more flexible
W76
deterrent option

Double U, Seventy Six.

W76-2 to be more precise.

What is the W76-2 you ask?

It is our latest nuclear bomb.

It just shipped out on US Submarines from Kings Bay Naval base at the North River in southeastern Georgia.

It’s production was ordered from the White House in 2018.

According to the Guardian,

The US has deployed its first low-yield Trident nuclear warhead on a submarine that is currently patrolling the Atlantic Ocean, it has been reported, in what arms control advocates warn is a dangerous step towards making a nuclear launch more likely.

Advocates of W76-2 argued that the US had no effective deterrent against Russian tactical weapons because Moscow assumed Washington would not risk using the overwhelming power of its intercontinental ballistic missiles in response, for fear of escalating from a regional conflict to a civilian-destroying war.

Deployment of new US nuclear warhead on submarine a dangerous step, critics say – Julian Borger, Wed 29 Jan 2020.

This is what worries me most about Trump-mania.

When the news focuses almost on the President and what he SAYS, who is paying attention to what he does?

In the last 2 years, the decision was made that the US needed a newer SMALLER Nuclear Bomb.

A bomb SMALLER than the ones dropped on Japan in 1945.

A bomb small enough that if dropped on the US Capitol Building would destroy the building but not even cause windows to break at the White House.

Maybe that is what appealed to the President.

(Above from Navy Missile Sub Has Begun Its First Patrol Armed With Controversial Low Yield Nukes – author: joe@thedrive.com)

The bomb went into production.

The bomb went into deployment.

Did anyone notice?

I did not notice.

I like to think I follow such things.

I accept the policy of Mutual assured destruction (MAD).

I accept the idea that these bombs are here, both sides have them and that’s that.

I am reminded of Carl Sagan on Nuclear War when he said, “The nuclear arms race is like two sworn enemies standing waist deep in gasoline, one with three matches, the other with five.”

Now the US has the W76-2.

Still waist deep in the gasoline.

But smaller matches.

plan to disagree?
willful misunderstanding?
different drummers

The other day I quoted Founding Father John Adams’ Rule of Thirds.

Mr. Adams paraphrased rule states, “1/3rd of the people were for it, 1/3rd of the people neutral, and 1/3rd of the people opposed.”

Adams was writing about the almost war with France in the early 1800’s.

Observing the political discussion of today, I am struck by the application of Adam’s rule of thirds.

I am also stuck by the willful misunderstanding of both sides by the other side.

I am sure that before any question, people on either side, have taken their side, and plan to disagree.

Mr. Sun Tzu wrote that a battle is won or lost before it is begun.

Political questions are answered before they are ever asked.

When I started to write this, I was going to bemoan the lack of discussion.

The lack of debate.

The lack of a willingness to see the other side.

If the my dummers are loud enough, I don’t even have to pretend to hear the different drummers.

Then I asked myself what era or political question was I planning to use as a good example?

Mr. Adam’s Rule of Thirds keeps raising its ugly head.

About the only illustration I can come up with is a story my Father used to tell.

My Father’s relatives were farmers in what was then rural Ottawa County in Western Michigan.

My Father remembered how one day during the depression, his Dad took him and his sisters out to visit the family farm.

While everyone was saying hello, meeting and greeting, my Dad’s cousin came into the house.

My Dad says, “hey, where you been?”

The cousin says, “Voting!”

He pointed to the outhouse in the backyard.

“I cast my ballot for Hoover!”