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[Tagyhag]

I honestly think that it Trump wanted to do a random first-strike launch and proceeded to do so, someone along the way would stop him. Be it the football holder or the secretary of defense.

If it's a retaliatory strike then nah we're all fucked.

 

[SymbiantXenos]

So WW3 before Half Life 3?

 

[Randolph Freelander]

This dude's ego is fragile. There's no telling what he would do under pressure or scrutiny and I'm not sure reason plays into it.

 

[Sephzilla]

I honestly think that it Trump wanted to do a random first-strike launch and proceeded to do so, someone along the way would stop him. Be it the football holder or the secretary of defense.

If it's a retaliatory strike then nah we're all fucked.

Basically you're saying you think someone would go Kingslayer if Trump went Mad King?

 

[Peltz]

Even though I think trump is nuts, I don't think he's THAT nuts. He won't launch a nuke.

I will even make an avatar bet on that.

 

[Iriscomeback]

I seriously don't think the chance of nuclear war is bigger now then it was under Obama.

Total destruction of our planet is in nobody's interest, even Trump should understand that.

Big trade wars are likely though.

 

[Pop-O-Matic]

I honestly think that it Trump wanted to do a random first-strike launch and proceeded to do so, someone along the way would stop him. Be it the football holder or the secretary of defense.

If it's a retaliatory strike then nah we're all fucked.

Nobody stopped him literally every other step along this path. Why do you assume anyone would stop him now?

 

[Shaanyboi]

I seriously don't think the chance of nuclear war is bigger now then it was under Obama.

Total destruction of our planet is in nobody's interest, even Trump should understand that.

Big trade wars are likely though.

Trump should understand a lot of things...

 

[HoodWinked]

i remember watching a documentary about the nuclear football i think there is still a nuclear launch procedure with the two keys and nuclear codes that's involved maybe someone in that chain makes the level headed decision to not turn their key if its a horrible decision.

but yah this still needs to be something the execute branch controls because retaliatory strikes need to be done in a timely manner. since this has no chance of passing and its symbolic democrats should have drafted the bill to be limited it to 4/8 years.

 

[Angelus Errare]

It should've terrified everyone every time Clinton and Obama mentioned it themselves.

Emails

 

[Rebel Leader]

Trump should understand a lot of things...

He doesn't understand pictures of crowd sizes......

 

[Sephzilla]

I seriously don't think the chance of nuclear war is bigger now then it was under Obama.

Total destruction of our planet is in nobody's interest, even Trump should understand that.

Big trade wars are likely though.

Trump doesn't understand a lot of things and is a petty thin-skinned asshole though. For all we know he might try to drop a nuke on North Korea if North Korea holds a military parade that focuses around making fun of Trumps tiny hands and gigantic ties.

 

[Brakke]

interestingly, a false alarm case has happened and hinged on one man's better judgement to recognize it as such:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Soviet_nuclear_false_alarm_incident

Not only once:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nuclear_close_calls

 

[Tagyhag]

Basically you're saying you think someone would go Kingslayer if Trump went Mad King?

Yep!

Nobody stopped him literally every other step along this path. Why do you assume anyone would stop him now?

Because unless they are as crazy as he is, they would understand that the whole world would end if he were to launch those nukes. I'm sure most people that follow him don't want for them and their families to die.

 

[Pop-O-Matic]

I honestly expect that if the investigations into Trump's ties with Putin go anywhere, Trump will nuke Moscow to prove that he has no ties, only to end up triggering the Dead Hand system and dooming the world.

Because unless they are as crazy as he is, they would understand that the whole world would end if he were to launch those nukes.

They are.

 

[Patrick Bateman]

1, bill is proposed
2, republicans defeat it
3, It dawns on ISIS that with just the right terrorist act they can provoke donald into an act that even if limited, can be used to recruit fighters for the next century.

On topic 3: What would he actually want to nuke when targeting ISIS? It's not like they are all sitting around in a certain place.
Would he nuke an ISIS-camp somewhere in the Iraqi desert or what?

 

[Pop-O-Matic]

On topic 3: What would he actually want to nuke when targeting ISIS? It's not like they are all sitting around in a certain place.
Would he nuke an ISIS-camp somewhere in the Iraqi desert or what?

 

[Miracle]

Basically you're saying you think someone would go Kingslayer if Trump went Mad King?

Paul Ryan! Of course! It all makes sense now!

 

[superdeluxe]

I honestly think that it Trump wanted to do a random first-strike launch and proceeded to do so, someone along the way would stop him. Be it the football holder or the secretary of defense.

If it's a retaliatory strike then nah we're all fucked.

I know it might make you feel better, but SecDef can't stop the president.

 

[KDR_11k]

I seriously don't think the chance of nuclear war is bigger now then it was under Obama.

