DEFCON ??

[General Zod]

Agree on all points.
So... Say something big happens. Is the "power structure in place" going to come out and say "This is how we have decided to respond" ? Recall we no longer have a functional figurehead to inform the public. Elvis has left the building.

The puppet is still in office and is still officially the president. It'll be as before, just with fewer believers.

 

[MountainGirl]

The puppet is still in office and is still officially the president. It'll be as before, just with fewer believers.

Then that needs to remain as so, if for no other reason.

 

[General Zod]

Then that needs to remain as so, if for no other reason.

I'd be much more worried if Brandon officially stepped down. That could lead to a shakeup of the actual power structure. But as it is, nothing has changed except the ballots.

 

[MountainGirl]

I'd be much more worried if Brandon officially stepped down. That could lead to a shakeup of the actual power structure. But as it is, nothing has changed except the ballots.

How/why would it shakeup the power structure? Wouldn't the VP just be the new figurehead till January?

 

[General Zod]

How would it shakeup the power structure? Wouldn't the VP just be the new figurehead till January?

She lacks the stature Brandon has within the party. And she is somehow even less intelligent than the Memory Care Patient In Chief, even in his current state. There would be some scrambling to prop her up and attempt to make her look halfway competent.

 

[MountainGirl]

She lacks the stature Brandon has within the party. And she is somehow even less intelligent than the Memory Care Patient In Chief, even in his current state. There would be some scrambling to prop her up and attempt to make her look halfway competent.

Yes, but that's domestic political surface shit. I thought the true "power structure" was outside of that... and much bigger. The real deal-makers.

 

[General Zod]

Yes, but that's domestic political surface shit. I thought the true "power structure" was outside of that... and much bigger. The real deal-makers.

They'd be in full panic mode if their figurehead had to step down completely. That would indeed leave us more vulnerable than they've already made us. As it is, they can keep propping him up and spinning fables about his supposedly honorable "service" to the country and his "great" "leadership", while still conducting business as usual and trying to figure out some way not to get stomped in November.

 

[SARGE67]

What if none of the "bad guys" have any interest in attacking us and already know of the big plan that won't be stopped, and maybe that plan is already taking place. Silly me, such a conspirator...

 

[MountainGirl]

They'd be in full panic mode if their figurehead had to step down completely. That would indeed leave us more vulnerable than they've already made us. As it is, they can keep propping him up and spinning fables about his supposedly honorable "service" to the country and his "great" "leadership", while still conducting business as usual and trying to figure out some way not to get stomped in November.

Ah okay. We're talking about different power structures. You- the political ones, me- the corporate global elites that control both parties. To mine, switching out a figurehead would be small potatoes; feckless out - feckless in.

 

[MountainGirl]

What if none of the "bad guys" have any interest in attacking us and already know of the big plan that won't be stopped, and maybe that plan is already taking place. Silly me, such a conspirator...

Hadn't thought of that. Anything's possible in this insanity.

 

[SARGE67]

My main "squeeze" has been riled up about all this for a long time, is like she has a vision I don't. And has predicted almost each step they would take for past 4 years. She isn't anal about it but her patriotism for her country and flag is very deep. Maybe it is because her Dad was a Marine who hit many islands against the Japanese in WW II and she had the good fortune of marrying one now. Too bad our country doesn't have her enthusiasm...

 

[Lead Belly]

Handlers will handle; regardless of the handle-ee

 

[DoubleDuty]

Yep the entire world already knew neither he or Kamel Toe weren't in charge of anything.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

Agree on all points.
So... Say something big happens. Is the "power structure in place" going to come out and say "This is how we have decided to respond" ? Recall we no longer have a functional figurehead to inform the public. Elvis has left the building.

Yes, the power structure is in place if something big happens. Civics 101, 25th Amendment, particularly Section 4.

We don't need a President to be the 'functional figurehead' to inform the public. We don't get that much information from the President anyway.

 

[Rafe]

It was a little rushed to market and has a few typos here and there (unless a later version was released with a bit more stringent editing), but if you haven't read it, give Kurt Schlichter's novel The Attack, January 2024, a read. Most of my fiction reading is on a Kindle, but Amazon has it available in hardcover and paperback, too: https://www.amazon.com/Attack-Kurt-Schlichter-ebook/dp/B0CR1N7R8T.

What troubles me more than the figurehead in the Oval Office is what's been happening under those policies to erode--or not in all cases; I don't have any insight, just a twinge of, er, heightened alert levels--our operational capabilities. Not gonna dive into a bore-your-socks-off treatise, but we rapidly began a politicization of both the justice system and the military after Trump left office, and that's led to de facto, even if not published, policy changes as well as the insertion at senior levels of people who (how can I put this politely) might not possess the level of competence they could.

