August 28, 2004

Nuk-u-lar Hellfire, Schmu-ku-lar Hellfire

So I was on the phone with the despicable, empty-headed capitalist running dog President, and he was all like (pursing lips in mock desperation) "Please don't kill me."

(Excerpts stolen shamelessly from The Poor Man and Demagogue)

Showing none of the alarm about the North's growing arsenal that he once voiced regularly about Iraq, he opened his palms and shrugged when an interviewer noted that new intelligence reports indicate that the North may now have the fuel to produce six or eight nuclear weapons.

Look, he shrugs what he means and means what he shrugs. Is he letting a playa play? Is he showing remarkable restraint in not hating the playa, but reserving judgment on the nuclear game? Is he pulling a Bobby Knight/Clayton Williams and likening the inevitability of nuclear proliferation to that of the weather's, and insisting that we sit back and enjoy it?

He said that in North Korea's case, and in Iran's, he would not be rushed to set deadlines for the countries to disarm, despite his past declaration that he would not "tolerate" nuclear capability in either nation. He declined to define what he meant by "tolerate."... "I don't think you give timelines to dictators," Mr. Bush said, speaking of North Korea's president, Kim Jong Il, and Iran's mullahs.

As for a matter of basic history, you don't think you do what? Was Saddam not a dictator? Was there not a timeline involved? At some point, you have to marvel at the genius this new modified pre-emption. This seems like a rational foreign policy if you were, say, Nepal. Countries whose arsenals of weapons had been destroyed a decade ago and who couldn't deliver the goods even if they had them should be invaded, bombed, and built back up again, but countries with actual ICBMs and nuclear weapons can be effectively deterred with missile shields. Then again, I guess Kim Jong Il never tried to kill his dad. I never fully take the Hamlet Factor into account when trying to explain a $150 billion morass.

But I guess trying to make sense of this sort of head-scratching buffoonery is pointless when you're dealing with a popular wartime President.




Posted by Norbizness at August 28, 2004 12:28 AM
Comments

brain...melting.....shoulders...shrugging...

Posted by: dexter at August 28, 2004 01:35 PM

Yep, it's fun to beat NK like a dusty rug. I'm noticing a pattern; I think Laser Cavity Guy leaves the closet light on so Kim won't materialize and nuke his socks, but he's just one of many. Let's call them... Or-Bloggers.

  • August '01: "Saddam who?"

  • August '02: "So what's your solution? Not invading Iraq? Can we take that risk?"

  • August '03: "I do admit that the failure of American forces to trip over, uncover, or be attacked by even one WMD submunition is troubling. Six or seven casualties a day, though... eh, whadaya? Quiet, war's on!"

  • August '04: "Shut the fuck up about WMDs, would you? What's your solution? Not to have invaded Iraq? I suppose you don't want to invade NK either, right, even though they definitely totally have WMDs? You know, it's people like you..."

    • North Korea is a pimple on China's ass, in more ways than one. Kim is China's problem. This is the part of international diplomacy where people don't come crying to the U.S. and the U.S. doesn't go kicking people's doors in just for kicks. It worked for centuries, and now that we're crippled, it had better start working again.

    Posted by: Mike D. at August 29, 2004 04:56 PM

    Dead by dawn! Dead by dawn!

    Posted by: NTodd at August 29, 2004 05:56 PM