by JIM TREACHER
Remember the ever-looming threat of nuclear war? Back when I was a kid, I was terrified of it. Everybody was. We were all worried that Reagan was gonna go crazy and nuke the Russkies. (“We begin bombing in five minutes!”) Hollywood cranked out stuff like Special Bulletin and The Day After and WarGames and Miracle Mile and lots of other movies that reflected America’s fears of nuclear armageddon. Hell, they’re still making Terminator and Mad Max movies, decades after that original impetus faded. Back then, it just seemed inevitable. Like the man sang: “Everybody’s got a bomb, we could all die any day.”
In 2021, we’ve got a lot of other stuff to worry about. Right or wrong, on the list of stuff that keeps Americans awake at night, “global thermonuclear war” ranks down there with “athlete’s foot” and “being deadnamed and misgendered on Twitter.” But there are still a lot of nukes out there, whether we’re thinking about them or not.
Now that you are thinking about it, are you really comfortable with Joe Biden having his finger on the button? Does it ease your mind to remember that everything you’ve ever known could be wiped out overnight by a guy who can barely put two words together without a small army of staffers?
If not, you have some strong support from… House Democrats?!?
Nearly three dozen House Democrats on Monday called on Biden to relinquish his sole authority to launch nuclear weapons, in the latest appeal to reform the command-and-control structure so that no single person can initiate a nuclear war.
“…Vesting one person with this authority entails real risks,” states the letter spearheaded by Rep. Jimmy Panetta of California. “Past presidents have threatened to attack other countries with nuclear weapons or exhibited behavior that caused other officials to express concern about the president’s judgment.“
“While any president would presumably consult with advisors before ordering a nuclear attack, there is no requirement to do so,” the letter adds. “The military is obligated to carry out the order if they assess it is legal under the laws of war. Under the current posture of U.S. nuclear forces, that attack would happen in minutes.”
I don’t know about you, Dear Reader, but you know what this sounds like to me? Buyer’s remorse! The Dems got what they wanted, and now they’re not so sure they want it after all. The euphoria of dispensing with Bad Orange Man has worn off, and now they’re like, “Oh crap… this 80-year-old man has his finger on the button! What did we do? What if he thinks he’s ordering ‘Lunch’ but the button says ‘Launch’?”
Sorry, guys. You broke it, you buy it. This is the man you wanted in the White House, and the executive office has executive authority. Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. is a full decade older than Reagan was when he was elected, and if he decides to bomb Putin for hiding his hearing aids, them’s the breaks.
Added by Ace:
The Democrats claim they’re just making this demand because no one man should have this power.
But… they didn’t mind when Obama and Clinton had it.
Looking back over the various temper tantrums Biden had during his career as Senator, VP then candidate, it is clear why some dems want his finger off the button.
(Corn Pop, $1 billion to Ukraine ONLY if they fired a corruption investigator, “I’d take him behind the gym and beat the crap out of him,” “You’re a dog-faced lying pony soldier!.” “”let’s do push-ups, fatty!,” “Then vote for somebody else.”
However……
This particular letter Dems have written applies to all presidents, now and in the future.
And…..
There are unconstitutional aspects inside it…..
Like the Separation of Powers are compromised by insisting the Speaker of the House give approval 1st.
It goes against the reality of war, too…..
In an attack our president could NOT retaliate unless the Congress had made a Formal Declaration of War!
And even after that, the Atty Gen and SCOTUS would have to weigh in on whether it was a legal thing to do.
Nope.
You broke it (the presidency by putting in a senile old fart) you buy it.
Use the 25th Amendment and put in Kamala.
LOL
People who know less about everything than almost everyone want to rethink every reasoning put forth for the capabilities of reacting to a nuclear attack. The problem isn’t one person, the President of the United States, having this responsibility; it is an manipulated idiot like Biden having the responsibility, and that is but ONE of the risks of “electing” a President through fraud.
Of course, these are the people, like Fartsmell, that want to use nuclear weapons on law abiding gun owners. The SAFE thing to do is to keep Democrats out of power.
That a U.S. president had the power to quickly launch a nuclear attack solely on his or her own authority became matter of concern not because of Joe Biden, but because of Donald Trump.
Whether additional safeguards should be introduced is being seriously discussed now rather than before because there was no possibility of any remedial action being taken while Trump was in the White House and Republicans were in control of the Senate.
@Greg:
They must have been terrified with him running on ending endless wars.
We have seen Joe get cantankerous, perhaps why Kammie takes all his important calls. Seems a first step to the 25th.
@Greg:
Well, since Trump is no longer in charge of the nuclear football, and you seem to think Beijing Biden is so stable, what’s the rush?
@retire05, #5:
That was explained in the second paragraph of Post #3. Such safeguards can only successfully established when reasonable people are in power who are willing to discuss and enact them. They need to be in place already for times that come when such people are not in charge.
Trump served as a warning of what could happen.
@Greg:
Well, then there’s that whole Constitutionality thingy. Except you think Democrats violating Constitutional rules are just fine if it leads to total Communism.
No single individual should have an unchecked power to burn down the world. When the Constitution was written no such power existed. It could not even be foreseen.
