was a middle schooler during the Cuban missile crisis. I went to Catholic school, so I also had "going to hell" to worry about. We have no idea what the slightly chubby 13 year old looking NK leader is really about. But it is usually the evil genius types that end us in great conflagrations, acting often in slow motion, or the ruling classes who sometimes just really getting it all wrong (WW1) almost randomly, not guys like him, who will get taken down if he really is a Nuke warrior.

You have lived through part of the Korean war, several Israeli/Arab wars, Vietnam, the Russian Afghan war, the Iran Iraq War, the US 2 Iraq wars, the US Afghan war, the semi global ISIL/ISIS guerilla war, the Cold War, the South African Revolution and more. We now have this odd but seemingly impotent cultural domestic war between the further left and the further right in domestic politics, which to me looks like Kabuki theater.

There is no eternal peace on earth. In North America, two oceans have helped keep Canadians, Americans, and Mexicans relatively isolated from the worst of the historical global messes over time. Of course MAD can always break down as a deterrant. I think the media, like any other business, wants us to buy what its selling. But the news is just a tiny filtering system which ignores the 99.9% of normal living that goes on day to day. I say stay informed, but put it in perspective. Most of the time living is normal, and even when not, it effects a small percent, even if maybe one day you or me are the small percent

But to feel almost frantic because NK is doing its annual pray to grampa day, and we dropped a MOAB on an empty mountain is something we can and should control. As cynical as we all seem destined to be, most of the world leaders are not trying to solve for disaster. Car accidents, family violence and suicides produce the most steady and consistent rates of death worldwide(besides illness and old age), but we really don't fret all that much about them. If we really care, we should get involved in things, project calmness and get on with living the very short time we have in this incredibly bizzare Universe we live in.

Mike Rulle



I always enjoy the letter, but gotta correct you on one thing. It's understandable that folks in the middle of the country do not feel at less risk from nukes. As a child, like you, I was also given the response not to worry about missiles cause it meant we would all die. We lived in what was then called ground-zero...by Strategic Air Command. So that meant not only were we gonna die, but we'd go first. My parents thought it was a comfort that "we won't know what hit us." Remember that t.v. movie "The Day After?" Set in Kansas, I think.
Lots of missile silos and command centers in fly-over country. So unfortunately, we all have reason to be afraid. I'm with you, Bob. Scary times.
"Let the music keep our spirits high"
~~Jackson Browne (Before The Deluge).

Peace,



Tell me Bob....why is Russia's supposed 'meddling' with the election such an issue .....yet the Saudis giving $25m to Hilary's campaign nothing worth mentioning ?
Also - if you really want to know where America is heading, I implore you to visit Dearborn Michigan ( preferably wearing a yarmulka and a Star of David) and then tell me again why Trump is so evil to want to curtail Muslim immigration.....
Seriously - I will buy you a First Class round trip ticket from L.A. - as long as you promise to report what you encounter there.
Cheers
Tony McAuslan



I knew you would be good at this. Picking up the rock and looking underneath. Lots of ugly creepy crawly things under there. Many people don't like to do yard work. They won't pick up that rock. They don't want to know what's under it.

Korea and ISIS are the antithesis of everything we stand for. Tolerance, transparency, equality, democracy, justice, mercy, social programs to aid the less fortunate, etc.
But even in this great country, those precepts are now scarce and fading fast.

This new administration could potentially be dangerous. But like the popular pit bull, it can be trained and become a part of family. How do we do that? Art. Music. Freedom of speech. Humor. And most of all, like what you do Bob, communicate. If we all stay in touch, and keep reminding our elected officials of where we stand, our voices will be heard. Then we can use that collective thought in the voting booths next year and in 2020. Though we might not agree on all issues, those precious concepts our forefathers protected are still all we have.

Hopefully, as you have assigned Bob, some new young rebellious writer out there in the music community will soon pen the next "For What It's Worth" because there definitely is something happenin' here and it ain't exactly clear.

Praying for peace
Kenny Lee Lewis



Hi bob, I follow you're articles closely, I gotta say that your admission that you only skim the international news is what got you guys into the mess you're in now. In many respects, you get the government you deserve. Far too many people like you don't know a thing beyond their own few blocks let alone foreign nations. Yes, America is a great land! But, without understanding much about neighbours near and far, your fate is to be governed by those who will take advantage of your ignorance. Best of luck, wish you success and peace, get some reading in! RHK (Rick Kesler), in Toronto.



It's scary, but North Korea is scarier. If they aren't stopped before they are able to attack us, we will be sorry.

Agostino Scafidi



"...who got it all wrong, their statistical modeling told us Hillary would win and she didn't."

Not true.
Polls were contingent on Dems voting. However Americans sat their complacent apathetic butts at home & now we're ruled by a rabid minority & their insane clown posse.
It's not a democracy if the people don't participate.
Thanks for your posts, Bob.
--Joel Messerer in SF



Yep. And Chamberlain didn't want to piss off the Nazis. Glad to see you've learned from history.

David Harris



I've been feeling the same way. The complexities of our new media world requires a savvy leader. Trump ain't that. He's a bully! I have yet to hear a sensible strategy on anything from health care to global warming. He's in way over his head.

Being a Canadian, we are tied to whatever America does as a loyal friend and supporter over the years.

I feel helpless. What can I do to change things. Nothing!
And that's sad.

Dave Charles




Bob - I think war with North Korea is inevitable unless Jong-un backs down and abandons his nuclear ambitions.

Kim Jong-un has been nothing but ruthless in consolidating power and proving his mettle over the past six years he's been in power. None of us know his true intentions and we'd be fools to think otherwise. We grew up with Kim Jong-il and grew to understand how he did business. This is not him.

