# McMullinism: Help me write a Letter to Editor

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcmullinism-help-me-write-a-letter-to-editor/793093>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [August 8, 2017, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcmullinism-help-me-write-a-letter-to-editor/793093 "2017-08-08T14:27:03Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2017, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcmullinism-help-me-write-a-letter-to-editor/793093/21 "2017-08-10T22:39:35Z")

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> [@Evan\_Drake](#):
>
> There is no possible chance of a Nuclear Exchange in the next 4 years. It’s just bluster, and both parties know where their bread is buttered.

I certainly hope you’re right. But bluster or not, he’s still threatening to nuke.

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**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\
**Post date:** [August 11, 2017, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcmullinism-help-me-write-a-letter-to-editor/793093/22 "2017-08-11T06:47:33Z")

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> [@Evan\_Drake](#):
>
> There is no possible chance of a Nuclear Exchange in the next 4 years. It’s just bluster, and both parties know where their bread is buttered.

The probability may be quite low, but it is non-zero.

Most statesmen view themselves as national leaders. Khrushchev, for example, even at the ripe old age of 70 had no interest in nuclear suicide — he was leading an ideology he hoped would persist for centuries. Similarly the leaders of India and Pakistan view themselves as national leaders, and are in no hurry to kill millions of their countrymen.

Risk of a spiteful nuclear attack exists when the “Button” is under control of a psychologically impaired individual whose only motives are personal, e.g. a man who, like John Lennon’s murderer, would put his own whims and quest for fame ahead of the interests of his countrymen.

This description applies to both Kim and Trump. (Trump may finally have adult supervision, but what if Bannon rises again?) The dangers are graver than many think.

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**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\
**Post date:** [August 11, 2017, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcmullinism-help-me-write-a-letter-to-editor/793093/23 "2017-08-11T07:10:08Z")

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> [@septimus](#):
>
> … Risk of a spiteful nuclear attack exists when the “Button” is under control of a psychologically impaired individual whose only motives are personal, e.g. a man who, like John Lennon’s murderer, would put his own whims and quest for fame ahead of the interests of his countrymen.
> 
> This description applies to both Kim and Trump. (Trump may finally have adult supervision, but what if Bannon rises again?) The dangers are graver than many think.

[Gen. Clapper, former director of national intelligence, also compares Trump to Kim](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_hnGtJTPlk). (In the clip, he calls Kim “rational”, though he does not apply this adjective to Trump.) He also points out that it is counterproductive to have Tillerson and Trump offering opposite responses to Kim.

ETA: [The North Korea regime is not standing down despite Trump’s bluster.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwQ6lWnFxBU)

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