The following article by John T. Bennett was posted on the RolL Call website October 27, 2017:
From North Dakota, warnings for North Korea
White House officials on Friday seemed intent on bucking tradition by not making news. But 1,600 miles away, Vice President Mike Pence did so after getting a close-up look at the U.S. nuclear arsenal, warning it would be deployed in “overwhelming” fashion if North Korea strikes first.
“Now, more than ever, your commander in chief is depending on you to be ready,” Pence told personnel at nuclear-armed Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota.
In Washington, the White House was uncharacteristically still. A West Wing chimney filled the North Lawn area with the autumnal aroma of burning firewood. But there was no conflagration at the daily press briefing, as Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders provided few details about how much President Donald Trump wants Congress to provide to fight the opioid epidemic, which on Thursday he declared a “national health emergency.” Continue reading “Quiet Day at White House Leaves Pence a Nuclear Stage”