Sidelined? Democrats want Team Biden to take possession of the nuclear football

Analysis by WorldTribune Staff, February 24, 2021

Some Democrats are hinting that they believe the 78-year-old Joe Biden may not have been the best person to hand the nuclear football off to.

A letter signed by three dozen Democrats urges Biden to relinquish full control over the country’s nuclear weapons in favor of a committee approach.

The letter failed to answer an obvious question: Who is on the committee that currently appears to be running the country, and does that committee have the right stuff to handle the football on behalf of the American people?

“…Vesting one person with this authority entails real risks,” states the letter spearheaded by California Democrat Rep. Jimmy Panetta. “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.”

In the letter, the Democrats 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.”

Hot Air’s Ed Morrissey posited another reason for the Democrats’ trepidation:

“Via Twitchy and Twitter pal Aaron Walker, Democrats are worried that Biden’s mentis is too non compos to trust with the football.

In a Feb. 23 op-ed, Morrissey notes that the letter’s reference to ‘past presidents’ is obviously a veiled reference to Donald Trump. And that veil doesn’t even extend as far as the footnotes, where a link to Trump’s supposed ‘threat’ to nuke North Korea matches up with a recollection from former SecDef James Schlesinger about his concerns over Richard Nixon’s stability in the final days of his doomed presidency. There’s also a reference to Nancy Pelosi’s demand to remove the football from Trump after the January 6 Capitol riot, a demand which went nowhere in large part because Pelosi didn’t intend it as anything more than a stunt.”


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