We can't project our own logic onto other leaders that grew up in other environments. What we must do is assess what is his most dangerous course of action, most likely course of action, and prepare for the most dangerous.

Clearly the most dangerous is that he develops a nuclear capability of hitting the United States and will strike once he has it. We can say that's unlikely, but that's not good enough. We must prepare for the most dangerous and act accordingly.

Therefore, the current strategy of "maximum pressure and engagement" makes sense to measure whether Jong-un will back down. If he doesn't, we will keep escalating and escalating until we go to war.

Believe me, while war with North Korea would be horrendous right now, it is certainly better than war with North Korea in 5-10 years when they have the capability of hitting the United States with a nuclear missile.

Since the international political system is an anarchic environment where there is no supranational authority that can enforce the rules, the United States must do what it has to do to ensure its own self-preservation.

Like you mentioned, we are all fortunate to live in the US where we are not faced with these types of uncomfortable and horrendous choices often, but a decent portion of the world out there is still run by dangerous and scary people with the capability of doing a lot of damage/harm on a mass scale.

I respect Gen. Mattis a lot as both a scholar and a statesman. I feel comfortable that he has the trust of the President, and the only options he is presenting him in the best interest of all of us.

Let's hope that Jong-un is happy with extracting money, food, etc. in exchange for stopping his nuclear ambitions like his father. If not, we will be in for a long reign with him in charge...

www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-trump-north-korea-strategy-20170414-story.html

Sean Gilfillan



You are definitely not the only one freaked out. The article on "preppers" from a recent New Yorker, says it all.

www.google.ca/amp/www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/01/30/doomsday-prep-for-the-super-rich/amp

Dave Mason



Glad to know you've seen the light. 20 years plus of fanning the "hate Hilary and liberals" flames certainly was the
overriding factor. I was not a supporter due to her policies and many were lashing out over both parties' indifference to the screwing we've taken at the hands of politicians and their corporate masters, but the Hilary hatred was masterfully played and Trump tuned these people up with a great con job.

We are in great danger, I'm worried this could turn out very bad.

Jim Bowers



Bob, you are so right, this is not right / left, republican v democrat. This is life and death. But the policy of paying off the guy in N Korea is how we got here. He hid his nuke program, or the president at the time looked the other way and pushed the problem to the next guy. He is now in a position to sell the most destructive weapon mankind has ever made to the highest bidder. What if that is ISIS? Maybe we should buy them? Russia crumbled when they could no longer afford their military after Reagan refused to play their game. I'm sure you hated Reagan but he realized the only thing bullies understand is power. Pretending this guy in N Korea doesn't exist or that the middle east will settle down if we just ignore it or cut deals with them like we have for the last 8 years? Those bills are coming due. A smart general is one who knows war is the worst possible outcome, let's hope Trumps are in that mind set.

Jim



Good morning Bob,

If they're lobbing bombs Hawaii is the place unfortunately.

The truth is:

"In Hawaii a profusion of four-star military commands — including U.S. Pacific Command, which oversees U.S. military activity over half the globe — makes Oahu a strategic and symbolic target."


Also of note an intercontinental ballistic missile (icbm)can reach Hawaii in under 20-minutes from NK... (Hawaii is 4,661 miles from Korea and LA is another 5,626 miles further...and not as strategic a hit).

What's more shocking is the only real missile defense systems we have are based in Alaska and California; the $36 billion system was rated by the Pentagon in Dec as having low reliability...

I only hope they sort this sh*t out and don't f up my home state, or my Hawaiian holiday...

Aloha,
Fiona

P.S. All notes taken from the Hawaii State Emergency Management Agency (last updated 5 days ago): dod.hawaii.gov/hiema/main/north-korea-threat-to-hawaii/

Fiona Frawley



You are not alone Bob. Religion helped create civilization. Now it as become our destroyer. Trump is just the distraction, the real magic that will change the planet can be accomplished in two assassinations: 1 - Religion, and 2 - Beef. That will require will-power not fire-power.

Pax, Hartmann



No one can keep America safe? I'm sorry you are so desperately lost in your ideology that you cannot see that we must destroy the jihadist ability to wage war against us. That will keep us safe. But is that even the goal? Just keep in America safe. Or do we have an obligation to the world as THE lone superpower that is a force for good in the world to take action and let people know that we will not be intimidated or bullied? The truth is as we breathe the jihadists are building and stockpiling weapons and planning to kill everyone that disagrees with them. Inaction is no longer a reasonable option. And these people aren't diplomatic, so don't give me this crap that we just have to be nice enough and then we'll all just get along. They don't want to talk - they don't even care about their own flesh and blood.
Your probably more scared of Trump than of the crazy murderous people in the world though right?

Anyway, the truth is what God says it is. So start praying for the truth to be revealed to you and strip away all your preconceptions bc the truth is probably something you've never even thought possible. Are you scared of someone who can destroy the body? What about someone who can destroy the soul? That's what's really going on here my friend....

Ben Kruse



Bob,

It sucks to be an American in Amerika.

They say Trump doesn’t drink or do drugs. Yet. we can’t hold his father accountable for allowing him to eat paint chips contaminated with lead when he was a kid.
Trump voters wanted change. They have it. Via treason.

The rest of us need to think seriously not about what we WANT, but what we NEED. Now. Before this crazed piece of shit and his bootlicking toadies kill us all.

Since election night, I’ve see and heard “RESIST”.
Resist, my ass. Resistance is for pussies. Break out the t-shirt silk screening machines, folks.

REVOLT.

