Remember the Cold War? It was
in all the papers. Those were halcyon days when cheerful slogans like “Better dead
than red,” and “Kill a Commie for mommy” tugged at our heart strings. We knew the
Rooskies and fellow travelers were hell-bent on taking over the world and it
was our job as good ol’ God-fearing capitalists to destroy them all and make the
world safe for democracy. Then what the hell happened? I remember going out for coffee one Thursday in
1989 and when I got back to my desk, the Berlin wall was in ruins, regular
flights from New York to Moscow began leaving every day, and every kook
from Waziristan to Priest River, Idaho gained access to Soviet miltary
hardware. Suddenly, Iran and North Korea are nuclear contenders and space-program
hopefuls, Kalsnikov-wielding insurgents are running amok all over Asia and
North Africa, and a week in America just isn’t complete without a report of a
mass shooting.
Who knew that the years when
everyone was gearing up for nuclear winter were actually
the good old days? Oh, for the paranoia and simplicity of the missile envy era!
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