“War, I despise

‘Cause it means destruction of innocent lives

War means tears to thousands of mother’s eyes

When their sons go off to fight

And lose their lives”

Edwin Starr

There wasn’t much on television sports-wise Thursday night, so I watched The War instead.

It was Season 1, Episode 1 of Russia v. Ukraine, and I knew instinctively to root against the Russians, not just because the team color is red but because I learned as a mere toddler that Russia is the Evil Empire. I knew little about Ukraine before The War started, a bit more now, and its military and newly armed citizens seemed to be putting up the good fight although double-digit underdogs to Russia, which has more military talent and might and the advantage of a psychopath as its leader.

It was an interesting watch, with cool graphics, and an expert at the Big Board showing troop movements and strategy, not unlike a game of chess. But then they went to the video, and images of men, women, children, infants and dogs crammed into a subway to escape bombing appeared, and I was reminded of the human suffering both underway and pending.

My favorite clip was when an elderly Ukrainian woman confronted a Russian soldier on the street, asking him: “What the (expletive) are you doing in our land?” and advising him to “put some sunflower seeds in your pocket so some pretty flowers will grow when you die on Ukrainian soil.”

Then there was the commentary, which of course included worst-case scenarios such as a cyber-attack that could kick us all of Facebook and $6 a gallon for gasoline. That’s when it got real.

Oh yea, almost forgot, if things were to snowball, a nuclear holocaust, either by design or by blunder, could occur.

I was just 5 years old when I last genuinely worried about a nuclear war, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, so it’s been a good run since. We were told then that if nuclear bombs fell, to get under our desks at school and we would be safe. Looking back now I realize I was lied to.

During the interim I also learned about the concept of “mutually assured destruction,” the No. 1 deterrent to an all-out nuclear holocaust. The principle is that if one superpower dropped a nuclear weapon first, then the other superpower would drop several and then off we go in a global Jonestown.

So this is our reward for surviving covid with the end of a two-year pandemic in sight?

As I watched The War, I was careful to channel surf knowing that The Truth nowadays isn’t delivered in full, but in parts and must be stitched together. What I was able to discern is that The Truth is somewhere between Putin’s concern that Ukraine, which borders Russia, will join the NATO alliance and he will not allow such a security threat, and that Ukraine is simply the first block as he attempts to reconstruct the Soviet Union.

It’s complicated stuff.

There was near unanimity on this, however, whether the guest experts were on CNN, Fox, or MSNBC: Leadership would have prevented war.

I suppose during my lifetime I have not been consumed by the threat of a nuclear holocaust because I have always believed cooler heads would prevail, and the idea of mutually assured destruction was unappealing to everyone.

But Russia is led by a madman and let’s just say our president isn’t JFK. This seems different.

See you next week. If things settle down.