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Post by ironhamster on Feb 26, 2021 6:21:35 GMT -5
Spreading responsibility is a dangerous precedent. If Democrats are really that scared of Biden's cognativity, they need to look at that 25th amendment thing they've been kicking around. We have one executive decision maker. We should keep it that way. ICBMs can get here in 15 minutes or less. Is this a counterstrike? Or a pre-emptive one? Maybe different criteria. The worry may not be about Biden but a future president. Methinks many Democrats recall their concern with Trump's responsibilities that are no longer an issue. (but could be again? a la Grover Cleveland?) Rumors flew that a groundless command to nuke anybody would have been slow-walked until cooler heads prevailed. We've heard actual accounts of Soviets that refused to launch counterstrikes against what turned out to be false alarms. Given our submarine nuclear fleet, chances seem fairly good that no attack would go unanswered. The only questions is, will we know who nuked us? M.A.D. suggests to me that any nuclear strike will be a single low yield blast with no one explaining why it was done. Given that Trump is the only President in decades to get us into zero new conflicts and the timing of the proposal has come after his departure, and there is video of Biden clearly saying he doesn't know what he is signing with someone off camera yelling for him to "just sign it", I think we can all deduce who this proposal is aimed at. ICBMs are decades old technology. SCRAM jets can travel roughly 10x the speed of sound, and not in a straight line. Rods from God, telephone pole sized tungsten rods dropped from space, is another modern technology that might prove difficult to defeat. |
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Post by mirrororchid on Feb 26, 2021 7:08:13 GMT -5
ICBMs can get here in 15 minutes or less. Is this a counterstrike? Or a pre-emptive one? Maybe different criteria. The worry may not be about Biden but a future president. Methinks many Democrats recall their concern with Trump's responsibilities that are no longer an issue. (but could be again? a la Grover Cleveland?) Rumors flew that a groundless command to nuke anybody would have been slow-walked until cooler heads prevailed. We've heard actual accounts of Soviets that refused to launch counterstrikes against what turned out to be false alarms. Given our submarine nuclear fleet, chances seem fairly good that no attack would go unanswered. The only questions is, will we know who nuked us? M.A.D. suggests to me that any nuclear strike will be a single low yield blast with no one explaining why it was done. Given that Trump is the only President in decades to get us into zero new conflicts and the timing of the proposal has come after his departure, and there is video of Biden clearly saying he doesn't know what he is signing with someone off camera yelling for him to "just sign it", I think we can all deduce who this proposal is aimed at. ICBMs are decades old technology. SCRAM jets can travel roughly 10x the speed of sound, and not in a straight line. Rods from God, telephone pole sized tungsten rods dropped from space, is another modern technology that might prove difficult to defeat. I was editing my text to mention that not a whole lot happened during Trump's turn when you said this. He's just about as non-combative as Jimmy Carter. Come to think of it, Obama continued wars he inherited. I guess Libya might count. I don't think a trade war against China counts, nor am I sure I opposed it. It was pretty lame but I'm liking the intended diversification of manufacturing supply, even if it's a slow start. (C'mon, India!) Looked up project Thor. Space X might make the cost manageable and quite the improvement on nuclear options. "A related problem is that anything on the rod that is not made of tungsten is going to want to burn up in re-entry. Things like the guidance computer, sensors, and hypothetical remote control radio." I suppose all the gear needs to be embedded in the rod. Maybe thermal protection included. Can the rod fly blind accurately enough? What equipment would keep it on target? |
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Post by ironhamster on Feb 26, 2021 7:29:03 GMT -5
I'll leave the engineering specifics up to the engineers. The Space Shuttle design included ceramic tiles so good at inhibiting thermal transfer that if your home were covered with them you could heat it with a candle, and that design is forty years old.
Carter was frustrating, in that he allowed the Shah to fall, replaced by a regime that has killed hundreds of thousands and intends to kill millions. After Obama flew $140B cash to Iran, there was a huge increase in terror in the middle east, along with a horrible humanitarian crisis that by all rights historians should name after him.