Scott Sechman



You are not the only one. I follow your blog. While I don't agree with everything you say, this is the first time I have replied and agreed, because I feel it is most important. I wrote this at the same time you wrote yours:
"Trump had his mini Reich-stag fire. He momentarily picked up a few supporters, but they were quickly lost. His efforts in Syria did nothing except maybe appeal to his misguided zealots. What this President has tried to paint as gains and wins, couldn't be farther from the truth. His gains quickly turned into loses. Then he dropped a MOAB on tunnels in Afghanistan. Again there was a momentary bump which he quickly lost. The cost of that bomb could have fixed many things in the US (like the pipe in Flint Michigan, or meals for grandma). And removing what appears to be just 36 Isis fighters, will only make them have more resolve. Trump's bluster to make himself look good was not effective or properly conceived. Then he separated himself from our military saying he gave them permission to do what they want. While I trust our great military to not be stupid and start something with North Korea. I do not trust a President that has lied so many times they cannot be counted. Will this next event with North Korea have the same outcome of momentary bump then ultimate loss, will the insanity of control and ego take presidence and cause war. Their leader like our President, using the words of Mike Pompeo, "As long as they make a splash, they care nothing about the lives they put at risk or the damage they cause to national security"...."Yes, they try unsuccessfully to cloak themselves and their actions in the language of liberty and privacy; in reality, however, they champion nothing but their own celebrity." Yes these were the words of Pompeo about Assange, but they seem equally appropriate about our President and North Korea's leader. Recent reports I have heard say this NK leader will respond if provoked. I will hold trump personally responsible if anything negative happens. He has not gone to Congress to ask if he can make these war-like acts. It is Not the job of the military to have to act as a conscience for a President without one. None the less, it may come down to that necessity. Please be vocal about what you think should happen, before we slide into a war no one can win."
And in your case, continue to be vocal about what you think.
Thanks.

Bernard Fox



Good one!

Would love to hear your thoughts on why Trump is pushing for anti-abortion legislation so hard and if he does have religious motives?

JD Yarosh



www.businessinsider.com/nuclear-explosion-fallout-radiation-survival-shelter-2017-3

Cob Carlson



Amen!

Dax Martinez-Vargas



No, you're not the only one. I know you've mentioned several times how much
news you're absorbing these days. I do, too, but also spend a lot of time
reading history. And that saying is correct: history doesn't repeat, it
rhymes.

Incompetent, insecure leaders started butting heads in the early part of the
last century and they couldn't stop things once it got rolling. They gave
mixed messages to each other, which led Germany to become aggressive,
thinking Britain and France wouldn't step in. And we ended up with World War
I. Which gave us World War II.

Trump's inconsistent and incoherent statements on (well everything, but in
this case) foreign policy, have made our enemies bolder. And now he appears
to be overreacting.

Yes, feel free to be freaked out.

George Evanko



Great bit of writing. We do all want the same thing. It may all come to blood to get it.

Billy Fields



Hi Bob,

I have never reached out to you before but I really resonated from this article, despite it having nothing to do with music.

My family came from a royal background in Prussia. My great grandmother was the sister of Nicolai the II. They lived in a palace and during the Bolshevik revolution they lost everything. Their entire family was slaughtered. Only my grandmother and her parents survived out of our immediate family thanks to a butler who hid them in a secret library. They lived in hiding for many years. My grandfather was a tank commander of the Soviet Union who earned, equivalent to our US honors, 4 Purple Hearts. When he personally, in front of Joseph Stalin himself, declined to support Mao Zedong in 1950, he was immediately stripped of all his medals.
My father worked for the KGB, higher above than Putin at one time and one day, for no reason whatsoever, was demoted. He saw how corrupt and unjust it was and found an opportunity to defect the Soviet Union in 1979. He came here with $1,001 in his pocket like Shaharizad's story of $1,001 nights, also a story deeply rooted in survival. He was offered to work for the CIA but wanted nothing to do with it. He got into real estate and thankfully, we are in a better place today because of it.

Now I'm intending to help heal all the past trauma our family and our ancestors underwent through various (hope I don't lose you here if I haven't already) sensory somatic and therapeutic practices. It's my way of showing appreciation of my ancestors and for clearing out any negative karma for the future.
We've always had egomaniacal kings and dictators and you are absolutely right; the problem is we think it's us and them. There is no us and them. Only us. I know that because I am able to feel compassion and hurt for people we don't even know, all across the globe. It's difficult to do and much easier said than done, but I especially try to pray for and send positive energy to everyone who's hurting our world. They too, hurt inside, deeply rooted in sadness that, when not channeled properly, cultivates into anger, hatred, rage and destruction. I believe if everyone can revert back to their inner child to harness and express their emotions in a healthy way, before all the conditioning that was done upon them and understand where and what they're doing or intend to do stems from, the world will truly have a little more peace.

Nicolai Savaro



Bob. Excellent!

All the best,

Jeff Haddad



Trust neither N Korea, China or Russia. Let alone Syria or Iran.

Jeffrey Farrell

P.S. That was then, this is now.



Well, your mom is still right. Death will come one way or the other.
Fear is the enemy. Secondly maybe Trump or North Korea. Fear makes us stupid and do stupid things.
Our minds have a fear compartment that's always there, always looking for a reason to be.
Trump, Hillary, Mexicans, Middle Easterns, Chinese, blacks, all the different religions.
Best to deal with fear first. Death is a total mystery - as most of life really is.
I think we live in a wonderful mystery. It's what propels us.
One thing at a time. Fear first, then we can look at the other 'enemies'.

