To the Editor:
The least of our worries is not whether the outgoing president pardons unrepentant criminals, or to whom he awards the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Rather, consider the following: in the final days of Nixon’s presidency, Defense Secretary James Schlesinger had issued a set of orders that, if the president gave any military strike orders, or, God forbid, a nuclear launch order, commanders should check with him or Secretary of State Henry Kissinger before execution. Schlesinger feared that the president, who appeared out of touch with reality, might start a war, or initiate nuclear Armageddon.
Today [Friday, Jan. 8], the Speaker of the House of Representatives began discussions with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff regarding appropriate precautions that may be taken during the period before the inauguration.
God save the United States of America.
Sincerely,
Thomas D. Gotowka,
Old Lyme.