Politics
Our nuclear umbrella. What shape is it in? Can it protect us and our friends?
Guest blogger: Chuck Goergen
Not 
only do we Americans rely on our nuclear weapon umbrella as a deterrent to enemy threats, countries across the world are trusting their security to being under our nuclear umbrella. Is it getting threadbare? If it ever had to be exercised, how sure are we it would perform its function? The nuclear triad is getting old. You could argue that there have been no new system designs or nuclear testing since the late 1980s/early 1990s. There have been rebuilds and life extension programs but there is no capability to do any large-scale production of the nuclear cores. The nuclear infrastructure that built our current stockpile no longer exists. Some might argue the skills have also atrophied.
There is not a contention that the stockpile is non-functional. Each year the heads of NNSA’s weapons labs sign assurance memos that their designed systems will perform if called upon. The science based stockpile is a projection. Weapon system lifetimes are being extrapolated (versus interpolated) as we have never been in this situation. With the gravitas of how we rely on this deterrent to stabilize world politics, how sure are we? What level of confidence of performance reliability do we need: 50/50, 75/25, 95/5, 99.5/0.5 or higher?
Most of the authorizations for the current stockpile date back to Jimmy Carter, who was focused on improving the safety of the stockpile. Could new systems be designed that take advantage of advances in technology since the 1990s? Compare the advances in phones, cars, radios, TV, computers, etc. since the 1980s. There are proliferant countries in the world that have active nuclear weapon development programs. What if there were a breakout? Would the United States be able to mobilize to answer the threat? Will our stockpile be a reliable deterrent?
America’s Nuclear Umbrella is getting old. My viewpoint would be that the whole system needs a comprehensive review.
Chuck Goergen
Masthead Masters
The Washington Post recently unveiled their thought provoking new masthead. See below.
It got us to thinking that there must have been quite a few selections considered before landing on Democracy Dies in the Dark. Our crack team of reporters then made it their mission to scour the streets of DC to find the rejected mastheads. And by “scour” we mean dumpster diving behind WaPo’s headquarters. Buried deeply beneath the tear soaked We’re With Her t-shirts and the reams of used Saul Alinsky checklists, we found the following mother load of discarded mastheads.
Liberals behaving badly
Liberals appear to be fixated with Hitler. Note these classy quotes:
His supporters are like “good Germans” in “Hitler’s Germany.” Harry Stein, Esquire magazine.
“I could not help remembering how economic turmoil had conspired with Nazi nationalism and militarism—all intensified by Germany’s defeat in World War I—to send the world reeling into catastrophe… It is not entirely mistaken to contemplate our post-election state with fear and trembling.” John Roth, Claremont College professor.
“We sometimes have the feeling that we are living in the time preceding the election of Adolf Hitler as Chancellor of Germany.” Fidel Castro.
And liberals have been fixated for some time. For these quotes above were actually pointed at Ronald Reagan the day after his election in 1980.
Thanks to the folks at Liberals Are Nuts for pointing out the sheer panic coming from the left. This list plus more have been compiled by Steven Hayward at PowerLine; see The Great Liberal Freakout.
Think before you tweet
We know there are many Trump fans who appreciate his spontaneous tweets and the unfiltered stream of consciousness that flows from his smart phone to the masses, but it wouldn’t be a bad idea to occasionally reread a tweet before hitting send. Or maybe to one of his staffers he could say “is this tweet phrased clearly without unnecessary antagonism?” Now that would be presidential.
Before you play, know the rules
In politics, as in sports, it’s important to know the rules if you want to be successful. The angst felt by Hillary fans is currently sky high as they watch Donald Trump prepare to take the oath of office. What makes this doubly painful for them is that their candidate “won” … well, even though she didn’t. Perhaps if Hillary knew how the Electoral College worked she would have stepped at least one foot in Wisconsin.
Here are a few other surprise moments in politics, sports and life that may have caused the uninitiated to question how things could have turned so poorly despite their best efforts.
- Basketball – losing even though you made more baskets but forgot that free throws count only one point
- TV ratings – ending up at the bottom even though your programming is geared toward left handed transgenders under the age of 25
- Blocking traffic – getting run over even though you felt empowered
- Cyber Security – getting hacked by Russian spies even though you gave them a reset button
- Cyber Security II – giving your password to Russian spies even if your name is John Podesta and you were entrusted with managing a presidential campaign
- Presidency – having your scandals pointed out even though you declared your presidency scandal-free
- Chess – losing even though you have more pieces
- Overseas Contingency Operations – being labeled a war monger even though you proudly wear your Nobel Peace Prize medallion
Confederacy of Drones 