The Inept Finger on the Trigger

Ted Folkert

April 11, 2018

“Déjà vu, all over again,” as someone once said, is a danger that we should now fear, not only as a nation, but particularly as parents or grandparents of draft-age kids.

Inferences have been made by historians and other political commentators of military actions having been initiated as a tactic of distraction from public displeasure against leaders with the power to declare such actions and personal reasons for such diversionary tactics.

Such inferences were discussed after the 911 disaster when George W. Bush, after initiating military action against Afghanistan, suddenly diverted the military against Saddam Hussein in Iraq, purportedly because Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction. Some of us assumed that such action was in retaliation and vengeance for the attempt to assassinate his father, George H.W. Bush, when he was president.  And some of us thought such action was a tactic of distraction to divert attention away from GWB’s incompetence in office, which was becoming more apparent daily and was dominating the news cycle at the time.

Now we have a president which gives the term incompetence a whole new meaning, who has made a laughing stock of the office, who has been abusive to political appointees time after time by hiring them and firing them, with little regard for their careers and no identifiable reasoning other than the demand of sycophantic delivery of his message, which is: “I am great, brilliant, know all things, and nothing else matters except the embellishment of my image.”

Unfortunately, he has his finger on the trigger which could generate massive turmoil worldwide, losses of trillions of dollars, losses of millions of lives, unlimited damage to our environment, and massive waste of the Earth’s precious resources – and perhaps merely to divert attention away form his miserable incompetence, dishonesty, and disregard for anyone other than himself.

Congress should step up and do the right thing. They should enact legislation, even if it requires a constitutional amendment, to eliminate presidential power to initiate any type of military action without congressional approval. The thought of one person having the authority to do so is without common sense, not only to eliminate personal reasons from the equation, but to require discussion and debate of such measures at length and the ultimate consensual decision which considers all ramifications involved, instead of merely the momentary whims of one elected official.

This should be a nonpartisan action. Who, in their right mind, could disagree. Those who have seen warfare would surely support such a measure. (Where is Dwight Eisenhower when we need him)

Having one person in a position to create warfare and endanger the lives and welfare of everyone in the nation is very scary. It seems unnecessary, unwarranted, and inane. It is times like this when the urgency of such action becomes imperative and demands non-partisanship, mutual beneficence, and common sense – for the COMMON GOOD.