I was scared on April 7, 2026. The last time I was this scared was on Sept. 11, 2001. This was not because of anything going on specifically in my life. My life was fine. I was scared by the state of our nation and our planet. I was convinced that we might be heading toward Armageddon. This was because of the words and actions of our President. His ugly words would have been grossly inappropriate at any time of the year, but especially at Easter and Passover.
I don’t understand why we have to be at war with Iran — and yes, we are at war, even if we prefer to call it an “Operation” or an “Excursion.” I am glad I don’t live there: the country is run by religious extremists who have no respect for individual freedom, and who send thugs into the streets to murder peaceful protesters.
I know the Iranian regime is developing nuclear weapons. The U.S. has had nuclear weapons for over 80 years, and we even used them twice during World War II. I don’t want to see them used ever again.
President Trump never explicitly threatened to use nukes, but he vowed to destroy all of Iran’s bridges and power plants. That sounds like a war crime to me, even if it’s just a threat. Or perhaps I should say, this would sound like a war crime if former presidents Joe Biden, Barack Obama or any other past president did it.
Trump threatened to bomb Iran back to the stone age “where they belong” and he said: “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.”
He gave an exact time for Armageddon: 8 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Tuesday, April 7.
Trump’s behavior during the Easter and Passover season was inexcusable, and he deserves to be peacefully removed from office, either by impeachment, or by a “25th Amendment” action by the Cabinet. Neither of those two things are even remotely likely to happen anytime soon, but that is what should be happening.
Be that as it may, the Iranians made some concessions to Trump. We don’t really know what concessions they made to Trump, or what concessions Trump made to the Iranians, but talks of some sort are underway. Trump pushed back the time frame for Armageddon from Tuesday night to “in about two weeks.” Hopefully this means what Trump usually means by “in about two weeks,” which is “never.”
Even though Tuesday night was anticlimactic, I was still depressed when I woke up the next morning after a few hours of not-so-great sleep.
As I was driving down I-393 toward the State House, on a perfect Wednesday morning in early April, while listening to “Space Is the Place” by Sun Ra & His Arkestra on my car radio, I saw the waning gibbous moon hanging over the State House. I couldn’t see the Artemis II spacecraft but I knew it was up there. And, I knew the crew could see the Planet Earth, which is the most beautiful object in the universe, even if we humans sometimes say and do things which are not so beautiful.
I will close on a hopeful note by quoting some of the beautiful words said by Artemis II pilot Victor Glover on Easter Sunday:
“I think as we go into Easter Sunday thinking about all the cultures all around the world — whether you celebrate it or not, whether you believe in God or not — this is an opportunity for us to remember where we are, who we are and that we are the same thing. And that we’ve got to get through this together.”
Timothy Horrigan is a state representative from Durham.