@Greg:
But no one wrote a letter suggesting Trump not have that responsibility. The idiot Biden’s own people know he is an idiot and might either accidentally launch a nuclear attack or would be taking a nap when a response might be needed.
Exactly. He proved that no matter how much Democrats lied about him, he was still a great leader. So, NONE of the false concerns happened.
@Greg:
The Democrats had total control over both Houses of Congress, and the Executive in 1946. Why didn’t they make that Constitutional violating rule then?
Article II, Section 2
The Democrats know that Beijing Biden is diminished mentally. That’s why they are pushing this.
Idiot Biden shouldn’t have control over a light switch.
@Deplorable Me:
A better American leader could have been carved out of a banana. When you’re leading people, it matter where you’re taking them.
@Greg:
Beijing Biden just bombed Syria to punish Iran for attacks on U.S. in Iraq.
Democrats don’t seem to be happy unless they’re trying to push us into another senseless war.
@retire05:
Article II, Section 2 doesn’t actually address that issue, does it? And that’s as close as anything in the document comes.
In 1973, USAF Major Harold Hering—after completing 6 tours of duty in Southeast Asia and receiving a Distinguished Flying Cross, a Bronze Star, and an Air Medal with eight Oak leaf clusters in connection with his assignment as helicopter pilot in Vietnam—began training at Vandenberg AFB to serve as part of a Minuteman Missile team. During his training he posed the following question:
“How can I know that an order I receive to launch my missiles came from a sane president?”
Instead of receiving an answer, he was sent before a Board of Inquiry and summarily discharged from the military service.
@Greg:
So what you’re saying is that it only took the Democrats 47 years to ponder that question?
But the question remains; why now when Beijing Biden is snoozing in the Oval Office?
@Greg:
The idiot Biden is a rotten, soft, mushy banana. Were you proud of him when his subconscious took over and he dropped an N-bomb? That clown is a complete disaster, caging kids at the border, releasing illegal immigrants into our epidemic-riddled populace and killing jobs by he hundreds of thousands. In a month.
Well, currently, they can’t. But, the answer is not to put the nation in greater jeopardy; it is to remove the insane president*. The idiot Biden shouldn’t even HAVE that authority; he only achieved it through fraud. So, this is a mess YOU created and disrupting the chain of command, which is there in case of emergency, is NOT an acceptable response. Were Trump still rightfully in office, there would be no problem.
It is a fact that the idiot Biden is unfit for office. For that matter, so is Kamala the slut. But putting national security at MORE risk is not the answer.
From the guy who acknowledged from the Senate floor that Trump’s election fraud claims were bogus and that he was responsible for January 6th, but shouldn’t be impeached because he’d already left office:
February 25, 2021 – McConnell says he would ‘absolutely’ support Trump as 2024 nominee
All of Trump’s tax records are now in the hands of the Manhattan District Prosecuting Attorney, so good luck with that.
@Greg: Try to get this through the fog of propaganda McConnell is asshole, nobody like McConnell, we want him gone. When he dies he will be the beloved of the left like Mc Cain.
Trump did not do his own taxes he had experts do them so good luck with that.
His experts are what are sometimes known as accomplices. He’s not going to be able to let them take all the blame for him as he did with his betrayal of Michael Cohen. He’s no longer the untouchable, unnameable, and unindictable Person Number 1. He’s just Donald Trump, private citizen—a person who has made more powerful enemies in four years than most prominent business figures make in an entire lifetime. His goose may not be cooked, but it’s about to go into the oven.
May 6, 2020 – Meet the Shadowy Accountants Who Do Trump’s Taxes and Help Him Seem Richer Than He Is
@Greg: Why should anyone really care, all you libs need to take a good dose of MYOB.
“His betrayal of Michael Cohen”, boy you libs dont miss a single insane thing. Go back and read what the NY bar had to say about that guy.
@Greg: So, what does that tell you about his presumption that the evidence of fraud is invalid without examining any of it? Yeah… same as yours. WORTHLESS.
So much for the 4th Amendment, huh? When the left hates someone, they get to delve into their personal life for fishing expeditions. Once again, as with every other illegal effort, they will come up empty. Keep in mind, throughout Trump’s career, he has had to worry about Democrats AND Republicans wanting to undercut his success. As with all his other tax returns that have been leaked and examined, NOTHING illegal will be found and you will, once again, be left trying to get worked up over “LOOK! He took a deduction!” Frustrated crybabies.
Back to the subject at hand, of course the idiot Biden shouldn’t have access to nuclear launches, especially when he only got that responsibility through massive fraud.
@kitt, #20:
I only care about it to the extent that successful prosecution would guarantee he would never again be a viable candidate for any public office.
It has already been demonstrated that simply having a large majority of voters who recognize he’s unworthy of trust and unfit for office is insufficient. Nor can our constitutional checks and balances be relied upon to contain him, because he corrupts the system to serve his own ends. That also has now been demonstrated twice.
@Greg:
What has been demonstrated? Who says a conviction would get your desired result?
we watched the Russian bullshit convictions, this fishing looking for a crime tax thing is the same shit different day, you are dreaming.