Day 509

Day 509 Tuesday June 12, 2018 1,069 Days to Go

Hey, What’s Happenin’?

I’ve been busy. Went to what would have been my high school fifty year class reunion. I was switched to private school and these were my old classmates in public school. I gained back most of the weight I lost the week before, but I didn’t do anything really humiliating so all-in-all it was a success.
I drove my niece’s Audi to see an old friend and, I got to hand it to the Germans, I didn’t know you could make a simple thing so complicated. I couldn’t figure out how to turn the car on, or off, and it took me 15 minutes to figure out how to play a CD. No wonder the manufacturer insists you come in for three lessons to learn how to use the car.

But I digress. Big news! Summit with North Korea! Nobel Prize in the wings! According to our fearless leader it will be “very productive” and a “huge success”. What else do you need to know?

Okay, let’s review what Mr. Art-of-the-Deal has gotten so far? Nothing.
What has North Korea gotten? Everything they wanted.
Good job Donald. Way to go.

And this before the “productive talks” even started.

Aren’t you surprised that the right wing media hasn’t gone crazy calling Trump a Commie and so forth, like they did when Obama suggested he was willing to talk to Iran, Cuba, and or North Korea? Somehow the “Axis of Evil” by Barrack’s predecessor didn’t go over so well with those countries and the idea of diplomacy was an anathema to our red white and blue conservative media types then. Now? All that has changed. Donald will come home with … with … with what exactly?

Well it’s hard to say because he hasn’t done his homework, so it will be hard for him to ask for what this country wants. He has had no low level State Department or for that matter any department meetings and talks ahead of time so nothing is worked out. So what? He’s got a good brain, right? Am I right?

So he’s meeting with the North Korean leader with just translators in the room. What will they talk about? What will they decide? Who knows? Will anyone know for sure what was said and what was agreed upon? In a word – NO. Why? Both Kim and Trump are known liars, so there is no telling what will be said or decided upon. What each tells the world can’t be trusted and, as there will be no record of what was actually said, we will never know.

There are two things North Korea already got that Trump gave away for free and there is a third thing he will, I’m guessing give away.
Thing One – A summit with Kim. This makes Kim appear to be on a par with the U.S. He’s not, but the appearance and what will run endlessly on their media will be Kim with Trump and our flag and theirs side by side – equals.

Thing Two – The photo with Kim and Trump. He has accomplished what his father and grand father could not. This is a huge success for Kim.
What did we get? Nothing.

Thing Three – This is something Trump may give away in his “very productive” talks with North Korea. This sounds odd, until you understand the significance. Peace. A formal end to the war. Technically North and South Korea are still at war. To declare an end to the war sounds good on the surface. However, if North Korea still has all its missiles, troops, and hardware just over the DMZ ready to invade South Korea at any moment, then nothing is gained by declaring peace. What would be needed would be agreements on decreasing the troops and missiles they have at the ready to invade South Korea. This would mean that Mr. Trump would have to know this, and because he doesn’t pay attention in his daily intelligence briefings and because he, by his own admission, hasn’t studied anything about the situation, nor does he have any supporting personnel from State, the Pentagon, or the intelligence community he has no way of knowing even the most basic of things about the situation. Good brain be damned.

Yes, a peace treaty would be a good thing, but only if it is negotiated with the idea of decreasing the tension between adversaries. That would require a long term view with a roadmap. If Trump is unaware and he has no support or backup then such a thing seems hard to achieve.

Another thing that could be done would be to set up a mission in North Korea and invite them to set up one in Washington D.C. The North Koreans have been focused on the threat of invasion since the cease fire was signed 68 years ago. They have s siege mentality about it. Their people are constantly told that the U.S. is ready to strike at any moment. The South Korean president has finally gotten the North Koreans to understand that they don’t want to invade or overthrow the North Koreans. Naturally, John Bolton is no help in this matter.

The North Koreans do want an economy like South Korea, or some semblance of it.
Currently, their government is very restrictive and human rights abuses are many and horrible. The closest analog to them is Nazi Germany. Any real lasting peace would have to include improvements in human rights. The local population is hungry for news from the outside world. A mission in North Korea could put our people in contact with the local population and we could also be able to observe what is going on. It’s a first step.

Let’s return to the meeting between Kim and Trump. When Kim spoke it was the first time anyone in the west had heard his voice. He has an engaging smile, something not seen before. When he and Donald were sitting in the chairs, he looked very uncomfortable. As if he had not seen this much media attention before and was unsure how to act.

Let’s hope something productive comes out of these talks but …

One analyst summed up Donald as having transformed the presidency into reality TV.

The other thing was body language. The pictures from the G-7 conference said a lot about our president and his attitude and ability: arms crossed over his body in a defensive posture while Merkel was clearly socking it to him. Then there’s Kim’s discomfort at the summit.

1,069 Days to Go

PS My sixth grade class, 1962. The Korean cease fire had been in effect by then for nine years.
(I’m the smiling kid in the flannel shirt at the front end of the second row.)