Only the Bad Man
How many countries will America bomb in 2026?
One of my all-time favorite movies is “Witness” (1985) with Harrison Ford. It’s set within the Amish community in Pennsylvania. One quiet scene has stayed with me. A small boy, Samuel, talks to his grandfather about guns and whether the taking of human life is ever justifiable. (For context, the young boy witnessed a brutal murder earlier in the film.)
Samuel says he’d kill only a bad man. His grandfather’s response is moving. How would you know? And is killing the only way? What is the price of killing?
I had that scene in mind today as I read Caitlin Johnstone about how President Trump has bombed seven countries in 2025. I assume only “bad men” were killed?
Antiwar’s Dave DeCamp has a new article out titled “US Bombed Seven Countries in 2025 as Trump Dramatically Expanded Airstrikes”.
Is there anything more embarrassing or self-debasing than continuing to be a Trump supporter in 2026? It’s just degrading and cucky at this point. Trotting alongside Netanyahu and promising to help him bomb Iran while lying and claiming Israel has been “100 percent” abiding by the ceasefire in Gaza. Bombing Venezuela, Nigeria, Somalia, Yemen, Iraq, Iran, Syria, and all those boats off Latin America in a single year after campaigning as the “anti-war” candidate. Stomping out free speech that’s critical of Israel and shoveling money into the Israeli war machine after campaigning on a free speech and America First platform while repeatedly publicly admitting to being bought and owned by Miriam Adelson. Releasing Epstein files so full of redactions the pages look like black slate tiles.
Happy New Year, everyone. Here’s hoping for a lot less killing—and a lot more peace—in 2026.
Violence is probably innate - and in some evolutionary sense, was needed to protect oneself, one's tribe (family), and one's property. But that was limited to the people in the next valley who might come your way to do you harm.
There were no government contracts, obscene profits, academic studies, parades, medals, or movies celebrating it. How much easier those elements make it to slaughter strangers who have done no harm, or just live in the wrong place, or worship a different sky god.
Another movie worth remembering is Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven. There is the haunting scene when William Munny tells the Schofield Kid about how terrible a thing it is to kill someone and take all they have and all they might have.
We are ruled by demonic monsters.
Witness is a powerful movie. Killing is so commonplace, not only in war but in our everyday lives. I was talking to my nephew about the Brown University shooting just before Christmas. He owns a store in our neighborhood (less than a mile from Brown), and he noticed that for 2 days after the shooting, the shops were empty, and once the shooter was found dead, things went back to "normal." Unfortunately "normal" just means more shootings daily, but just not in our neighborhood. How easily people forget the dead and injured. Our society is sick, as is our politics.