Even though I can be sourpussed, I don’t usually like to be pessimistic, either in terms of my outlook for the future (regardless of the occupant of the Oval Office) or in terms of things like seeing my children and their children survive into the 22nd century. I try not to think about the worst-case scenarios, even though I know people who do have to think about them and place some kind of risk assessment or even a probability on them, because they do that for a living.

It’s a risky thing to think about the end of the world: you need to have a lot of information, and a lot of it is probably wrong. But since I’m not one of the people who gets paid to make those kinds of assessments, I don’t have access to any of the information that goes into making them. And I get worried when I see things like I’m seeing now.

Because I realistically think we might be looking at WWIII before this year is out.

I say that because now seems like a particularly good time in history for people who hate Western Civilization, and in particular people who hate the United States, to take a crack at dealing us the Final Blow. Our economy is reeling. We have a naive and inexperienced President who relies on a lot of intellectuals of indeterminate decisionmaking ability to run the country. We’re not in a very good position militarily to flex any unextended muscles. And frankly a lot of our allies would rather do something else than help the United States.

So it seems to me that the next six months are really probably the most dangerous time in the history of the world, in the last half century at least. It strikes me as very logical that if an adversary wanted to take a shot at finally bringing down the Great Satan, they would look at what’s happening right now, maybe wait a month or so, and then go for it — because in their mind, you hit the enemy when they’re weakest, not when they’re starting to rebound. I’ve had a lot of people tell me in the past few days — not politicians but business people — that the next six months are going to be the worst times in their lives. By extension that means that America is pretty much at the lowest ebb it could be at, and I don’t doubt that our adversaries know that.

The consequences of a major terrorist or foreign strike on the United States right now would be horrific not just in terms of the human casualties, but also because I think it would lead to an overwhelming and disconcerted response on the part of the people who are now leading the country. I don’t think they would have the first idea about what to do. The more I think about, it the less I believe our current leaders would be able to defend this country effectively, in fact. I think they would be chaotic and very unprepared to handle an attack on America.

From the point of view of an enemy, thinking this way scares the living daylights out of me, because I think an attack on the United States right now would lead to a cataclysmic global war. The American people are angry enough right now, even if our politicians aren’t, and I think they would demand an enormous mobilization, and we might wind up nuking a few hundred million people.

Think I’m crazy? Please tell me why.