In short, regardless of who's actually running the White House, I think we've made what I believe is the mistake of turning too inward, becoming too much of a political/ideological agenda-driven country. Our military is in a weakened state; recruitment numbers are inadequate and standards seem to be lowered slightly every year; the military budget is barely keeping up with operational necessities and not enough spending is done on R&D; the FBI needs changes at the top levels; the DOJ has been politically weaponized; our local police forces have been decimated of experienced officers following all the BLM/Antifa crap from the summer of 2020 and its aftereffect; our Soros-funded, blue-city district attorneys have managed to construct an environment where every would-be felon knows that, yeah, crime can pay; and--the failing that underpins Schlichter's novel--we've completely opened the borders and have let 11 million illegal aliens inside our country in just the past 3.5 years...we don't really know who they are or where they are now.

Two decades ago a post-apocalyptic fiction scenario for America was nuclear war, or coordinated low-atmosphere EMT blasts that crippled us. Big, massive-stage stuff. But the same way that we learned--or failed to learn--from Viet Nam, the Gulf Wars, 9/11, and the war with ISIS, when the superpowers all have rapid-strike nuclear capability what happens is that technology and techniques march forward differently and it's in the area of asymmetric warfare where things actually change. In terms of threats to CONUS, I think that front is far more likely to be leveraged than some traditional, large-scale, nation-state attack.

We just had one glimpse of a sliver of vulnerability last Friday. A single botched software patch from a single company, CrowdStrike (rather aptly named in a foreshadowing sort of way), was able to halt operations at many large companies on a nationwide scale. We've been lagging behind China, Russia, and even non-nation actors in cyber. And remember Hurricane Beryl? That was a small, accidental taste of a large city struggling to function with just a day or so of no electricity. Everything from the power grids to pipelines are vulnerable to cyberattack. And as far as a boots-on-the-ground perspective, Biden and Mayorkas have let more undocumented people over the southern border than the total population of any state except the top 10. Let that sink in a moment.

Well, damn. Turned into an essay anyway. Wrapping up, what I was disappointed in with Trump's first term as president was that he didn't do as much swamp cleaning as had been promised. Maslow's hierarchy: we've been short-changing the most vital aspects, health and physical safety, in favor of DEI and gender inclusiveness and snowflake feelings bullshit. My hope is that, if Trump gets back in office, that he'll tone down the social media rhetoric, treat the Resolute Desk as a gift, one-term second chance, roll up his sleeves, really clean the swamp, and prioritize making America strong again.

So, yeah. I think our current Alzheimer's-patient-in-charge and the political uncertainty increase our vulnerability. But if that's exploited I don't think it will come as an overt, nation-state military action. I think it would likely be more subtle and insidious. Xi and Taiwan, for example, is long-range planning; a few-month window of possibly enhanced opportunity won't make any practical difference. But I'm buying physical silver and gold when I can (both are near all-time highs right now...gold is up almost 23% just since the start of the year: fine for what I've already got, but I'm putting a lid on it until prices drop a bit), and keeping the ammo supply stocked up.

 

[Iowashooter]

IMHO we are definitely at higher risk over the next six months.

however, I can think of nothing we can do that lowers that risk

 

[Chupacabra Hunter]

If Kamala were a true leader, she would lay out a warning to our enemies, she won’t.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Chupacabra Hunter]

Yes, concern for being vulnerable. Our enemies act when opportunities present themselves.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[majormadmax]

.
Please leave politics out of this.

We have known for a long time that POTUS was just a manipulated figurehead. Now that the figurehead is globally known has admitted to being defective - how much has that increased the threat probability to our nation?

As we have no 'identifiable' leader, let alone a functioning CIC, the time seems overripe for an attack: whether domestically (asymmetrically via cyber, embedded foreign nationals, etc) or globally (e.g., China invades Taiwan, Russia uses tactical nukes, Iran, etc).

My fear is that when, not if, something huge occurs in these next six months - we have no means to reply nor react, on a national level.

All thoughts welcome.

Edited for clarity

OK, a few fundamental comprehension pointers here...

Biden has not "admitted to be defective," he has simply stated he will not be seeking re-election.

Those who claim he should be immediately removed for that declaration need to go back and re-read the statement his staff wrote for him to sign. Nowhere in it does he admit to any medical or mental reasons for his decision.

Secondly, such ridiculous paranoia that any of these unlikely scenarios will occur as a result of this announcement shows a true ignorance in world events. Nothing has changed in the US government, and any fear that the US has "no means to reply nor react, on a national level" is completely unfounded.

While I am not a supporter of the current administration, I still believe in this great nation. Politics aside, we are still the greatest country in the world and our "global competitors" recognize that.

Also, don't say "Please leave politics out of this" when you start a thread so heavily based on politics. What was the catalyst for this discussion? Biden not seeking re-election.

And "As we have no 'identifiable' leader, let alone a functioning CIC, the time seems overripe for an attack?!?" Such exaggerated overstatements nullify any legitimate point that may have originally been intended.

In fact, this is one of those threads that the original poster should have read twice before starting, as that would have alerted them that it is pointless and unnecessary!

 

[majormadmax]

Nothing new?

I've failed to convey my point.

To have failed would have required you had a legitimate point in the first place.

You have not failed.