I just watched one of the most chilling documentaries ever

[JayFarrar]

I used to be scared to death of a nuclear war.
The fallout shelters that every little town had. The irrational way Reagan acted.
If the cowboys in charge now, were in charge back then, Moscow would be melted slag of metal and glass and about two-thirds of the world's population would be gone.
Me and the Bubbler are about the same age and back then it seemed so real. It didn't help that nuclear missile silos were roughly an hour from my house then.
And if the bombs started falling, those silos would be among the first targets.

 

[D-3 Fan]

Off-topic subject since we're talking about the Russians vs. Americans: What year did ABC show made-for-tv special "The Day After"? I'm thinking it was 1984, right?

 

[Fenian_Bastard]

You youngsters should have lived through the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Now that was s cary.

 

[Buck]

I was 10 when Reagan was elected, and I never once thought there would be a nuclear attacik.

 

[BigSleeper]

That sounds like a very interesting documentary. I didn't care about the length of the post. It was really informative.

I was only in grade school when The Day After first aired. Scared the pish out of me. Then Red Dawn came out and I knew we'd all be OK. There was also some crap miniseries called "Amerika" in the late 80s. Something about the USSR taking over the world and picking on Kris Kirstofferson.

 

[Tom Petty]

Where'd you read that? They evacuated the area and had watch stations all over the place. I remember reading about that old guy up there on Moses Lake, Harry Truman, crusty old dude he was, who gave interviews saying "I'm not leaving." He died in the eruption.

spirit lake.

moses lake is located about 240 miles from MSH.

That's what I was thinking. I stayed in Moses Lake on my trip, and it's a far forking piece from the mountain.

i'm story you had to spend a night much less an hour in the town washingtonians refer to as moses hole. i wish i would have known you would have been staying there, though, i would have sent you into ephrata to get a dusty burger ... the best forking burger known to man.

 

[Fenian_Bastard]

Given the massive c-and-c failure that got KAL shot down, this latest comes as no suprise. The USSR was coming apart at the seams for most of the 1980's.

 

[Tom Petty]

this

is what i thought of when this subject was mentioned.

 

[Guerrillascribe]

I wanna make friends with the
Wanna make friends with the
Wanna make friends with the badger

You just became my best friend.
Or at least a nice reminder of my misspent youth.

You probably drive a bitchin' Camaro, too. With no insurance to match.

Yes I do!

If I happen to run you down, please don't leave a scratch.

I love that car. I was so happy when my parents drove up here from the Bahamas.

Now go eat your paisley!

I like you, Stuart. You're not like the other people, here, in the trailer park.

 

[TowelWaver]

The single scariest movie I ever saw on the possibility of a nuclear war was the BBC TV movie Threads...they made us watch it in 6th grade social studies and I was convinced I was going to die in a nuclear attack for years afterward. Terrifying as heck. I've seen The Day After and I'm not exaggerating when I say that it's a lot easier to watch than Threads.

Thanks for the recommendation Bubbler. Hopefully we'll never go back to those days ever again...

 

[Precious Roy]

Sitting here thinking about what is going on now and what has transpired, I get a little anxious (but heck, I'm always anxious). I was two in 83, and the first of the threats that Bubs mentioned was right after my B-day, so I'm just glad to be alive right now. I will be watching that documentary.
But it also makes me think of China. We are doing much better on the relations front with them, but they scare the heck out of me. Forget the terrorists, the Chinese have the numbers to pull off a Red Dawn-esque scenario, and they have the nukes to finish the job if that fails. Communism is not dead, even though there are capitalist ideals slightly expressed there. I just fear a leader in that country that says, "Screw you America. Screw you world" then hits the button.
We need to remember that even though the USSR is dead, there are still enough nukes throughout the world to put us all in a glowing grave.
heck, I remember not long ago when I was scared that India and Pakistan could have nuked each other out of existence. I know that they are on the other side of the globe, but if one country does it, all the rest of the loonies just leap to the keypad and will likely press their buttons too.
I know that I am a psycho, but we do not live in a peaceful world. Is it as bad as when the USSR was in power? Maybe not, but at least then we knew exactly where the end was coming from. Now with all the crap that is going on, everyone could hit their buttons at any time and we would be none the wiser.

 

[Fenian_Bastard]

Soviet mistrust of the U.S. -- helped in a massively large part by Ronald Reagan's warmongering of his first term

I was hardly a Reagan apologist during his two terms, but I'm pretty sure I slept through Reagan's warmongering. For all I know, he did too.

Reagan struck a hard line – quite a contrast to Mister Peanut – and was prepared to move ahead with a defense system that the Soviets knew they couldn't afford to compete against.



Perhaps somebody can remind me.

No, but I have a quiz for you.
Which president was it that froze the Iranian assets and marshalled world opinion so against the regime that it waited specifically until he was out of office to let them go, and which president was it who broke the law to sell them advanced weaponry?
Discuss.