Longtime So Cal resident Charles Carr is a nationally published journalist and playwright. His award-winning Southpaw column has appeared in college textbooks published by Macmillan, St. Martin's Press, Bedford, and others. Charles writes Southpaw for his hometown newspapers, The Times-Advocate and The Roadrunner.

Extraordinary times

It's not hard to imagine we're living in extraordinary times. Looking at just the past year alone: Hamas attacked Israel and Israel continues to retaliate. Pro-Palestinian protests took place at college campuses across the nation leading to thousands of arrests. Hezbollah and other actors in the region continue to launch attacks almost daily stirring fears of a broader regional war. In his election interference trial, former President Donald Trump was found guilty on 34 felony counts. Our current President turned in a weak debate performance and shaky follow-up interviews. Things seemed almost normal for almost an entire week before Trump was nearly assassinated at a campaign rally. A few days later, Joe Biden withdrew from his reelection campaign and Kamela Harris became the Democratic nominee.

Yes, it's been quite a year. It sometimes feels like things couldn't be worse. I've even heard a few "end of the world" murmurs. But, for a moment, imagine one of the following scenarios taking place in our current world:

Already several years into our nation's costliest and bloodiest war, two American ideologies continue to battle to the death. A general from one side begins a devastating march across enemy territory, killing thousands and destroying infrastructure, railroads, and anything else of military value along the way. A brutal siege of a key enemy city begins in the winter and continues into the spring, inflicting tens-of-thousands of casualties. The war finally ends. The President is reelected but is assassinated only months into his second term. His killer is found and killed by federal troops.

Or how about:

A totalitarian European nation invades and conquers half a dozen adjacent countries. A key US ally is cut off from the rest of the world and pummeled by thousands of bombers resulting in incalculable damage and more than 40,000 deaths. Its prime minister resigns in disgrace and dies that same year. Hundreds of thousand of US troops are deployed to the region to combat a scourge which has now spread across the entire continent. The American President is nominated for an unprecedented third term (eventually he will be elected to four terms before dying less than three months into that term). The US puts in place its first ever peacetime military draft.

Or:

In an Asian war which would ultimately last nearly a decade and cost tens-of-thousands of American lives and countless civilian deaths, an enemy nation captures a US Navy ship then launches a devastating offensive against our forces. An avowed segregationist successfully launches a third-party bid for the presidency before an assassination attempt paralyzes him for life. A Democratic senator announces his own bid for the presidency and is assassinated within weeks. Due to his support for the war, the current President is so unpopular he announces he will not run for reelection. A beloved national leader is assassinated causing major riots in several American cities. At the Democratic convention, peaceful protests are met with a violent and bloody crackdown.

One more:

The Vice President resigns to avoid prosecution on federal corruption charges. Members of the President's party orchestrate a break-in of the rival party's political headquarters. The discovery of the crime and attempts by the President himself to quash it, lead to mass resignations, firings, and convictions. As the walls close in, and to avoid impeachment, the President himself resigns in ignominy. Egypt and Syria invade Israel. To retaliate for our support for Israel, Arab nations cut off oil shipments resulting in a tripling of gasoline prices and nationwide shortages. The Soviet Union threatens to intervene in the ongoing Mideast war, raising the specter of nuclear Armageddon. In a rare move, the US increases its defense status.

I'll bet you're way ahead of me. Each of those scenarios actually took place over a single year in American history (the US Civil War 1864/65, World War II1940, the Vietnam War 1968, and Watergate/Mideast war 1973, respectively). Over its nearly two-and-a-half centuries, the United States has endured many such periods. Extraordinary times. And, so far, we've survived them all; a testament to our ability to not only brave what is thrown at us, but to somehow manage to get out of the messes we manage to create all by ourselves.

And there's the trap. An even greater mistake than believing our current trials are unique would be to believe the sense of security we have enjoyed for so long is in itself a guarantor of an inviolable tomorrow.

So be wary, be resilient. Be ready to roll with the punches. We're living in a nation which by its nature has always been tested. We should expect that; it was in the not very fine print when we signed up.

Yes, we're living in extraordinary times and will again, perhaps soon.

After all, it's only August.