Duck and Cover
Most Baby Boomers will remember this drill practiced by school children in the 1950s and ’60s, during the Cold War between the United States and the former Soviet Union (Russia). In the event of a nuclear attack, students were instructed to duck and cover under their desks and cover their faces or if they were outdoors, getting against a wall with their heads and faces protected. Thanks to Joe Biden this drill may have to be reinstituted in the Nation’s schools.
At a Democrat fundraiser in New York last week, Joe stated that Putin’s recent warning that he may use nuclear weapons in Ukraine has brought the world closer to “Armageddon”, than at any time since the Cuban Missile Crisis. According to reporters who were in attendance, Biden said Putin was “not joking when he talks about potential use of tactical nuclear weapons or biological or chemical weapons” and “we have not faced the prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban missile crisis.” Possibly one of the most moronic, dangerous statements this mumbling, bumbling leader has made during his regime.
During the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962, the country had a very bright and articulate combat veteran as President. John F. Kennedy was surrounded by tested advisors who knew the horrors of war and nuclear weapons. Speaking directly to Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, President Kennedy conveyed in the strongest possible terms the end results for both nations if Khrushchev placed nuclear missiles in Cuba. The Soviets cancelled their plans with Castro. Sadly this is not the current case as President Biden is surrounded by advisors selected to reflect wokeness and not competence.
World leaders were aghast at Biden’s reckless remarks. Among them was French President Emmanuel Macron who stated, “We must speak with prudence when commenting on such matters, I have always refused to engage in political fiction, and especially when speaking of nuclear weapons. On this issue, we must be very careful.” Bringing up the notion of a nuclear “Armageddon”, while at a fund raiser, was irresponsible in Macron’s view.
Former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said in an interview Sunday, "Regardless of the situation you never go and scare Americans. You get in front of the situation and work with the National Security Agency and say should this happen; here's how we are going to do this job. But by warning of a nuclear catastrophe, Biden told Russian President Vladimir Putin that he was scared, at a time when the U.S. government should be focused on deterrence. We should know that when a tyrant says they're going to do something, we should believe them. We saw that with Putin. He said he was going to take Ukraine and we saw him do that, you don't run scared. You put your foot on the gas and make sure that they know if anything happens, we will respond with strength and aggressively. Putin does not want that." Maybe Joe should call Nikki for some sagacious foreign policy counsel. Clearly, she understands what he and advisors are apparently clueless about.
Of course, because of this latest kerfuffle by Joe, the White House spin team sprang into action, like Target employees cleaning up broken pasta sauce bottles on aisle 4. The first verbal mop was wielded by White House spokesman John Kirby who attempted to clarify Biden’s remarks. Appearing on ABC News on Sunday, he said “The President’s comments were not based on new or fresh intelligence or new indications that Putin has made a decision to use nuclear weapons and, quite frankly, we don’t have any indication that he has made that kind of decision.” He further stated, “Nor have we seen anything that would give us pause to reconsider our own strategic nuclear posture in our efforts to defend our own national security interests and those of our allies and partners.” Man knows how to mop…and he didn’t need a teleprompter or briefing book to make a salient point.
Naturally, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre had her own mop to clean up the Joe’s mess but instead opted to focus on blaming Russian officials for making comments about nuclear weapons. “Russia’s talk of using nuclear weapons is irresponsible and there’s no way to use them without unintended consequences. It cannot happen,” she bleated. Karine reads her script dutifully but sounds like she has no idea what she’s talking about. Her briefing book made a valiant attempt to make her appear that she does know what she’s talking about. Unfortunately it didn’t. She needs a better mop.
What is known is that Putin said in a speech last month that he would use all available means to defend Mother Russia. Some of his acolytes did trot out the possible use of nuclear weapons in the current Ukrainian war, or a “special operation” as Vlad calls it. This potential strategy is because the Russians are getting their butts kicked and have suffered casualties in soaring numbers. The current Russian leadership must be addressed responsibly and firmly from the Oval Office or State Department and not with offhanded remarks at a political fundraiser.
The possibility that “Duck and Cover” drills could make a comeback is worrisome, given the fact that blunder prone President Joseph R Biden has his finger on the nuclear trigger.