‘There is nothing more important than PEACE.’
Winter melts in the dwindling, sunless days of February. If I keep my back to the window, car tyres slosh through rain-slick roads. It almost sounds like spring. Something new is being born—more than the death rattle of one season, more than the birth pangs of another.
Yesterday, the arrest of Andrew Mountbatten Windsor for misconduct in public office was an earthquake to the neoliberal order. A brother to a British monarch hasn’t been thrown to the dogs for centuries. The ruling order is terrified. The revelations from the Epstein files may be so abhorrent that they become the final straw for a public already burdened by corruption, avarice, and perversity among its 1%. Not since 1649 have we been this close to having the monarchy end itself for us. But like images in a rear-view mirror, objects may appear closer than they are.
The rain outside is now steady. It looks as cold as water drawn from an outdoor pump.
I lived in Portugal long ago. In winter, almond blossoms bloomed on the cusp of Lent. They felt like hope and Portugal was in desperate need of it. The country—the continent—was on its knees after the 2009 bank crash.
Looking for hope during my hospital stay in 2020 following cancer surgery, I fell asleep and dreamed about a landscape of almond trees in full blossom. When a nurse woke me to draw blood, I told her about my dream. She came from Iran and said springtime in Tehran was like Portugal, awash in almond blossoms.
I wonder what awaits Iran as winter creeps towards spring: almond trees in bloom, or the smell of fresh earth from newly dug graves for the Iranian dead from another American imperial war?
Last night, the White House posted, ‘There is nothing more important than PEACE.’ It sounds like a slogan ripped from Orwell’s 1984 when you consider Trump’s Dogs of War circle the Persian Gulf. The President has moved two carrier fleets within striking range. Destroyers escort them. The Pentagon has dispatched B-52 bombers to Qatar, capable of carpet bombing or carrying nuclear warheads.
The trigger for conflict with Iran is primed. Trump, in a press conference today, responded to the Supreme Court’s negative ruling on his tariffs by calling justices “fools and lapdogs.” He then pivoted to Iran where he outrageously, claimed that the Iranian government killed 32 thousand citizens in recent demonstrations. When the war against Iran comes—this weekend, next weekend, or soon after—it will be a war waged by a fascist, authoritarian president. There is no legal, moral or geopolitical reason for it only American megalomania.
One hallmark of fascism? Distorting facts, reality, and belief. Right now, everything is suspect—especially the reasons for war. It’s certainly not liberation. Our governments, media, and business class are too corrupt to act nobly—for us or Iran. Andrew Mountbatten Windsor’s arrest? Real. He’s guilty. But he’s just the tip of an iceberg, likely sacrificed to prevent worse. I doubt he’ll see court—an unforeseen ‘health crisis’ will appear. Trust only this: winter ends. Spring will bloom. But by harvest, the world will reap unimaginable bloodshed and war authored by American and its allies trying to save a doomed empire.
Thank you for reading and for supporting Harry’s Last Stand. I use this Substack to preserve and promote the legacy of my father, Harry Leslie Smith, who spent the final decade of his life warning that we must not allow his past to become our future. Sadly, we have already crossed that territory. But resistance comes from remembering our working class history and using it to overcome today’s fascism.
If you’re able, please consider a paid subscription — £3.50 a month or £30 a year (converted to your currency). I’ve reduced the annual price by 20% to make it more accessible, also I have some prescriptions to pay for this month and the month is short. So rent day fast approaches. I need around 8 new subscribers.
There is also a tip jar for anyone who feels inclined.
On brighter news: The Green & Pleasant Land is now complete in beta form and with publishers. It will be published this year, and everyone who helped make it possible will be acknowledged in the book.
My father’s story — and that of his working-class generation — must be remembered if we are to resist today’s fascists. If you’d like a beta e-copy, just let me know.
Take care,
John
