The "Nuclear Football" is a black briefcase that contains the codes needed to launch a nuclear attack, should the president decide to give the order while away from a fixed command centre.
Tom Ricks discovers - buried inside what sounds like an otherwise-turgid memoir by a retired general - that one of Clinton's aides lost it for a while:
He doesn't really explain what happened or who knew about it, except that the guy who was supposed to make sure once a month that an aide to the president had the codes kept getting the runaround, and putting up with it. It turned out that an aide to the president had misplaced the codes, and had no idea where they were. The situation only came to light when it was time to collect the old codes and replace them with new ones, and the aide apparently confessed...I am guessing that the story is about the nuclear "football" that a military aide carries. It made me wonder what happened to that aide. Also, what would have happened if the president had decided to launch a nuclear strike?
I like envisaging the all-staff email that aide might have sent around the office. And I wonder what happened to it? Maybe it's in a lost property office somewhere. Or stuck behind a filing cabinet.
Maybe the aide is staring at it going "this is so cool, and it's miiiiiiine".
Posted by: ejoch | October 18, 2010 at 03:15 PM
the all-staff email would have been fabulous. like those tedious emails the PAs in ad agencies send around before creative presentations, asking for art bags. "Hey guys! It's that time again - whoever has the nuclear codes can you PLEASE leave them by Lucy's desk by lunchtime today! IMPORTANT meeting later!!!! Byeeeee! L x"
Posted by: erin newby | October 18, 2010 at 04:11 PM
You know when you're at work and someone sends some tedious, waffling email, or spends 30 minutes drivelling about some unimportant subject- and eventually you snap and say, "for god's sake we're not dealing with nuclear launch codes here!"
well what do you person say if your office *does* deal with nuclear launch codes?
Posted by: ejoch | October 18, 2010 at 04:27 PM
peter
Or, there could have been this email from one the PAs:
"Would the person who left their nuclear launchcode briefcase in the staff kitchen again, please collect it ASAP! I am just SICK and TIRED of having to shift these launchcode bags out of the way whenever I want to microwave anything. Spare a thought for others, for a change, why don't you! If this happens one more time, I will take the briefcase down to recycling MYSELF!"
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