Richard Sales



Bob, I'm on the same bus and our fears are the same. It brings me back to the duck and cover under the desk days from grade school.
Trump taking the country over militarily has been one of my greatest fears. It does feel like we might be getting closer to that possibility
I sure hope not.
It's difficult living this alternate reality, but I guess it's our reality right now.
With all the things he is reversing and destroying we are going to have a difficult time turning it back around if at all.
It's scary stuff and he has no idea what he is about to get us into.
Or does he?
Alan Oreman



Canada Bob, yes Canada. We just went through this for 10 long years. See G20 Toronto 2010.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yCOXSH4l-Y
20.000 cops shoved into downtown Toronto to "protect" the G20 attendees. 1200 arrests. innocent people kettled in the rain and shoved into pre-installed pens, people beaten and laughed at. students pre-emptively arrested in dorms, people forced to show ID by black clad militarised police and yes snipers on the roofs.
And 1.2 billion dollars spent so our tyrant of a Prime Minister could show how tough he was. Oh, Pittsburgh spent 32 million the year before on their G20.
What's terrifying is watching Trump do the same thing in such a condensed time frame.
We went through suspension of civil rights, voter suppression, withdrawal from kyoto, charity audits, suspension of environmental agreements, enemies list, increased police powers and until Trudeau finally beat him Harper was going to install a "barbaric practices hotline" so we could snitch on muslims.
You are right to be afraid. If Canada could do this Anyone can but you were born in revolution so there is hope yet though I'm beginning to lose faith.

David Ray



You're playing right into Trump's hands. Fear has been the tool of war mongers for years, and is often used to rally the citizenry. Whether it's unarmed Black men in cars, a group of Mexicans toiling in the fields, or Muslims kneeling and praying, the drumbeat of fear works - just look at the last election. Fear breeds hate and hate breeds war.

The proper emotion is anger. That's right, get mad, then go out and do something about it, even if it's writing a letter to your congressperson. Trump has turned over military decisions to the generals.Preferring to play golf, he has his family member firmly entrenched within the White House, like a third-world dictator.Worse yet, we have a liar for president and one who is ill-read on history. One can easily tell he has an itchy trigger finger.

Elections have consequences.

Tom Cartwright



In October 1962 I sat in a 3x3 foot TV announce booth, reading successive tear sheets from an AP teletype to people in Boston.
"We interrupt this program … "
I had two children under two, and I was terrified for them, and for the country.
The most frightening time of my life.

I’m 80 now, still terrified, with a man-child barely at the helm of a still great country.
When I watch the Twin Towers fall, I knew the country would never be the same.
I have those feelings today.
Full speed ahead, they drifted …

Gotta hold on for the ride.
Sad for the next generation, and the next.
Somewhat relieved that I won’t be here 20 years from now.

Dan Beach



"?Cause we're allllllllll, chainnnnned... to the rhythym!!" -Katy Perry

MJ
Program Director KUDD/SLC?



Bob,

I was an 8-year old in Eastern Ohio during the Cuban Missile crisis and clearly recall the (foolish) "duck under the desk" drills and civil defense bomb shelter stocks kept in a concrete basement storage room at St. Joseph's Central elementary. It was scary as shit and yep, sure as hell feels like that again with trigger happy 45 at the console.

I can appreciate your concern about your personal vulnerability sitting in SoCal with madmen at the helm in two hemispheres, but take minor solace in two facts;

North Korea doesn't have nuclear or launch capacity to nuke you YET, and we here in present-day Minneapolis are closer to real military nuke danger than you. How so? The Twin Cities are the closest major metro proximate to one of the largest concentration of nuclear silos in North America in nearby North Dakota. Pretty much one of a few predictable ground zeros if Trump and Putin want to square off over who has the biggest "package" on the planet. This stems from the fact that NoDak is strategically the closest US launch point (over the North Pole in miles) to reach Moscow, (theoretically) a few seconds before their nukes launch in retaliation and I'll need to bend over and kiss my ass goodbye.

On the serious side, add to that the risks of some 300 nukes in some 150 silos in ND since 62'-63' that are almost as old as you and I, in poor repair, operated by antiquated analog control rooms lacking modern technology controls even fraction of the power of your iPhone, and prone to human error like the 1980 near-disaster "military cluster-f%#k" ( oxymoron) in Arkansas when a dropped wrench caused a nuclear silo explosion ejecting a (fortunately unarmed) warhead.

Makes this article about our North Dakota nuke arsenal penned weeks before the 2016 election interesting reading:

www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/oct/10/missile-silo-sites-in-north-dakota-lack-maintenanc/

Then again if you want to laugh to keep from crying, there is always this parody article on NoDak Nukes from The Onion:

www.theonion.com/article/the-draft-ep-2-31

I, like you, hope and pray that by some miracle rational forces prevail and we all survive the era of Twitter-in-Chief and his fellow trigger-happy Pentagon cohorts.

But if the worst happens, we here in the Upper Midwest are likely to be vaporized or irradiated sooner ( by at least a few minutes if by Putin), than you and your neighbors in LaLa Land.

Here's hoping for the best, but if the worst befalls us at least the immediacy of social media may give us instant notice that the red buttons have been pressed, nukes are incoming, and we will at least have time to launch Spotify and listen to a few minutes of our favorite playlist one last time before kissing our asses goodbye...

In the meantime, keep up the insightful writing...

All the Best,

Chris "Zannman" Zann



You always present a thought provoking perspective. Though, in this instance, I have to ask, wouldn't you be more worried if North Korea was allowed to develop nuke tipped ICBM's? Isn't it better to confront this now through diplomatic means, even if it involves some brinksmanship rather than wait until the threat to U.S. cities is real and we may be forced to use our nukes to stop it?

