It’s difficult to imagine even having these discussions but these are not normal times.  The topic is launching a nuclear strike and Donald Trump’s authority.  Yesterday, the U.S. General in charge of America’s nuclear arsenal said he would push back if Trump ordered an “illegal” nuclear strike.  CBS News first reported the remarks by Gen. John Hyten made  in Canada.  What exactly is legal and illegal was unclear but earlier in the week, an extraordinary hearing was held by the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee that was as much about telegraphing concerns as it was finding facts.  The issue was Trump’s authority to launch nukes.  “We are concerned that the President of the United States is so unstable, is so volatile, has a decision-making process that is so quixotic that he might order a nuclear weapons strike that is wildly out of step with US national security interests,” said Chris Murphy D-Connecticut.

According to USA Today, Senators from both parties were raising questions that hadn’t been raised in decades.   But this is a new and dangerous time when one careless tweet could set off a crisis.  Democrats have filed bills that would require Congress to declare an act of war before the president could launch.  That’s unlikely and some who testified were uneasy limiting the president’s authority.  But to raise the question says everything about where we are.