He armed IS/ISIS with weapons from Libya. Goodafi was on our side in the war on terror. After 911, Goodafi dismantled his WMD program. He was no threat to anyone. Years previous, he went to war against his third world basket case neighbor, Chad, and got his ass kicked, so he wasn't even a regional concern. His one downfall was that he was creating a gold backed pan-African currency that would have threatened the Euro and the Federal Reserve Note. We know his weapons went to Islamic terrorists, but nobody has ever said a word about what happened to the gold.
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Post by worksforme2 on Feb 26, 2021 8:23:05 GMT -5
I'll leave the engineering specifics up to the engineers. The Space Shuttle design included ceramic tiles so good at inhibiting thermal transfer that if your home were covered with them you could heat it with a candle, and that design is forty years old. Carter was frustrating, in that he allowed the Shah to fall, replaced by a regime that has killed hundreds of thousands and intends to kill millions. After Obama flew $140B cash to Iran, there was a huge increase in terror in the middle east, along with a horrible humanitarian crisis that by all rights historians should name after him. He armed IS/ISIS with weapons from Libya. Goodafi was on our side in the war on terror. After 911, Goodafi dismantled his WMD program. He was no threat to anyone. Years previous, he went to war against his third world basket case neighbor, Chad, and got his ass kicked, so he wasn't even a regional concern. His one downfall was that he was creating a gold backed pan-African currency that would have threatened the Euro and the Federal Reserve Note. We know his weapons went to Islamic terrorists, but nobody has ever said a word about what happened to the gold. If history is even remotely accurate and fair Carter and Obama will go down as the 2 worst Presidents in modern times. And just for the record...I got the gold....Bwahahaha... |
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Post by worksforme2 on Feb 26, 2021 10:31:46 GMT -5
Spreading responsibility is a dangerous precedent. If Democrats are really that scared of Biden's cognativity, they need to look at that 25th amendment thing they've been kicking around. We have one executive decision maker. We should keep it that way. The worry may not be about Biden but a future president. Rumors flew that a groundless command to nuke anybody would have been slow-walked until cooler heads prevailed. We've heard actual accounts of Soviets that refused to launch counterstrikes against what turned out to be false alarms. It may be fake news but the rumors of diminished capacity in Biden just aren't going away. Time will tell, unless his handlers can do an extraordinary job of hiding what might really be going on. And I believe those Soviet officers were court marshalled and dishonorable discharged. Last I heard (decades ago)they were still alive. Would a similar scenario result in court marshals for US personnel if they took it upon themselves to disobey a direct order from the Commander In Chief ? |
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Post by saarinista on Feb 26, 2021 14:36:16 GMT -5
Folks, there is no moderator on this board. Fair enough. But.
Is it really the best direction to go though talking politics as a matter of course?
I don't get good feels when I see this stuff ongoing.
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Post by ironhamster on Feb 27, 2021 0:15:10 GMT -5
I don't doubt this is an uncomfortable thread for everyone, here and there, but thought provoking posts are nothing new here. I'd never have this discussion on the other sections. There are in fact a number of areas of my life that I don't discuss politics. I live in a city that is 70% Democrat, and the sex positive subculture is probably more like 90%. Knee jerk reactions cause real fights around here, and at least one fatal shooting over the last year. I've had people approach me on occasion with comments like, "do you really support the orange man?!" I'm happy to invite them to discuss that elsewhere, but not there. I don't want the distraction, but I do want clear and honest communication. We don't have to agree, but we should be able to talk heart to heart and mind to mind and understand each others positions and concerns.
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Post by mirrororchid on Mar 1, 2021 19:39:41 GMT -5
Folks, there is no moderator on this board. Fair enough. But. Is it really the best direction to go though talking politics as a matter of course? I don't get good feels when I see this stuff ongoing. I've been pretty pleased that outside the off-topic area, it appears we're keeping pretty civil. All things considered, it's pretty darn civil INSIDE the off-topic area when you look at the tiresome epithets casually thrown about in the more typical politcial boards. The coronavirus thread getting heated was unfortunate. But "Chaos in America"? Given the political nature of the event cited, it would've been odd if politics didn't come up. Perhaps clearly labeled threads would be okay. I might post one called "Iran rabbit hole: *WARNING* Political brawl in progress." |
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