Some of our most effective presidents have used the threat of nuclear force to get an adversary to back down (Kennedy, Reagan). Isn't there a high probability that when Kim Jong Un realizes China will cut them off economically from the world and/or that the U.S. will be forced to decapitate his regime that he will realize staying in power is more important than pursuing ICBMs?

If he really is crazy, there's no question in my mind that we have to deal with it now as Trump and his team of experts is doing rather than kicking it down the road a la Neville Chamberlain.

Best,

Peter Ventrella



Your mom was right when she said that if they dropped the bomb we’d all die.

The again nobody, no matter how important or irrelevant you think you are, gets out of here alive.

Until then, Don’t worry, be happy!

Argus



?Frankly, I'm not freaked out at all. Reason? Because our enemies will hate us in any case, and want us all dead in any case. I lived through the Cuban Missile Crisis as well. When you are a Believer, you know that God is in charge...not puny man. You should ask YOURSELF: Is it OK to gas innocent children and we do nothing? Is that "who we are?" I think not. Under Barack Obama, the U.S. was viewed as the weakling in the world's sandbox. No more. Don't get me wrong: I hate war. I hate killing. But as the old bumper sticker says: "You can't co-exist with people who want to kill you." This is why the Crusades took place--they realized there was no other choice. So ask yourself: If our enemies want us all dead anyway, would you rather go down like sheep to the slaughter, or would you rather fight back to survive? I'm PROUD of our new President! And P.S. It's not that we hate Hillary--it's that we hate her corruption...her lying...and her arrogance.

Claudia Nelson



It's time that you get your dream home in the mountains!

Best,

Ron



I can't tune out and relax, either. But, I don't think I should. I've decided to try and maintain faith in our constitutional system, and fight within that framework. My congressmen's staffers know my name by now- I call all the time. The congressmen aren't listening, but when I and others like me vote them out, they'll know why. I can't go full-time political- my family needs me. I'm doing what I can within the system our forefathers created, and trying to live my life in the meantime. I hope it's enough.

Kit W.



The State Motto of New Hampshire is simple.

"Live free or die"

Don't let these people who live thousands of miles away get in your head.

Kevin McCloskey



War-mongering is the best time-tested method for a president to (1) distract the public from his incompetence and chicanery, and (2) scare the public into thinking that the country needs his "protection". Paul Lanning



Wow Bob this is one of your best ever. Like you were going for a Pulitzer. Vintage Lefsetz, as folks say, in term of really speaking from the heart. Thanks for your perspective.

Wallace Sanders in Arkansas



Stop reading the paper dude

Kuba Oms



Unsettling times, indeed, Bob. I'm old enough to remember when the air raid sirens were tested once a month in my old Mar Vista neighborhood. And there were weekly drop drills in elementary schoool. Not sure why the teacher closed all the blinds. To minimize glass shards flying into us from the force of bombs? I'm sure dropping to the floor and covering our heads would've protected us from the "big one."

Jeff Hillery



Just another Trump distraction. North Korea may have a bomb but remember where you live Mr. Lefsetz. The US, China, Japan & Russia all have there eyes on them. Do you honestly think that anything of significance would get anywhere near it's destination before it would be blown out of the sky from any number of sources including space? I wouldn't worry about Kim Jung and his brainwashed followers launching what most would consider a firecracker vs the Death Star that is USA arsenal let alone NATO or there nearest neighbors.

Relax Bob war is profitable but no one makes money for total annihilation unless it's the US doing the deed.

USA USA USA!

M1



Had this exact chat with a friend yesterday. A President who diverts attention from his scandals and Team in the US by dropping bombs. I am nervous as I live in NYC. Read Rick Lowry in NY Post yesterday talking about Ivanka and Jared and Cohn all really Dems for the first time figuring out how to reign in Trump because of potential damage to the brand and this clowns dropping bombs more than he tweets.....

Makes you realize why the Tues Club and Freedom guys are putting up resistance.

Chris Apostle

P.S. Again on mad point.....drinking too much Bustello.....read Rich Lowry in yesterday's NY Post.....( I m a serious Democrat but I like to keep my enemies close so I read NY Times and Post every day).....he mentions how The Jared and The Ivanka are trying to reign in the big elephant in the room and for the first time someone mentions how he could damage THE BRAND.......he of course fails to mention that Trump is using the oldest mantra in the world......distract your enemies with deflection.....I mean who in this genious Republic attacks a President when we re at war? I ve said it all along....he's anti Israel....anti anyone who disagrees with him and apolitical....hell Cohn on his Wall Street Team of Rhodes Scholars is so left he makes me look conservative.....funny how he makes me feel like Lindsay and Ryan and the Breakfast club guys and gals are the sanest people in the room

Yes Bob I m scared for the first time in my life and our family compound in Vermont is looking good

I wasn't in NY for 911 as was in LA for Latin Grammys at old Forum and stuck for 6 days until TM rented a plane from Ross Perot to fly us home from Van Nuys.....kiss your wife, ski until you drop , spend your money and keep writing.....you struck a nerve here in a very eloquent manner.......

And Putins laughing all the time.......



Bob,

I sympathize with how you're feeling these days, as this is how many
of us Trump supporters felt for much of the last eight years as our
enemies around the world were able to do whatever they wanted without
fear of meaningful consequence.

Our support of Trump has nothing to do with our dislike of Hillary as
a presidential candidate. It does have to do with the fact that
Russia, North Korea, ISIS, and Iran are all now the sizable and
undeniable threats they are today thanks to the inability of the Obama
administration to keep them contained. It was especially difficult to
watch the media seeming to celebrate (and perhaps even endorse) the
"even-tempered and stoic" approach of Obama as opposed to taking a
more aggressive and questioning of statements and actions the way they
have from day 1 under Trump.

