"Dear China, as you know decades of under investment in our conventional forces have left us unable to fight you in a conventional war. We do, however, have approximately 5,200 nuclear warheads left over from when our leaders weren't godless communists, no offense intended, which we will use in the event you insist on starting hostilities. Better dead then red."
Sticky for the very serious point Ro Khanna made. This alone would be catastrophic if we got into a serious kinetic fight/war, with Russia or China.
Two words:nuclear deterrent.
"Dear China, as you know decades of under investment in our conventional forces have left us unable to fight you in a conventional war. We do, however, have approximately 5,200 nuclear warheads left over from when our leaders weren't godless communists, no offense intended, which we will use in the event you insist on starting hostilities. Better dead then red."