the football

If the president (who is commander-in-chief) ordered the use of nuclear weapons, he or she would be taken aside by the "carrier" and the briefcase opened. A command signal, or "watch" alert, would then be issued to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The president would then review the attack options with the aide and decide on a plan, which could range from a single cruise missile to multiple ICBM launches.^{[citation needed]} These are preset war plans developed under OPLAN 8010 (formerly the Single Integrated Operational Plan). Then, using whatever communications technology the satchel contains, the aide would presumably^{[citation needed]}make contact with the National Military Command Center or, in a retaliatory strike situation, multiple airborne command posts (who likely fly Boeing E-4Bs) and/or nuclear-armed submarines.^{[citation needed]}

Before the order can be processed by the military, the president must be positively identified using a special code issued on a plastic card, nicknamed the "biscuit".^[5] The United States has a two-man rule in place, and while only the president can order the release of nuclear weapons, the order must be confirmed by the Secretary of Defense (there is a hierarchy of succession in the event that the president is killed in an attack).^[5] Once all the codes have been verified, the military would issue attack orders to the proper units. These orders are given and then re-verified for authenticity. It is argued that the President has almost single authority to initiate a nuclear attack since the Secretary of Defense is required to verify the order, but cannot legally veto it.^[6][7][8]

This is something I looked up after reading Old Dog's thrilling narrative about the secret cabal that disposes of the Prez when he fucks up real big league.  So when the Chinese or maybe the Iranis or even if there should be a lover's quarrel between Dumbo and Putin, and he's mad as hell and not going to take it anymore, what can prevent him from doing a replay of the closing credits of Dr Strangelove?

I suppose those guys who lug the football around could just say damn, we had it a minute ago, or distract him by telling him something bad Rosy O'Donnell had said about him and then egg him on with his tweets as the thought of Armageddon. slips out of his short fingers and his short attention span. Failing that it is up to this Mad Dog guy, who pundits tell me is not as nuts as his name implies. so maybe there is some hope there.  Failing that we are at the duck and cover technology that we learned in the first grade.

Speaking of liars I am reminded of a couple bosses I had when I worked for the state.  Both were slick talkers but D was a little slower, because his words were going through the sieve of his mind, everything was slanted towards what could he say that would best advance his agenda.  If you asked him if it was raining or not, even in that there was as possibility that one answer would better advance his agenda and that was the one that was chosen.  P, the faster talker, was more intuitive, whereas D
 had to be aware of how what he said would effect Objective Reality she didn't even take it into consideration, I don't think she believed in OR, I believe she believed deep down that her saying so would make it so.

I agree with Beagles that a lot of the people who voted for Dumbo, just thought of him as like their uncle Ed, who was full of shit, but not necessarily a bad guy for all that,  Even as they were voting for him they weren't sure he was going to build that wall, and didn't care all that much if he didn't.  Ah they all lie, I'm sure you've heard that said about politicians, I've probably said it myself, so what's the diff? They just liked to see him sticking it to the Man, and if the country goes down to hell in a handbasket so what, those fancy pants characters had it coming.  Now that the fancy pants characters are being put into Dumbo's cabinet, and even more alarmingly the Russkies are being cozied up to I keep waiting for Joe Sixpack to awake with alarm, but so far nada.

I don't know why you guys keep harping on those conscious computers after I have told you no such thing is likely, but nevertheless say if they did, if they were strictly logical they would have no moral compunctions,  We carry our morality in our genes, but of course we are also capable of great evils, so I guess the programmer will determine if they are evil or not, but I don't see how you can ascribe good or bad to a toaster.  

As you know i don't believe in free will for people so why am i going to believe in it for computers.;