The administration and the media tried to equate Obama's inaction as
somehow establishing the moral high ground. How naive. This doesn't
make you right. It delays the inevitable need to confront a now
escalated and complicated set of situations across the globe that
Trump is now forced to clean up or fuck up.

Do you really believe the Iran deal has made the world a safer place?
Do you really believe Obama not taking decisive action after the
Syrian red line was crossed has somehow helped us avoid confrontation?
Do power-hungry dictators respond to weak verbal threats or sanctions
that aren't backed by the real and immediate threat of force and
death? Should Trump continue to do the same things that got us to
this point? (Insert overused definition of insanity line here).
Survival of the fittest has gotten us to this point, but
unfortunately, it appears the right and the left just don't see the
world the same way any more.

History is very clear - the longer we wait to deal decisively with
conflict, the bigger and more costly the consequences.

Hopefully we didn't wait too long this time.

JD May



you are surely not the only one freaked out, Bob. I know a lot of people who are and I keep seeing and hearing them on TV and radio. this is one of the things we were all mortified about when the guy was elected, and all we heard was that we were sore losers that Hillary didn't win. and I keep saying she/we didn't lose....America lost. and we're starting to see that playing out, hopefully not existentially but I'm nervous and terrified too and at the same time, downright shocked at all of this. I feel like this Russia thing will take the whole Trump operation down, because it's very real....but that's assuming he doesn't blow up the planet before that.

thanks, Mike Farley



Kim Jong Un 'would nuke Los Angeles' if his rule was threatened, North Korea defector reveals: www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/kim-jong-un-nuke-los-angeles-north-korea-nuclear-weapons-icbm-missiles-defector-us-leader-a7545011.html

Brandon Deroche



I can't either . It's terrifying times and I am glad I'm old and lived thru the heyday of America, when dreams could become reality and we all felt safe because we lived in America. With climate change and insane world leaders , where are we headed?



I am with you Bob. Yikes!

Liz Nowak



Bob,

You're not the only one freaked out by this. Many of us are. But we must keep a clear head and watch for our opportunity to start turning things around. People like Trump and those who surround him thrive on people being afraid, so let's not give them what they want.

PJ O'Rourke, who, despite his Republican bona fides, has in recent years, had difficulty staying positive about much of what the American Right has done, predicts a big Republican Congressional defeat in 2018, at about 12:16 in this video.

www.salon.com/2017/04/12/listen-p-j-orourke-looks-ahead-to-the-gops-big-defeat/

What I find kind of amazing, is how, post-Trump, everyone on the Right seems to want everyone on the Left to just shut up now, hence all those of your subscribers who say, "stay out of politics, Bob." They're willing to listen to your opinions on music - which, as interesting as they are, are totally subjective, but are outraged to hear your opinions on politics, equally as subjective, as if you have ever separated the two at all.

I performed a new anti-Trump comedy song I wrote for a songwriter event, shortly after the election. After finishing the song, and attempting to intro my second song, a guy gets up and starts yelling, "I didn't come here to hear this," and proceeded to loudly tell everyone how wrong it was to have written and performed a song with a strong political view that he disagreed with. It later led to a fist-fight in the parking lot when someone tried to get him out the door so the show could resume.

People on the Left, especially in colleges, are also sometimes trying to stop people from having their say. For the record, I'm against it when the Left does it too.

But for someone to come to a singer-songwriter/folksinger evening, and be outraged that someone sang about Leftwing politics? Like Claude Rains being "shocked" that gambling is happening in Casablanca. And for someone to expect a child of the 60s and 70s, like yourself, to keep quiet about a man like Donald Trump taking over the Oval Office... it's absurd.

Gary Stockdale



I totally get it.

All you can do is keep breathin', Bob.
Greg Prestopino



When America elects someone as unqualified, ignorant, bellicose and narcissistic as Trump, eventually something really dangerous happening becomes a distinct possibility. We're there in less than 100 days and it's already scary. I still think there's no need for a resident of LA to be worried but if you live in South Korea, Japan or North Korea, a war could be fatal.

Jeff Capshew



I'm with you and there is no way that you (I'm Canadian) or anyone can bomb away an idea and that is what ISIS is. You are right they are getting more and more pissed off and every bomb aggravates the situation and then our allied forces leave and these countries are worse off and no freer. We need to help these people to help themselves. They need dignity, food, healthcare and education. If we put the same amount of funds and personnel into giving them a hand up instead of a hand out we would be much further ahead but that doesn't feed that military machine (which is a massive part of the US economy) and educated people who can think for themselves are dangerous.
Kim Jong Ill is uncontrollable? What about Donald Trump? The Russians have never been our friends despite anyone trying to convince us otherwise.
Yes, I am scared too but I'm not sure who I should be afraid of. When the Cuban missile crises happened (I too was in school) the bad guy seemed obvious but now I'm not so sure. Are the times so different or is it just that when we were younger everything was black and white.

Ruth O'Doherty



Bob,
I love your newsletter/Blog and have been reading it since before you went online.

I used to be a successful pro musician (who hated the lifestyle) who went into Broadcast Radio 20 some odd years ago and now have found myself unemployed for the past two years for the first time in my life.

