It’s not every day you wake up and send the following email to the five Republican men representing Kansas in Washington, D.C.:
“Good morning! I was wondering if the congressman had any comment on the president’s words yesterday threatening the eradication of Iran’s civilization.”
Nevertheless, that’s how I began Wednesday, reaching out to Sens. Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall, along with U.S. Reps. Tracey Mann, Derek Schmidt and Ron Estes. I had lost a sizable chunk of Tuesday afternoon in queasy apprehension after President Donald Trump posted the following rant to his Truth Social account.
You don’t have to study Trump’s words very hard or very long to recognize that he’s threatening nuclear attacks against Iran, the country against which he launched a war of choice in February. How else would “a whole civilization die tonight”?
The president announced a ceasefire later the same day. My stomach quieted down. But amid the tension, I wondered why our Kansas Republican delegation stayed so silent. A quick study of social media accounts from Moran, Marshall, Mann, Schmidt and Estes uncovered not a single acknowledgment of Trump’s message.
My email notes to press representatives of the men also went unanswered.
Perhaps they had assumed the nukes would fly and none of us would be here today. Bad for them, perhaps, but good for everyone else in the civilized world.
One member of the D.C. contingent popped up Wednesday nonetheless, with Schmidt addressing a Greater Topeka Chamber of Commerce forum.
“I hope we’re near the end of this operation — with a successful outcome,” he said. “At the end of the day, the real risk was a nuclear-armed Iran that had the ability to deliver payload outside of its borders.”
You know who else has the ability to deliver payloads of nuclear weapons far outside its borders? The United States.
Let’s not beat around the bush.
A U.S. president threatening the use of nuclear weapons against an adversary risks the end of the world.
In the aftermath of Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and accompanying nuclear saber-rattling, I read a great deal about nuclear weapons and their potential effect if deployed. Suffice it to say, there’s no safe or consequence-free way to use a nuke. No, not even a smaller “tactical” nuclear weapon. The deployment of any such device in warfare inevitably leads to global conflagration.
Perhaps Trump would never actually press the button. Do you know that for sure?
It doesn’t matter if you’re a supporter or critic of his unpredictable bellicosity. The man thrives on keeping Americans — and people around the world — off guard. With nukes in the picture, how could you possibly accept him as a party leader, military commander or moral exemplar?
For a few hours Tuesday, much of the world’s population held its collective breath in fear of incineration by nuclear fire.
“Never has the matter ceased troubling me,” wrote Kansas legend and President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956.
He was deeply troubled by the development and deployment of the atomic bomb.
He added, in a message that now seems addressed to Kansas’ congressional contingent: “It seems to be an historical fact that when a people become strong, prosperous, and on the whole contented with their lot, it becomes very difficult to reach them with an idea that requires them to think of unpleasant possibilities or to undertake the work and effort required to eliminate such possibilities.”
Some members of our delegation would likely say that Trump’s threats helped create a supposed ceasefire. That is, his rhetoric forced Iran into a deal. That interpretation only works if you believe language serves as a tool for manipulation, not a vessel containing information.
I don’t care if Trump was doing what he always does. I don’t care if he stakes out a maximalist position for negotiating purposes. No sane person, Republican or Democrat, would accept such behavior from any other political leader.
Even if Trump didn’t intend to invoke nuclear weapons, he has repeatedly called on the U.S. military to commit war crimes. His repeated calls to destroy Iran’s civilian infrastructure signify nothing less.
People will do what they do. Republicans will believe what they believe. Moran, Marshall, Mann, Schmidt and Estes will take the path of least resistance to preserve their position in the party. I understand. What are a few war crimes between friends, anyway?
But there will be no people to do what they do, no Republicans to believe what they believe, and no positions in the party to preserve when the bombs fall. When you live in a world where the president has the singular, individual ability to wipe all life from the face of the earth, why wouldn’t you step up and say something?
Or perhaps they’ve all decided to follow the advice of leading geopolitical strategist Randy Newman: “Let’s drop the big one and see what happens.”
(“The Midnight Special”)
Clay Wirestone is Kansas Reflector opinion editor. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.