For those who can remember: The fear of nuclear war in Reagan's first term

[speak easy]

was real and justified.

On September 26, 1983 we were five minutes away from the end of the world (see Alternative History Hub video below).

As David Byrne wrote: 'Our President's crazy - did you here what he said'

He said - 'The Soviet Union is an Evil Empire'. He said '[They have] a Mickey Mouse system [destined for] the ash heap of history'. He said 'My fellow Americans, I have just signed legislation outlawing Russia forever. The bombing begins in five minutes'

The Zeitgeist was venomous. We were on the edge.

Franke Goes to Hollywood- Two Tribes


Kate Bush - Breathing


David Bowie - Let's Dance




We were as close to the end as the Cuban Missile Crisis. I opposed the Fool on the Hill with all I had. I make no apology ... to this day.

September 26, 1983

[Dave Starsky]

1. It was also Reagan who started toning it down.

After he watched The Day After, and it scared the shit out of him. Trump wasn't the first president who got inspiration from the boob tube.

[speak easy]

2. ...

[Dave Starsky]

3. Absolutely terrifying to this day.

BTW, those incredibly impressive mushroom clouds were bright orange paint dumped into a tank of water against a blue screen, then color-reversed. I've always been amazed at how scary and realistic that looked.

[speak easy]

4. They got the EMP, electromagnetic pulse weapon right.

The first thing people would know today is the internet going down.

[speak easy]

5. I guess nobody cares anymore.

Reagan's warmongering was critical to my transition form a libertarian to liberal.

[Mike 03]

9. Thanks for sharing this.

I'm totally fascinated by what moves people either into politics or from one position to another.

Your posts are making me wish I'd been more politically aware during that period, but I was a typical self-involved teenager planning my next trip to the movie theater or record store. My mother was the most politically-alert person in the family during that time. She despised Ronald Reagan.

[Aristus]

7. I was high school when "The Day After" was released.

After that, we used to joke that a good theme from Prom would be Nuclear Winter.

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

10. And that f'er Trump thought nuclear weapons were awesome.

I recall Morning Joe reporting that he'd asked back in the summer of 2016, when he was getting foreign policy briefings since he'd become the GQP nominee, "What good are nuclear weapons if we don't use them?" and stunned the assembled military officials.

https://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/03/trump-asks-why-us-cant-use-nukes-msnbcs-joe-scarborough-reports.html

I think he's on record in an interview gushing over the 'power of nuclear weapons'. I can't find that interview at this time, though.

[Dave Starsky]

12. That was when I knew we were in big, BIG trouble.

That dumbass was raised during the same Cold War that I was. He went through duck-and-cover drills and saw all the same movies about nuclear war, radiation, etc., that I did. Same as we ALL did. How the living fuck could he even ask a question like that? How thoroughly stupid would a person have to be?

[Mike 03]

6. I wish I could recall more. There was a lot of important discussion going on

just in general, not particularly just about Reagan, and I remember two large publishing events: The release of "The Cold and the Dark: The World After Nuclear War" and also Strobe Talbot's book "Deadly Gambits" (those were two of the first nonfiction hardcovers I ever owned). So in high school and then college I had classmates talk about Reagan causing a nuclear war, but these were not adult, serious discussions and I think we were repeating things adults were saying or were influenced by the thinking of other people because we went on with our educations and didn't spend that much time thinking about it as a reality. Maybe if we'd had been older it would have been another story. Maybe we came close and didn't know it.

My father was in the Naval Reserve or Army Reserve (?) during the Cuban Missile Crisis and was moved to "On Call" or "On Duty" status (I wish to God I had asked him more about this when he was alive--he did actually get transported somewhere, so it was probably more than just being "On Call" ) and he always said that he was scared shitless. That was according to him one of the scariest times of his life. Recalling that week he said, "I didn't know if I would ever see your mother again." The two historical things he never forgot were being called up during the Cuban Missile Crisis and being a reporter during the assassination of JFK.

[speak easy]

8. ... The Call

I don't think there are any Russians
And there ain't no Yanks
Just corporate criminals
playing with tanks

[catrose]

11. I just remember getting very drunk with my best friend on election night

We were sure we wouldn’t see another election, maybe not another year.