With ongoing tension and potential war with North Korea, I can imagine a big red button labelled “Nuke ’em” sitting within reach of the president. Pretty serious repercussions if there is no safeguard in place. Anyone could be “trigger-happy” by pressing the button or even clicking on the wrong emergency alert. Look at the poor guy in Hawaii who mistakenly issued a false missile alarm and spread widespread panic.
Quite a “Twit” and tweet
There has never been a president like Trump who uses social media as a soundboard to stir up more drama. Rather than deflating the intense situation with the potential nuclear showdown with North Korea, he is making it worse. You may recall Trump tweeting to Kim (North Korean leader): my nuke button is ‘bigger’. This childish retort also suggests there may be no red nuclear button. Don’t know what to believe! In reality, there are several top-ranking military that hold the key launch codes for a nuclear missile launch. Not just Trump. Several James Bond movies with the Cold War theme come to mind — let’s hope that it doesn’t become a reality.
Hands off the trigger!
I can only imagine some sheepish guy hooked up on caffeine clicking on the wrong emergency alert. Having a bad day or what? The yellow Post-It note labelled “Don’t remove this!” had fallen onto the floor and he misplaced his codes to override the sequence. Or perhaps he clicked on the wrong link? On another similar note, let’s look at Donald Trump who has the power to launch a nuclear attack. Isn’t Donald Trump’s favorite drink a Diet Coke? Man, I hope he kicked his 12 Diet Cokes-a-day habit; hard to imagine the fate of mankind may rest in his hands while he is “high” on fizzy soda pop.
Hawaiians had a “scare”
The Japanese, native Hawaiian residents and tourists enjoying their tropical oasis had a nice scare. Nothing like getting a ballistic missile launch alert “This Is Not A Drill!” on your cellphone while sipping your Mai Tai under the shade of a palm tree. Can’t blame them for being plunged into widespread panic and running for the nearest bomb shelter. The false alarm underscores the real potential threat from North Korea. The emergency alert system needs a revamp with better fail-safe measures in place. Even the Japanese aired a false alarm with their news broadcast before it was retracted.
With heightened tensions between the U.S. and North Korea, it is not surprising Hawaii updated and tested its Alert system. Trump’s latest barrage of rhetoric just escalates more tension and fear. False alarms are bound to happen, but there should be safeguards in place. Quite a frightening lesson if he ever returns to office.
