How to limit presidential authority to order the use of nuclear weapons

Re:How to limit presidential authority to order the use of n... by devereaux on Monday January 29, 2018 @06:13PM (#16261455)

Before asking "how", the first question should be "why"?

Is it because the president is not very popular with some groups? The previous president has the exact same problems, with just different groups.

Have we just stopped believing that even if you do not like the person, maybe they will just do their job in a time when immediate decision must be taken?

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Re:How to limit presidential authority to order the use of n... by ZenoArrow on Monday January 29, 2018 @06:23PM (#16261525)

That was what I'd thought as well.

I'm not his biggest fan, but the level of hysteria that surrounds Trump is more amazing to me than almost anything he does.

The worst part of all this is, what many people don't seem to realise is, by acting out the way that they do, they only strengthen Trump's support with his core voters.

There was an article I read (that I'll try to find), that described how the Italians got rid of Berlusconi. I'll dig it up, because as the old saying goes, if you don't learn from history you're doomed to repeat it.

EDIT: Here's the aforementioned article...

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/21/if-berlusconi-...

EDIT 2: Actually, I think it was this NYT article I was thinking of:

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/11/18/opinion/the-right-way-...

I'll keep the Guardian article on this post for the additional comments on the parallels between Trump and Berlusconi.

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Re:How to limit presidential authority to order the use of n... by pmyteh on Monday January 29, 2018 @06:18PM (#16261484)

Nobody (even those who thought he was the devil) thought Obama was going to be reckless with nuclear weapons. So that is false equivalence.

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Re:How to limit presidential authority to order the use of n... by dnsb40204738 on Monday January 29, 2018 @06:17PM (#16261481)

Here's an answer: no single human being, popular or unpopular with any group, should have the sole authority to commit a nation to a nuclear conflict.

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Re:How to limit presidential authority to order the use of n... by devereaux on Monday January 29, 2018 @06:41PM (#16261638)

You are entitled to an opinion, but this means replacing a system that had never had any problem (because it is mostly a deterrent) by another that may have known and problems (decision by consensus is less of a deterrant)

The burden of proof is on those who advocate that change.

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Re:How to limit presidential authority to order the use of n... by JauntyHatAngle on Monday January 29, 2018 @06:53PM (#16261703)

>You are entitled to an opinion, but this means replacing a system that had never had any problem

The submarine model in the article doesn't have consensus in it, its very binary in its decision making process.

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Re:How to limit presidential authority to order the use of n... by bearcobra on Monday January 29, 2018 @06:16PM (#16261470)

Because placing the ability to destroy cities in the hands of a single individual is objectively a bad idea.

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Re:How to limit presidential authority to order the use of n... by ajmurmann on Monday January 29, 2018 @06:20PM (#16261507)

What should really happen is mandatory mental health assessments for every president. They have physical health assessments. We need to stop stigmatizing mental health and treat it just like physical health. It's only a matter of time till we get someone with serious mental health issues during their term. Germany had a president who developed sever dementia.

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Re:How to limit presidential authority to order the use of n... by kaybe on Monday January 29, 2018 @06:30PM (#16261572)

Trump just passed the regular dementia test, so it is not completely ignored at least.

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Re:How to limit presidential authority to order the use of n... by fishcolorbrick on Monday January 29, 2018 @06:30PM (#16261578)

I'd support a constitutional amendment to guarantee 'no first use', regardless of who is in office.

If verifiable global nuclear disarmament was possible, I'd support that as well.

As a citizen of the USA, I don't want to share the ethical responsibility for starting a nuclear war.

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