'You have good time, Mike?'... 'I'd rather be in Israel.'
The irony, no doubt, was completely lost on the Americans. After provoking Russia into responding to a military attack launched by that nutcase Saakashvili during the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, then trying their level best to scare people away from participating in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, then pressuring international sporting bodies to ban Russian athletes from the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, then doing likewise to cast Russians as untermensch at the current winter games, there's some poetic justice in seeing the US deep state's manipulation of the cultural sphere bite it in the rear.
Pro-Trump pundits lambasted the US 'liberal media' for its allegedly fawning coverage of 'the Communist dictator's photogenic sister'. While the coverage was somewhat reasonable towards the North Korean regime - after all, how could media, globally, fail to notice this turn of events after the past year's bellicose rhetoric? - it was far from 'doing Kim's propaganda for him', and it's doubtful that US coverage was motivated by 'making the Trump administration look bad'.
For example, that preeminent ultra-liberal outlet, The Guardian, disparaged the peaceful overture with this headline: ''Humble' Kim Yo-jong has charmed the media, but the glow is unlikely to last'. The notion that coverage of the event was 'partisan' is also betrayed by this statement in a January New York Times op-ed from Obama's State Department Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, David R. Russell:
"It is fine for the South Koreans to take the lead, but if they don't have the US behind them, they won't get far with North Korea. And if the South Koreans are viewed as running off the leash, it will exacerbate tensions within the alliance."The obnoxious 'leash' Russell refers to is the one Korean-American historian Leo Chang Soon says, "South Korea has been under since Syngman Rhee flew into Korea on General Douglas MacArthur's plane to become the first president of South Korea on September 2, 1945."
So Trump, Pence, and the whole US government indeed appear foolish given that any protests they may raise against the two Koreas symbolically uniting under one Olympic flag amounts to the suggestion that North Korea had conspired to do so in order to 'drive a wedge between South Korea and the US'.
Things went from bad to worst-possible-scenario for the US when South Korean president Moon Jae-In subsequently hosted Kim Yo-jong at the presidential 'Blue House' in Seoul, the first such visit by a member of the Kim dynasty since the Korean War ended, and during which she handed him a formal invitation to meet with her brother in Pyongyang 'ASAP'.
Deep State warning lights all blinked red when this happened: Kim Yo Jong, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's sister, formally invites South Korean president Moon Jae-In to Pyongyang.
In the fallout that followed (think Hillary's Emails + Benghazi-gate + Uranium One... except that people actually went to jail), South Korean aides and ministers were arrested from November 2016 all the way through late March 2017, when Park herself was indicted. So the US Deep State was on notice that voters were about to swing 'left', which in the South Korean context meant electing a party that would be markedly less antagonistic towards its northern neighbor, which always increases the risk of peace breaking out on the Korean peninsula, and thus increases the risk of rendering the US' massive military presence redundant.
With South Korean elections coming up in May 2017, and likely to bring in - for the first time in over a decade - a pro-unification government in favor of engaging with the North Koreans rather than threatening to bomb them back to the stone age (again), US War Chief James Mattis set off on a 'reassurance' tour of East Asian vassals and tributaries. Landing in South Korea on February 2nd 2017, Mattis pushed for the installation of THAAD missile systems before the new future government could, inevitably, object to new 'facts on the ground'. Rex Tillerson followed suit with a civilian version of the tour, landing first in Japan on March 15th.
From February 11th, 2017 onward, North Korea began the first of 16 missile test launches that year - the most it has ever conducted in one year. This was almost certainly done with one eye on the political upheaval in both South Korea and Washington, and the US Deep State's efforts to contain the fallout of both.
Trump then declared on April 2nd 2017 that the US "would be willing to go it alone to restrain North Korea's nuclear weapons program should China fail to change the situation," which began the tit-for-tat insults between him and Kim, and the UN resolutions (further) sanctioning North Korea, thus generating the overall atmosphere of imminent Armageddon. If the ostensible strategic purpose of publicly bellowing 'fire and fury' at North Korea was meant to prevent it from acquiring nuclear weapons capable of reaching the US, then it apparently failed.
Then again, sabre-rattling over North Korea has always been a means to the end of surrounding China with US missile batteries, hence the need for an enduring 'crisis' over North Korea and serious US aversion to any moves towards a peaceful and unified Korea.
Remember that Trump started down this route just two days before reversing position on Syria and announcing that it had 'crossed the chemical weapons red line', which cemented the US strategy of doubling down on 'Plan B' by carving a piece out of Syria. The coincidental timing only underscores the political compromise Trump had to make; 'yield on foreign policy if you want to live, much less see through the end of your term and implement any of your election promises'.
At the time I wondered if Kim was indeed crazy - not because he might actually start nuking people, but because from a PR point of view he appeared to be hurting his chances of success with the incoming pro-peace government in Seoul. But actually, he was applying the rule that all countries must eventually grasp; that in this world any sovereign nation-state seeking to protect or advance its interests must acquire the credible threat of violence to make diplomacy successful. When everyone learns to 'speak softly, but carry a big stick', then, maybe, we can have something approximating world peace.
North Korea would of course lose in any serious conflict with the US, but not before thousands of US soldiers and possibly millions of US citizens, died too. It's doubtful whether any US politician, nor even its Deep Staters, would be willing to risk taking that kind of a hit to America's status as the Exceptional Nation, particularly given the US' chronically polarized political climate.
