END OF THE ILLUSION

Tester outlines defense budget strategy – POLITICO

While some people questioned whether Trump should have access to the nuclear codes, there was never a serious effort to change that. This is because things can happen in a hurry and someone must have the authority to take drastic action. While a lot of people hated Trump, they knew they could not make the case for removing these codes from him. There is a reason a President of the United States has that power.

But now several Democrats are suggesting exactly that regarding Joe Biden, and this appears to be far more serious:

REDUCING ‘REAL RISKS’: 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.”

They offer a number of alternatives, including requiring other officials in the line of succession, such as the vice president and the speaker of the House — “neither of whom can be removed by the president if they disagree — to concur with a launch order.”

This is a public slap in the face of Joe Biden, but it is more than that. It is a recognizing that a President of the United States must be capable of making very difficult decisions under stress. That will always be part of the job requirement. If you don’t think the President is up to the job, remove him. That is the reason for the 25th Amendment. It recognized the need for a legal mechanism for designating a head of state when the president is disabled or dead. But in this case, the problem is that Joe Biden is not disabled, he was never abled in the first place. Democrats wanted to use this against Trump because they hated his personality. But now there is probable cause to use it, because of Biden’s obvious senility. The problem is that removing Biden gives us Kamala Harris, who is arguably worse. The real problem is that Democrats willingly elected someone to be President of the United States even though he was clearly incapable of doing the job.

If 36 Democrats have already figured this out, we can bet more people are going to be expressing their concern. What struck me is that one of them is Jimmy Panetta. He is the son of Leon Panetta, former Secretary of Defense. Leon Panetta is very partisan, but he is not insane. In addition to being Secretary of Defense, he was Director of the CIA, Director of the Office of Management and Budget and the White House Chief of Staff. Leon Panetta is a very serious man. It is hard to imagine his son doing this without consulting his father. Perhaps I am wrong, but it sure looks like some very serious members of the Democratic establishment are getting terrified at the thought of President Joe Biden making presidential decisions.

Soon and very soon, something will have to be done. But notice that no one is talking about the 25th Amendment, because there is zero enthusiasm for President Kamala Harris. While this is insulting to Joe Biden, it is a devastating rebuke for Kamala Harris. If one feels the President is incapable, then the constitutional choice is to replace him with the Vice President. Since no one is even suggesting that, it means they do not consider her to be a viable option. If effect, they want to replace her with a committee.

This would be hysterical if it weren’t so serious. One of the strongest parts of our national security is the certainty that a nuclear attack on the U.S. would be met with an immediate a devasting response. Presidents have also refused to rule out a first strike with a nuclear weapon, because our nuclear arsenal is also a deterrent to a lot of really bad things like a chemical or biological attack. But what good is our nuclear arsenal if no one thinks we will the guts to use it. I pray we never have to use it but fear the day our enemies our enemies stop fearing us.

We are in end times. End of the illusion that Joe Biden is remotely capable of being President of the United States. There is increasing bi-partisan recognition of the problem. What is lacking is anyone having a viable strategy for fixing this problem. This is what happens when a political party forgets the consequences of electing someone to be President of the United States without regard to whether or not this person is remotely capable of doing the job.

TDM