Long ago and far away I had a minor role with bombing and navigation systems, then missiles, but nothing at all with pushing buttons that could wipe us all out in seconds. The urgency of those responsibilities have come and gone—being passed on from one lunkhead to another. That time is back, and little has changed about the nuclear standoff that now dangles like the Sword of Damocles over all our heads. As Trump builds his team of knuckleheads, it appears that Vladimir Putin has sensed a moment of weakness in our readiness. With a snap of his fingers, he could launch a nuclear attack on us, on NATO, and on virtually all of humanity. And he just might be holding the better hand, to use an old poker player’s adage.

With 61 days to go before a transfer of power, the upper most question floating around the world seems to be this: Will the world survive until January 20, 2025? The tentative answer is this: We have two loose cannons out and about, one with his nation’s nuclear codes in his briefcase, and the other with his head up his ass. The first person is Vladimir Putin. The other can barely breathe.

Nuclear weapons have changed little in the past 40 years. They were powerful then, and they still are powerful. The difference is mainly in the control, tracking, and monitoring systems. I am guessing that ours are deadlier and more accurate than Russia’s, mainly because we have put more money into updating our offense and defense over the years. We are also a signatory to the “no first strike” agreement. Russia is not. Russia is more likely to launch a massive attack, while our nuclear team ponders when and if to counter it. A nuclear explosion high over Kansas, for example, could knock out all our major communication channels. Both countries can launch from land, sea, or air—perhaps even from space.

The denoument is where the victors reside. Can we wipe them out before they wipe us out? Chances are probably about even that we both can wipe each other out on cue. The stand-off goes by the acronym “MAD,” or mutually asssured destruction. Putin behaves as if he is immune from being annihilated, while Trump hasn’t got a clue about this fuzzy detail.

Can Medicare Director-Elect, Dr. Oz save us? Please don’t ask. How about Tulsi Gabbard as head of all our major intelligence sources? Her loyalties seem to flow to whatever Humpty-Dumpty-Trumpty wants. That list is now 26 positions long, with the major objective of each new selectee holding firm at eliminating the very office he or she gets appointed to, and then sending all the savings to Elon Musk to apportion it in any way he sees fit as long as large chunks of it end up in his 15 companies with government contracts. That is about as much of the new math that he understands. He’s that South African import with 13 kids from 3 or 4 different wives.

But I digress. Pershaps huge wind mills positioned so that fallout from Putin’s electro-power climate control solution will blow high winds and all the radio-adtive debris into the neighboring Blue states. That should do the trick.

Oh yes. I forgot about Trump wanting the power to eliminate any not-for-profit company by merely saying “You’re fired.” It’s somewhere in his 2025 Study Guide.