South Korea doesn't have that 'luxury': conflict on the peninsula is for her an existential matter. It's only by demonstrating just how much firepower North Korea has, and how far it is willing to go in using it, that South Korea is taking its northern neighbor seriously. Hence the friendly smiles in PyeongChang.
South Korean President Moon better watch out though - while it may be difficult for the CIA to get to Kim in the North, it would be a cakewalk for them to get to him.
South Korean president Moon Jae-In, second left, talks with North Korea's president of the People's Assembly, Kim Yong Nam, second right, during a performance of North Korea's Samjiyon Orchestra at the National Theater in Seoul. To the left of Kim Yong Nam is Kim Yo Jong, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's sister. This photo was shared with the media by the SOUTH Korean government, not the North.
Reader Comments
as yes. it is true. we have lost our way. and made a great many mistakes . I will grant you that.
from what high and mighty position do you post from sir?
why are you not helping us to promote individual Liberty sir?
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I'm pretty certain graeme15b's answer to your unfairly 'loaded' questions - [ in a fair discussion, "objectionable" as being 'compound questions' (implied half of question, e.g., "Just a date, please sir. WHEN did you cease being a violent member of the Communist Party?" (My example atually has multiple implied answers to unasked questions) ] again, I'd bet G15b's responses would be similar to both mine and yours:
#1. In my life away from SOTT, I do x, y and z. In my case, I honestly cannot go into details, but I know I fight the good fight, as much as one can do in a legal and non violent matter, which has been my lifetime approach. Beyond that, I can't give details.
#2. I occasionally try to awaken those who are not, but seem close enough to tip over to realizing just how naked the emperor is.
#3. I post comments here on SOTT, and rarely elsewhere.
(I recall one time, long ago, re-reading something I posted. (My attention called to it by someone else in a later article.) And I looked, and said to self, "Did I write that?" I apologized. I dare say you owe one here.)
R.C.
Why am i not helping us to promote individual Liberty?..., hmm, ok, to have any chance of promoting individual liberty, one must assess the situation as is, and not as wished. Any action, or counter action must be aware of the facts on the ground, so to speak. As long as individuals believe that the US is the exceptional nation, when it is clear to many around the world, that the US is exceptional for all the wrong reasons , humanely speaking, is just as dangerous as the willing destruction inflicted on many by the PTB. In fact, this belief actually supports this destruction. I support your quest for the US to live up to, and by the constitution,...however, the chances of this happening are so slim, as to be 'almost ' !!! impossible. Very sad. The UK... LOL.
Seriously though, just an observation as i see it mirrored, as it is. That's all.
Also, my posts about the US are intended for the goverment, deep state, etc. Not the American people who do not support these insane policies, like yourself, and RC for example.
How nice... for some. Plenty in 'your' country are sure to have never tasted that!
Our worlds stage is longtime pre-set on the STS principle: 'One Mans Gain is Another Mans Loss'. Any such 'Liberty' bestowed to you came at the expense of enslavement to another.
How warm and snug thou nights doth sleep...
It's use would permit patriotism to retain all the good qualities we like about it - love of country, kinship, pride in heritage, etc.
While chauvinism can be used for those bad things that 'spill over' from 'patriotism gone wrong' - misplaced pride that leads to uncalled-for aggression towards other nations, unmerited claims (for achievements that 'my country' didn't really invent or advance), excessive egotism that leads me to believe that international law or universally-recognized mores don't apply to me in 'X' situation because my country is 'exceptional'.
The dictionary definition is:
As with religion to mean 'religare' = 'to bind'... Like religion, a good thing quickly becomes bad when individuals within said 'bind' hand over responsibility of individuate higher-thought and self-determination to those that delegate the 'religate'.
I find it interesting the words "relegate" and "religate" are so similar...
Does "patriot" and "patriarch" share the same origin too?
(p.s. careful when using the word "enlightened"... It can apply to 4D STS remember)
Similarly, this dovetails quite well as a possible better usage when one might nowadays use a version of 'hubris', when 'chauvinism' might work better, but its 'male chauvinism' overuse/'typecasting' (pun realized as I typed it) can prevent a writer from using that valid word due to its unfairly attached subliminal meanings.
(Sorry. Should edit down, but am tired, folks.)
R.C.
Re 'Chauvinism' and entire above discussion.
I detect we are all a bunch of etymologiphile s, a word which should exist, but doesn't....yet. But it may become accepted soon enough, for as we know, in the end, usage controls.
Though the label/term might sound like some 'dweeb' who lives in a library cubical, etymology is most beloved by folks like us because it helps us to better communicate and widen the knowledge of others (STO) and learn more ourselves (sts to benefit our STO)
R.C.
I typed that, without thinking, but still aware of it (I can type fast and it allows my subconscious to scramble in there), but that was the reason.
Again, good eyes to notice it; for I always try to say what I mean and mean what I say and that was the reason for that oh so subtle difference.
Thanks for asking.
R.C.
I was going to write "Hilarious Headline!" but 'stranger' beat me to it.
Good one. Good article. May more awaken.
Re, Winter Olympics, I used to race some Super G's - insane fun - but I never got hurt - doing races, (lucky me) but I have had bad ACL injuries to one knee from a combo of surfing, then racquetball, then ski jumping, and have been under general anesthesia over 50 times, about 10 for orthopedic injuries.
Still breathing. I'm stoked.
R.C.