Recently there has been news of the Prime Minister of Great Britain, Marcus Bolanus speaking about the war with the Batavians which Britain is currently engaged with (as per usual; his strange speaking style always turns heads). British forces obviously have an incredible navy, as well as a well-supplied military, yet, the Batavian’s continue to give Minister Bolanus trouble. The conflict is supremely important, after all, a ton of global trade goes through the English Channel and the Batavian’s are fighting for it. 

Bolanus gave a speech at a small town to voters in the southern, grassy terrain of Britain about the rising cost of the war, 

“It’s a small price to pay for keeping the world safe, keeping the country safe. They can take out a city.” Then he mentioned two of his own island’s rich coastal cities which he was elected to, in part, protect, “Let ‘em take out Richborough, let ‘em take out Dover. This is a small price to pay.” As a journalist myself, when I watched a video of the event, I found it entirely strange that the small British town cheered at the off-handed way that their leader casually said that two of the most prosperous cities in Britain could be destroyed to help end the war. Furthermore, the taxes that the British have been paying have been lost in the way of missiles and boats and lives already and has easily reached costs in the upper hundreds of billions. 

Such a positive reaction by his constituents seems indicative that their disdain for the human lives – notably the children who live inside –  the English cities of Richborough and Dover outweighs their care of the defense of their nation, or even the financial competency of Minister Bolanus. 

The media on the island has not reacted positively; many are calling the comments heinous, but that seems dismissed by those close to Bolanus. His director of Communications Steven Octavius, said of the outrage, 

“The Media freakout over Minister Bolanus’ comments is not rooted in reality.” He was clearly stating British cities would have been threatened if a nuclear Batavia hadn’t been stopped. “Britain is safer because of the Minister. Batavia has no nuclear, no navy, no air-force, and no money.”

I may just be an American journalist, but I do not think comments would stand like that if said in the United States. Here we pride ourselves on the teachings of Jesus, like “love thy neighbor." How could a leader of his own country off handedly say that all the people inside two cities were expendable? All of those city's children? Shame on Bolanus.

"And again,” President Trump said, “with the war, it’s just artificial. It’s a little bit high.” Aw shoot, the cat’s out of the bag. I meant to say Roman Duke Marcus Bolanus said of the German Batavians. “They can take out a city," President Trump put his hand forward, gesturing at a rally in Grand Island, Nebraska, "Let ‘em take out Los Angeles, let ‘em take out San Diego. This is a very small price to pay.” 

And Nebraskan’s cheered. 

As of today, I have already seen a news video from one of the internet’s most popular news sources, "Philip DeFranco,” said just that: that Nebraskans cheered and now hundreds of millions of people online will see that of us. And if you watch the video of the rally in Grand Island, you will see too that the attendees cheered during him saying that about the coastal Blue cities, and they then cheered louder as he continued his sentence. 

The Whitehouse also did say what I wrote about, but that Trump meant something other than what he said. 

"The Media freakout over Minister Bolanus’ comments is not rooted in reality.” Whitehouse Communications director Steven Cheung affirmed, “(Trump) was clearly stating U.S. cities would have been threatened if a nuclear Iran hadn’t been stopped. America is safer because of the President. Iran has no nuclear, no navy, no air-force, and no money.” 

Honestly, I should give a brief apology to Great Britain for using it in my satire article, and the President should apologize to the coastal cities that he was elected to protect as Commander in Chief. The civilization of the ‘West’ should go back to remembering what honor and shame feel like. Shame on Hegseth and Trump for wasting trillions of tax dollars in the way of munitions against the mountains of Iran. My conservative father taught me when I was young, that speaking bad about someone you don’t like behind their back, or wishing them harm would, not be honorable. 

And if the response to my plea for a remembrance of honor in the West is, “Well the Left isn't honorable, so why should I be?” 

Your own honor is not honor if it depends on the behavior of other people, especially if it depends on the behavior of a rival: that is instead petulance.  

Austin Petak is an aspiring novelist and freelance journalist who loves seeking stories and the quiet passions of the soul. If you are interested in reaching out to him to cover a story, you may find him at austinpetak@gmail.com.

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