Finding a new job in a new industry when you are pushing 60 is tough. I have enough in savings and investments that I am not starving, but after paying taxes my entire working life, I found the help offered to someone (like me) to be willfully lacking. I received 13 weeks of unemployment assistance at roughly $230 a week (which didn't even pay my rent), and that was it. My wife is a social worker who receives a larger discretionary budget to help people arrested (for drugs) whose kids are in danger of being taken away than I was offered.

You are so sharp on many levels but so unaware on some.

Your recent rantings about your health had me laughing. You have NO health problems despite what you may think. I have several chronic diseases, including (but not limited to): Type 1 Diabetes (my whole life), Gastroparesis, Pernicious Anemia, 80% Hearing loss in my left ear (from my R&R days), Hyperthyroidism, High Cholesterol, High Blood Pressure, two frozen shoulders, and Neuroendocrine Tumor syndrome which resulted in approximately 1/3 of my stomach being removed. My insurance has a $6,000 deductible each for my wife and I, and cost almost $900 bucks a month in premiums, and yet you feel the need to complain about itchy skin and a bum tooth. Snowflake. Maybe you should go sit in your safe space.

Your politics are so out of the mainstream American experience that I feel sorry for you. You, Sir, are a grown adult snowflake.

Are you so imbedded in your Left-Coast thinking that you don't recognize your own bias?
Dude? I am not some right-wing republican wacko: I truly believe in the legalization of ALL drugs (tax the shit out of them to provide medical help for the small percentage of people who have addiction issues) and believe the government has no business legislating any paternalistic crap about who I sleep with or what orifice I stick my dick in. However, it is also not the government's business to legislate who (or what) uses which bathroom, or who the fuck I bake a cake for, etc...

We are the world's police force, like it or not. After 8 years of President Obama's woefully lacking foreign policy it is only natural that a new administration is going to have to set a new course. You should be applauding the badly needed show of force in both Syria and Afghanistan. North Korea is a bully and surely you recognize the best way to deal with a bully is to punch him in the nose. The Cuban Missile Crises was resolved because of a show of force: The naval blockade of Cuba and Russia blinked.

Trump is a symptom of a problem. He is NOT the problem. He didn't call for the MOAB bomb to be dropped, he empowered the people who should be making these decisions, to make a decision. And hopefully, they know (far better) how to battle ISIS than any bureaucrat in Washington does. Surely you agree that Obama had the entire military cucked under his directives. You think it would be any different with "career politician", "bought and sold" Hillary Clinton in Office?

Thank you Bob for letting me rant. I feel better now.

I gotta go look for a job or an investment opportunity. Love ya, Bob, GROW A PAIR!

Anonamoose



I am just a subscriber from Maryland. My cousin got me interested when she forwarded one of your articles to me about one of our classic rock heroes. Can't remember which one. We are both classic rock nuts. But I really enjoy reading your newsletter (should I say blog?).

No Bob. You are not the only one scared about this and I am guessing we are close to the same age. My husband can't peel his eyes away from MSNBC and CNN. In fact, he just came up from downstairs to report to me that the lunatic in Korea tried to launch a missile but it failed. Trump and his advisors are meeting even as I write this.

Sallie Sterling


I like your honesty
You are in the right ballpark but it’s actually a little worse than that.
This is what an ex - Australian foreign minister had to say about the Donald a couple of days ago.
Bear in mind we are one of your biggest allies so you can imagine what less enthusiastic USA supporters think.
Maybe a lot of your readers really can’t imagine that .. I guess that’s what Our problem is ..
But I’m on it .. and there’s millions of people like me and you
So thanks (sincerely) for your honesty
Best,
mw

www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2017/04/13/psychologically-ill-equipped-gareth-evans-blasts-trump

Mike Wilde



I feel the same as you. Scared. I am a holocaust survival from Budapest, Hungary. I came to New York through Austria after the revolution in Hungary when the Russian tanks came in and bombed the city-again.
Thank you for writing. I am a chemist now a painter. I am 83 years old.
My only son is a drummer and in sound and writes music. I wanted him to have a better world. I did not want to have children until I got to the US. in 1957. I just want him to be happy and survive.
My very best to you: Susanne Palagy



It is scary Bob. I was in Argentina in 2008, and I left there thinking if we don't think what happened there could happen in North America we are wrong.
Tom Netzel, Calgary



Bob, a quick note that I haven't really read in the mainstream but that's been told to me by gents in the military is that MOAB wasn't really meant to kill people as much as it was meant to send a huge shock and destroy all the tunnels ISIS uses. The blast spans about a mile radius so all tunnels (and any people in them) would be destroyed. That removes some of their infrastructure.

As for fear, well, if it serves you then it's good. If it debilitates you then it's not. Use it wisely. You're a good man Charlie Brown. Peace! G

Etan G



Oh to return to the pacifist ideology of aggression only when provoked and needing to defend oneself. I miss Barack Obama.

Rich Pagano



No, there are plenty of other hypocritical lefties like you freaking out as well, though most of you didn't make a peep about the 26,000+ bombs the Obama Admin dropped in 2016 alone. But when a Republican bombs ISIS tunnels and a Syrian Chemical Weapons Air Base, "it's WW3!!! The sky is falling!" The double standard makes my head spin.

Regarding North Korea, Kim Jong Un's missles cannot currently reach the United States and if it is stay that way, then action must be taken by China, the USA, or both to reign Kim in. China is nearly as frustrated with NK as the USA is because they receive little to no benefit from NK's sabre-rattling. It destabilizes the Asia-Pacific zone, hurts trade, and makes China look bad since they are still technically "allies." In short, NK is an embarrassment for China.

President Xi and President Trump reportedly had a good meeting and you can bet your butt that some of it was spent talking about what to do with North Korea. Kim Jong Un's days are numbered.

