“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.”

Let’s listen again to these viral words, as they hover over the planet . . . as they hover over, good God, the future. Finally, finally, the time has come for every last one of us to release the question these words force on us, from the privacy, from the cynicism, of our hearts, and collectively scream it until it begins to orbit Planet Earth: How do we transcend war?

The words, of course, are those of Donald Trump, U.S. president and perhaps the most powerful and troubled human being on the planet, whose finger has access to the “nuclear button.” The words are part of several social media posts he let loose last week, as his pointless war on Iran continued spiraling out of control. Iran was fighting back. It closed the Strait of Hormuz, creating financial chaos around the world.

This was his post on Easter Sunday (April 5): “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the fucking strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell — JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah.”

Yes, I know, almost everyone has read these posts, mostly in shock and outrage, but I plunk them into this column in order to keep them connected to the enormous question they open. On Monday he wrote:

“Their infrastructure could be taken out in one night. I’m telling you, no bridges, no power plants. I’m considering blowing everything up and taking over the oil.”

And on Tuesday he announced that Iran’s entire civilization would die that night. This sounded, of course, like a lunatic threat to nuke the country, possibly triggering God-knows-what. Maybe nuclear retaliation – from China? Who knows? And no, he didn’t carry out that threat last week. Iran still exists, the war goes on, the Strait of Hormuz is now double-blockaded. But Trump shared with the world the utter lunacy that possesses him. And he still has the power to launch a nuclear war.

Maybe this won’t happen. Maybe this war will end. Maybe we’ll survive the Trump presidency. But maybe we won’t! Trump has made the treacherous insanity of the global political structure as clear as it has ever been. Mutually Assured Destruction (a.k.a., MADness)– as long as you don’t nuke me, I won’t nuke you – is absolutely flawed. Nuclear weapons won’t go away. And humanity’s future is not secure, certainly not as long as waging war and dominating (killing) “the enemy” remains at the core of global politics.

But Trump is the most obvious threat of the moment, and recently, four psychiatric experts along with public policy analyst Jeffrey Sachs sent a letter to the leaders of Congress (both Republican and Democrat) warning them that the president has crossed a psychological threshold and is exhibiting in his behavior what is called........

© Common Dreams