What Keeps Me Awake At Night

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Recommended: Dictatorship of Pakistani politics

Occasionally some media type reporter will be interviewing some politician or some foreign policy wonk, and the media type will toss the softest of soft ball foreign policy questions to the political type, “What is it that keeps you awake at night?” The question is great because, if the interviewer knows his role as lickspittle, he won’t follow up, and the interviewee is free to toss out some random word, and sound both thoughtful and obscure. “Pakistan.” Ohhh; hushed awe at the wisdom of the politico. We don’t exactly know what he means by that, but it sounds profound. Or it does as long as there is no follow up question, “What aspect of Pakistan worries you?” Then of course, the jig is up. “Uh something about their nukes, or the terrorists… yeah, terrorist nukes!” So much for profound. I had always thought if I were asked that question I would respond in a serious tone, “Djibouti.” Now there is some method to my madness. There are US operations conducted from that country against… other countries. It’s all very hush-hush of course, but it’s a little reported but important part of the globe. But honestly, that doesn’t keep me up at night. The truth is, I just love the sound of that name, Dee-ja-bootie. It’s a funny name and I love saying it! I can say Djibouti over and over and just make myself laugh! If I ever achieve vast wealth and power, I will take over a town and rename it Djibouti; or some variation. Maybe “Djibouti City,” “Djiboutown,” or “New Djibouti.” What this country needs is a Djibouti of our very own. But that’s not what really keeps me up at night. I was reminded of what does while recently reading, One Second After, by William R. Forstchen. Forstchen’s book is a terrifying wh... ... middle of paper ... ...ow long could my family survive on the food and water we have in the house. Answer: Not that long. When we prepare for hurricanes, we prepare for a limited time. Things will get back to normal eventually. And they do. But that’s what makes an EMP attack so insidious. There will be no getting back to normal. The days of the United States being a power, or possibly even a nation, will be over. There would be no real recovery from an event like that, at least not in the lifetimes of anyone alive at the time of the event. A single nuclear weapon going off in a big city, dirty bombs, weaponized plagues, hacking of the electric or utility grid; in fact everything except maybe a good old fashioned full scale nuclear war we would be able to recover from, but not this. So that’s what keeps me up at night. I just wish I could really just say Djibouti.

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