Kootenay Crust by Ian Cobb

Op-Ed Commentary

What conflicting and starkly contrasting times we are living in.

In the last 24 hours humankind has reached a great new height in terms of achievement, with the Artemis II crew, including Canadian Jeremy Hansen, orbiting the moon and reaching farther from Earth than any other humans. Echoes of Captain Kirk dance in my ears.

Thankfully.

Because while Americans and Canadians rejoice at this feat by NASA, and hopefully most sentient humans around the world, seeing what can be achieved by apes boosted by about six million years of evolution, an American President is threatening genocide on a nation he attacked without Congressional approval or a clear-cut reason.

The once great America – a nation ennobled by achievers, thinkers, visionaries and supreme statesmen – has eroded to this: “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will,” raged President Donald J Trump on Truth Social.

As is normal with human civilizations, where there is greatness and good, there is also envious mediocrity and evil – pride and ego and blustering bull.

Trump, perplexed like only a sociopathic narcissist can be when ill-conceived plans based around vanity and silver spoon-fed sloth crumble apart, despite the prior protestations of those who know better, wants his little Epstein Files distracting “excursion” in Iran to end.

As Iran is a nation prepared for war – well armed and blockading stuff the world needs in order for its fragile economy to push forward – the US and Israel find themselves with two paths forward.

The first is a withdrawal and a declaration that they sure taught the Iranians a lesson.

Or keep going and ignite a global conflict that creates woe and misery for billions of people.

It’s a sticky wicket moving forward. Will Iran change its ways? It’s fact that the Iranian people have been swarmed over the past 47 years by one of the most oppressive regimes in the world. Nasty bastards the lot of them.

But a brief peak into that nation’s recent history will tell you unequivocally that American interference in Iran is a key reason WHY it fell into oppression in 1979. The Iranian people suffered while the extremist Ayatollah regime prospered. America moved on to muck about in other nations’ affairs.

Well, it’s back for lack of other wag the dog victims and it is being run by a lunatic who has frothing Christian nationalists prostrating in his pockets – so reminiscent of the Ayatollah he had killed. And now he is threatening genocide. As, you know, Jesus would want.

Iran is a nation of 93 million souls.

Surely, Trump has finally crossed the Rubicon when it comes to blind, jelly-kneed Republican support.

America’s wise founders, who would have had Trump carried out of Washington on a rail had he been slouching about back then, are rolling in their graves.

Never mind the mammoth litany of vile offences Trump and his cabal of shrill cheese muffins and blind followers have committed and the sick crimes that are being covered up, the fact that genocide has been openly stated should be the clarion call for the invocation of the 25^th Amendment.

So now the world waits. What will Trump order and will his orders be obeyed?

And will Artemis II make it safely home?

I feel for the four astronauts. Imagine having accomplished what they have – having seen what they have seen? The blue ball in space – home to 8.3 billion people – the endlessness of space; contemplation of insignificance transposed against the backdrop of the dark side of the moon. And then home to chaos, insanity, senselessness, hypocrisy, greed, selfishness, treachery and corruption.

The best of the human equation beside the worst.

Returning home to a world populated by ruling apes might be a better alternative than one on the verge of unnecessary implosion due to the whims of twisted, rich old men.

In closing, if you’ve wondered why Canada and the rest of America’s ‘allies,’ or what is left of them, have opted to sit this ‘excursion to Iran’ out – now you know.

– Ian Cobb is owner/editor of e-KNOW

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