There is an interesting Russian back story to the Cuban crisis.
At the time the US had solid fueled ICBMs, I believe, whereas the Russians still had liquid fueled. Basically, if you fueled up a Russian ICBM you either launched it or scrapped it. So the crews knew that if they were ordered to fuel the missiles, everybody was going to die. One of the commanders describes driving through a town on his way to the site and realising that if the order to fuel was given, all these people and himself would soon be dead.
In the event the order was never given. But it’s interesting that the Russians had this bigger psychological block against using their missiles. In fact, because of this issue, they designed them so they could be remotely detonated in flight. As far as we know, once Minuteman is launched it cannot be stopped.*
I am sure that part of the reason there has not been a major exchange so far is that the rest of the world perceives the US as being trigger happy and impulsive. But it goes a long way now to explaining why the RF is so worried about NATO’s expansion into the Baltic, and why the Kremlin is prepared to put so much effort into trying to get a President who seems to have a strongly developed sense of self preservation, versus Clinton who they perceive as someone who might actually pull the trigger. I am sure if Saunders had been the Dem candidate, they would have breathed a huge sigh of relief and lost interest.
*My sources for the Russian information include people who have good reason to know, but as I’ve signed the UK Official Secrets Act I cannot comment on anything I might know about NATO assets.
The history of Russia isn’t something I’ve delved into, but from what I’ve gathered, those who’ve governed it have this weird sort of inferiority complex about their country.
From Peter the Great on, you seem to be right. Russia has, since Velikii Pyotr, had a very well educated intelligentsia who have been all too well aware of the quite brutish tendency of the rulers and the degraded nature of the peasants. Mind you, Germany was similar until it was all washed away in 1945 and East Prussia and its Junkers were eradicated by the Red Army.
But then how do East Coast intellectuals feel about rural Midwestern communities?
On the whole, probably the same way they did seventy-or-so years ago, and the feelings are probably returned. It’s hard for me to say personally, being a descendant of rural Midwesterners. I think my a lot of my ancestors were anomalies. The urban poor probably feel close to the same thing. And let’s not even get into the rural West!
It’s hard for me to say with any degree of accuracy, though. I come from rural Midwestern stock. But somehow, culture seeped in - literature, art, music; and all the people who could tell me about it are DEAD.
No one has time for the Randian psychopathic bullshit. I’m not even convinced they themselves believe it. It’s like the mating cry of the bullshit warbler. They are trying to find out if you are one of them or one of us. If you agree then you say one thing, if you disagree you say what any sensible adult says. Or at least you give that blank look that says “I’m on the clock, so I can’t speak my mind, but you’re an asshole.”
“It is proper, constitutional, and legal for a federal grand jury to indict a sitting president for serious criminal acts that are not part of, and are contrary to, the president’s official duties,” the Starr office memo concludes.
