It is hard to overstate the U.S. government’s incoherence with respect to an extremely fraught topic. President Biden declared last week that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power.” The White House immediately claimed this was not a call for regime change. But yesterday, Mr. Biden insisted he wasn’t backing away from his original comment, spinning it as “moral outrage” at Putin’s bloodletting.

Putin has reportedly relocated to one of his hardened underground leadership bunkers in the Ural Mountains. That may be due to paranoia about a coup d’etat. It’s consistent, though, with preparation for a preemptive nuclear attack.

Our PresentDangerChina.org webinar last week made the case that, given Russia’s ability to launch such strikes essentially without warning, it behooves us to increase the readiness of our deterrent forces. Joe Biden’s loose talk makes that not just prudent, but imperative.

This is Frank Gaffney.