Partisan politics may dictate that the never-Trumpers criticize Trump’s dealings with the North Korean dictator, but so far, his success is undeniable.
Pre-Trump, the free world worried that as soon as he was able to, the Little Dictator from North Korea was going to push the button and hurl us all into nuclear hell. In fact, everyone thought that he was such a nut that he would insist on pushing all of the buttons himself, like a little kid who didn’t want to share his toys.
After two historic meetings, albeit one cut short because of unrealized immediate progress, it doesn’t exactly feel that way these days. The one with the funny hair (the shorter one with the funny hair) may still be viewed by many as crazy, but by agreeing to engage the west, a reality made possible by Trump alone, it’s going to be more difficult to label Kim Jung Un a total looney. Trump showed Kim the writing on the wall, and Kim seems to have read it.
Kim’s willingness to meet also showed a radical ratcheting down of former Korean Chairmanship (his father and grandfather) paranoia, that the U.S. had plans to invade any day now.
What past Presidents have accomplished in U.S.-N.K. relations since the end of the Korean War have paled in comparison to what Trump has done in just two short years, even after…and maybe because of…Trump’s loud and at the time seemingly reckless bluster against Kim, Trump’s “My button is bigger than yours!” declaration.
At the time, everyone held their breath (including Trump supporters), thinking that maybe he went a little too far on this one, that this will lead to chaos and war. We had all been trained so hard and for so long to fear North Korea, for decades, that it made everyone uncomfortable and fearful. Trump, on the other, wasn’t afraid, and damn, was he ever right. Whether you characterize his behavior as foolhardiness or confidence and bravery (I insist on the latter), it doesn’t matter. Kim backed down and agreed to talk.
Kim’s get-togethers with Team Trump were every bit as ground-breaking as Nixon’s 1972 trip to China. Why the media, and I include conservative media in this, haven’t blown the horns louder or spent more time talking about this remarkable achievement really surprises me. Even with a setback here and there, questions about where future negotiations will lead, suspicions about 100% verifiability of agreements, we’re still light years ahead of 2016 when it comes to peace in the region.
Of course, when discussing North Korea, it’s always important to remember that we’re discussing North Korea. If that sounds kind of redundant and ridiculous, of course, it is, as is the country itself, which is so out of phase with 21st Century truth, common sense, and morality that it defies understanding. There are tribes living in mud huts in Africa and eating zebra who are deeper in touch with modern day realities than the North Korean leadership, and they eat a lot better than them too. (Zebra is tastier and more nutritious than grass!)
This all comes from three generations of Kims, but can this third Kim steer the country in a more progressive (forgive my use of the word) direction? Does this Kim want to? And can he?
For now, it doesn’t matter, because he’s the only Kim we’ve got and we can’t choose our enemies. We have to deal with him, and we have to deal with him differently than we would other adversaries. That’s simply how geopolitics work; we sometimes have to treat the worst offenders of human rights better than those who transgress less so to achieve change, to achieve our objectives. So arguments of “How come we’re doing this with so and so and that with so and so” don’t hold much water in my book. Every case is different.
I attribute much of the advance in U.S.-N.K. relations from the fact that Trump and Kim are so much alike. Huh, you think!? Alike!?
Well, think about this:
Both come from dominant families in their home countries, families of wealth and power. Both are not exactly well loved around the world. Both want power and prestige on the world stage. And both want to do big business in big ways.
I also sense a fascinating father-son karma between the two, an affection even, that just pops out from the news coverage. Throw away the official government statements, look at the two interacting, and it’s just there.
Of course, I take this all back if tomorrow, Los Angeles is hit with a missile labeled DPRK, but I don’t see that happening any time soon, and I prefer to focus on this new optimism, and the new Trump-Kim connection. I just wish the media would talk more about it, and give them both more credit than they’ve been getting.
