Trump, Being Played

ONE MUST GIVE CREDIT when appropriate. Surely even those among us who despise president Trump will concede that his approach to North Korea has a certain nobility of spirit, is more magnanimous than previous "little rocket man" approach. All that, however likely its ultimate futility. It is extremely easy to imagine how republicans would have reacted had Barack Obama taken the exact same approach as Trump, meeting with the dictator, and all that. Obama would have been lynched, just as he was concerning the nuclear agreement with Iran. He would have been accused of being North Korea's puppet, of being played by North Korea, of practically giving them license to maintain their nuclear arsenal. You know that as well as I do. But since Trump is the one playing the patsy, his fans are calling for him to receive the Nobel Peace prize. Too funny. But not so fast. The Secretary of State had but barely boarded his plane to leave North Korea, when the Koreans described his visit as "regrettable", and his behavior as "gangster-like". This, in apparent reference to the fact that the United States is pressing perhaps a bit hard for the immediate and complete elimination of the nuclear stockpile in question; the North Koreans would prefer a more incremental approach. So, until further notice, it appears that all truly is as we suspected, and we are no closer to getting them to disarm than we ever have been. How surprising. The president may have to wait just a bit longer before accepting his Nobel prize.