It is impossible to imagine why Democrats are panicked that Joe Biden is now in charge of the U.S. nuke launch codes. “Vesting one person with this authority entails real risks,” wrote 31 House Democrats. So they’re asking Biden to relinquish this sole military decision-making power the Constitution bestows on Presidents. (These no-Biden-nukes Dems want the Vice President and Speaker of the House to backstop the President’s decision to strike. So the Democrats’ reassuring nuclear fail-safes would be Kamala Harris and Nancy Pelosi.)

Likewise, it was inexplicable that a few days later Politico reported, “Bipartisan Senators Introduce Bill to Strip Biden of War Powers.” (Weirdly, Biden was fine with it, as Bloomberg headlined: “Biden Backs New War Powers Vote in Congress After Syria Strike.”)

This is all very bizarre.

Sure, Biden forgot the names of both his Defense Secretary, Lloyd Austin, and the Pentagon — “the guy who runs that outfit over there.” You know, the thing.

And sure, when asked at the cnn town hall what it’s like living in the White House, Biden admitted, “I wake up every morning, look at Jill, and say, ‘Where the hell are we?’” (The same town hall in which Biden claimed minorities “don’t know how to get online” and offered the cringeworthy confession, “Everyone knows I like kids better than people.)

And sure, after giving some brief public remarks that ended, “For God’s sake, wear a mask!” Biden then instantly forgot his mask on the lectern — and when chided by Vice President Harris, Biden strode back to retrieve it: “My mask!” he muttered to himself, “My mask, my mask.”

And sure, as Politico reports, Veep Kamala is the Oval Office point person. She wears the pants, you might say. “The day after the inauguration, Harris called the director-general of the World Health Organization to discuss the U.S. role in the global covid-19 response.” Kamala was the one on the official leadership calls with Canada’s Trudeau and France’s Macron, and she held “the first bilateral meeting of the new Administration between the U.S. and Canada.” And sure, as a European ambassador put it bluntly: “She [Harris] will be seen by everyone as a potential President in waiting. Much more than in previous Presidencies.”

But is all that reason enough to be terrified of Joe having The Button?

After all, Joe Biden couldn’t possibly believe that the ever-present President’s emergency satchel, often called “the football,” is an actual football, could he?

Could he?

Illustration ©2021 Mark Herron for The Limbaugh Letter