And for the record, I am generally anti-war and do not support American adventurism/interventionism. However, in the cases of ISIS and North Korea, both have directly threatened this nation and because of this will be responded to accordingly. See: MOAB & Carl Vinson Battle Group.

Lastly, Bob, I used to enjoy reading you; both your insights about music and about life. But as of late you've turned into a political hack. I am fine hearing views I disagree with, but I have a low tolerance for intellectual dishonesty and hypocrisy by partisans of either "side."

Have a good weekend.

Selah.



Right on.

Ria Curley



It can seem as though it's all happening at a dizzying pace. It's easy to let it overwhelm you. It's easy to stay home. That's the goal of terrorism: kill a few, scare the rest.
But we fight the war there, so we don't have to fight it here.
By any measure, historical or current, you are safe in this country. Sure, there are isolated instances of terror in the West. Killing is easy. But look at how ineffective they are. Parliament met again the day after the attack right outside its door. Niece is bustling. Brussels is as vibrant as ever. Lower Manhattan is now some of the most valuable property on earth. W. 23rd street, where a bomb exploded last Fall, was open to pedestrians two days later. Sting sang at the Bataclan. We honor our freedom by exercising it. It must piss the terrorists off, right? I'm going to The Blue Note tonight. Sinful jazz. They can't stop it. Music will play in every city and town in America tonight. 300 million people all listening to, mostly bad music. But they get to because ISIS is no threat to them. Or you.
North Korea is a legitimate threat to Japan and South Korea, but not the United States. It's why we have Guam and a Navy and THAAD and billions of dollars in hardware.
One last point. ISIS needs no provocation from us. They do it out or warped ideology, not because we defend ourselves. The stated objective of ISIS is to spread their law throughout the world. By their own admission, they will settle for nothing but the destruction of all apostates and non-believers. It's best to take them at their word and act accordingly. Obama thought so. So does Trump. On How many other issues do they agree?
Go out today. Celebrate the freedom and safety you enjoy. Go to a park and look at the children playing and know they will all get home safely tonight, and grow up to continue this imperfect experiment with freedom. And know also that there are parts of the world where that is not an option.
Jim C. Dolan



These are indeed scary times when our President states should China not deal with North Korea we will! Makes me miss my original hometown of St Louis where basements and shelters are prevalent. We would nuke North Korea into oblivion however who suffers before this occurs? Likely us and yes should we be the target of a Nuclear attack, we won't be around to talk about yet a lot of our country will be and that's where it's clear to me we would prevail yet you and I in Santa Monica would likely be vapor that the rest of the country mourns based on two megalomaniacs who have their fingers on buttons of mass destruction... saddens me as the LA Times articles do... How did we let this happen? I thought in my lifetime we would see terrorists continue to want to attack the US although not provoke such behavior and challenge a mad man. Didn't Joe Walsh say you can't argue with a sick mind? This dictator has shown he'll poison his own half brother, execute people is his country by horrific means. What makes anyone believe he's not capable of dying for what he believes is his world under attack by the US? Not much and I pray that smarter heads prevail soon yet seems there are too many Americans who likely feel they'd be just fine without a California coast. Just not me! P.S. Look up bomb shelters in Santa Monica. I can't find one! Should u, let me know, I'd like to have some place to go should the sirens start to blare and sincerely praying I never hear such a thing in my or anyone else's lifetime...

Very best
Gary Nuell



I too grew up during the Cuban Missle Crisis. That seemed so far away from Brooklyn; it was down near Florida, wherever that was. We hid under our desks in school, joking it was to make it easier to find our bodies. No matter how hot-headed Fidel was, his overlords, the Soviets were cool, calculating types who wanted to live. Not so much with today’s nutty dictators. To understand foreign policy today, watch ‘The Mouse That Roared.'

Regarding where is it most safe today, my vote goes to either Coast. The Word Trade Center was attacked, twice, because of its size and name. Having worked in the North Tower (1 WTC) on that day, I can assure you it was nothing fancy, just 2 really ugly relics of urban renewal, ‘70’s style. A large mid-continent city is more under threat to show anyone, anywhere, can be a target. Let’s hope not, 9/11 was a shit day.

Rich Eichen



Well, N.Z. starts looking pretty good. This is the time to live in a civilized country that doesn't want to be a world power. The jihadists will come after us whether we retaliate or not. Fact of life. And now we finally have our very own overlord who is as ego driven as the guys who are making us nervous.

Right here, it is no longer about recognizing our common ground. Much like the Civil War, it is the differences that are magnified. And let's face it, each side has contempt for each other, a genuine dislike. Gone are the days of mutual benefit and bipartisanship because with nothing happening in Washington, all that's left is to make the other side wrong. It's not even about substance anymore as much as it is a matter of perception. Technology has sped up the pace at which we are fragmenting as a society. Social media and news organizations amplify the space between us. We don't read or think for ourselves. I can't watch the news anymore because it's crap. I want analysis not soundbytes and sensationalism. I want someone who doesn't have an agenda or a vested interest in grabbing eyeballs. That goes for Rachel as much as it does O'Reilly.

The shelf life for our democracy is about to expire. They don't last forever without a major 'correction' or some form of adjustment. Capitalism is no more the answer than is communism. European democracies are hybrids and they have found a balance with multi party systems that make it impossible for two groups to be pitted against one another. Alliances and compromise end up being the only options available. The three branches of our government can't become any less effective. So we will continue to be paralyzed by ideology and geopolitical differences, and it will get worse here all on its' own, without Kim Jong Don firing a shot.

Guns sales are down, now's the time to buy. You'll feel better, if only marginally.

John Brodey

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