Total destruction of our planet is in nobody's interest, even Trump should understand that.

Big trade wars are likely though.

The risk is probably less that he randomly orders a launch and more that he keeps escalating against a nuclear power because his ego cannot take backing down.

The doomsday clock will likely move forward this year but I guess we could place bets on whether it will also be because of the risk of nuclear war. It'll definitely move due to Trump's stance on climate change. We're currently at 3 minutes to midnight, BTW.

EDIT: Oooh, the clock update is scheduled for today, 15:00 GMT. Anyone want to bet on the next value?

 

[Ms.Galaxy]

Is it bad that I think Trump is the kind of person that might actually see this image and actually think it's a great idea?

 

[jb1234]

EDIT: Oooh, the clock update is scheduled for today, 15:00 GMT. Anyone want to bet on the next value?

2 minutes to midnight, just to leave some wiggle room for if things get really bad.

 

[UberTag]

EDIT: Oooh, the clock update is scheduled for today, 15:00 GMT. Anyone want to bet on the next value?

We're going to match 1953 for the closest we've ever been to human extinction.
I'm going on record with 2 minutes to midnight.

 

[adj_noun]

Trump is not going to cause a nuclear holocaust

Spoiler

Just kidding.

Spoiler

But only kinda.

 

[Crayolan]

If this doesn't pass that sends a pretty scary message to the rest of the world.

Doesn't it kinda defeat the purpose of a first strike if it has to be debated in congress?

We should never have to use a nuclear first strike in the first place.

 

[etrain911]

This is another test of "country over party" that the Republicans will probably fail. Passing the bill is basically an admission that Trump can't be trusted and has a hair-trigger temper and is likely to piss off Trump and his base. For all their fascism and authoritarianism, the Republicans are fucking spineless when confronted with someone more fascist and authoritarian than they are.

 

[Timedog]

Even though I think trump is nuts, I don't think he's THAT nuts. He won't launch a nuke.

I will even make an avatar bet on that.

Are avatars gonna currency or something during the nuclear winter?

 

[MikeDown]

I guess that if it doesn't pass Isis will have an high chance of getting Trump to nuke them?

Democrats pro-ISIS confirmed??????

I understand the need for some sort of nuclear deterrent, but with our aging missiles & silos the risk & upkeep simply aren't justified. :/

 

[The Real Abed]

interestingly, a false alarm case has happened and hinged on one man's better judgement to recognize it as such:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Soviet_nuclear_false_alarm_incident

All I can think after reading that is "Turn your key, sir!"

Which is actually cited at the bottom of the page as actually coming out 4 months before this incident.

 

[Fine Ham Abounds]

I seriously don't think the chance of nuclear war is bigger now then it was under Obama.

Total destruction of our planet is in nobody's interest, even Trump should understand that.

Big trade wars are likely though.

Considering he's already proving he has the insecurity and messiah complex portion of the fascism for dummies book fucking nailed within his first week, I think it's safe to expect him capable of any of the usual things these types are, like believing their nation should go down with them.

 

[ImpracticalPassword]

I know it might make you feel better, but SecDef can't stop the president.

Apparently, Nixon was seen as a little too trigger happy by his advisors. So two different SecDefs did try to intervene (sorta).

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/08/05/science/donald-trump-nuclear-codes.html

In real life, the lines of authority have blurred — markedly so during the Nixon administration, when there were at least two instances in which top officials tried to slow, or undermine, the president’s nuclear authority.

The first came in October 1969, when the president ordered Melvin R. Laird, his secretary of defense, to put American nuclear forces on high alert to scare Moscow into thinking the United States might use nuclear arms against the North Vietnamese.

Scott D. Sagan, a nuclear expert at Stanford University and the author of “The Limits of Safety,” a study of nuclear accidents, said Mr. Laird tried to ignore the order by giving excuses about exercises and readiness, hoping that the president who sometimes embraced the “madman theory” — let the world think that you are willing to use a weapon — would forget about his order.

Which seems like an awkward conversation.

Nixon: Prepare our nukes!
SecDef: Oh, um, but everyone's at lunch... look over there, a bird!
Nixon: Huh?
SecDef: You didn't see it? I saw it. Aren't birds great?
Nixon: I said prepare our nukes!
SecDef: ...uh, no you didn't.
Nixon: Are you kidding me?
SecDef: ...maybe?

Then, in 1974, in the last days of the Watergate scandal, Mr. Nixon was drinking heavily and his aides saw what they feared was a growing emotional instability. His new secretary of defense, James R. Schlesinger, himself a hawkish Cold Warrior, instructed the military to divert any emergency orders — especially one involving nuclear weapons — to him or the secretary of state, Henry A. Kissinger.

It does seem like Mattis is the sort of person who might quietly try to put a layer or two of delay tactics into the process.