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You are here: Home / Politics / Trumpery / Dolt 45 / North Korea Replies

North Korea Replies

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I said before the weekend, I think in a comment, that I expected North Korea to respond to Trump’s threat of nuclear war over the weekend. I was off by a few days.

Another all-tweet post, sorry. There should be a more readable form of the statement in a bit.

Reader Interactions

113Comments

  2. 2.

    Roger Moore

    @B.B.A.:

    The sad thing is, in this administration Pence is the smart one.

    The loser of a stupidity contest shouldn’t be considered the smart one.

  3. 3.

    terraformer

    That was more than a bit of verbal ass-kicking.

    I’m sure we’ll soon hear how Trump was never going to meet with KJU, and that this was an example the best US diplomacy by the best people.

  4. 4.

    MobiusKlein

    So you’re saying Doctor Strangelove was not a prono film? Better put it back on the watchlist.

  5. 5.

    MomSense

    This feels like it’s spiraling. We have arrogant amateurs in charge of incredibly complicated and dangerous affairs.

  6. 6.

    Major Major Major Major

    I’m upset by how satisfying that was to read.

    ETA Also, if the dang site is gonna keep wiping my email on mobile with each comment (I only see the remember me button on desktop), well, that sucks.

  9. 9.

    RepubAnon

    Perhaps if Mr. Pence returns to the North Korean border and stares resolutely at them again, North Korea will surrender. They’ve surrendered to Mr. Pence before, after all…

    PYONGYANG (The Borowitz Report)—In a major foreign-policy coup for the Trump Administration, North Korea offered to unconditionally abandon its nuclear program on Monday, after Mike Pence spent several minutes angrily squinting at the nation from just across the border.

    Warning North Korea that the United States had jettisoned its policy of “strategic patience” and that “all options were on the table,” Pence fixed his steely glare on the isolated Communist nation and began furiously staring it down.

  12. 12.

    Jager

    The North Korean equivalent of the notifications the big New York banks sent trump when they cut off his credit.

  15. 15.

    RepubAnon

    @terraformer: Not to mention another example of Mr. Trump’s superb negotiating skills. Look for his new book, “The Art of the Dotard”

  16. 16.

    Wapiti

    @B.B.A.: I’m not sure if Pence is smarter, and keeping his mouth shut some of the time, or if he’s just too dumb to get on Twitter by himself.

  17. 17.

    kindness

    It is truly sad to see that in this exchange it was the North Korean gentleman who actually showed more sophistication and experience than our own Pence & Bolton. We are truly being led by adults playing King of the Hill.

  19. 19.

    sdhays

    They should have mentioned the challenge coin. That level of absurdity should not be forgotten.

  22. 22.

    Cheryl Rofer

    A little bit of interpretation:

    In the previous communique, Bolton was targeted. Now Pence. They are trying to split Trump from his associates. I don’t think it will happen with Pence, who is fine with everything Trump. In any case, Trump said those words first, so the attack is indirectly at him. But Bolton, they might split off. I don’t think it’s the greatest strategy, but hey why not.

    I don’t know what the unavailable tweet here is, but what’s said is worthwhile.

  25. 25.

    Major Major Major Major

    @Baud: ‘twas Alain. I’m using the desktop version of the site on my phone (available at very bottom).

  26. 26.

    Platonailedit

    So, what happens to those stupid tacky coins now? A ‘collector’s item’ for his rabid racist base?

  27. 27.

    Duane

    So many things with Trump and his criminal cabal are unimaginable. The concept of negotiating all these deals, like they were super geniuses is dangerous as hell. Jarvanka has security clearance. They shouldn’t be near the White House. These clowns worry me. My apologies to clowns.

  30. 30.

    RSA

    @Roger Moore:

    The loser of a stupidity contest shouldn’t be considered the smart one.

    This is one of the most quotable comments I’ve ever read on Balloon Juice. Nice.

  31. 31.

    Peale

    @Baud: because the blog is asking you to call it by your nym. Your nym isn’t just yours any more.

  38. 38.

    Chet Murthy

    @Cheryl Rofer: Unavailable tweet? you mean the link in there?

    Truth be told, it was an absolutely moronic thing for Pence to say. Shouldn’t threats come AFTER things have gone sideways and not when you’re actually trying to bring a summit off? This isn’t complex IR theory. It’s basic good sense you pick up as a 12 year-old. https://t.co/wZqPYOyfug— Edward Oh (@EdwardHBOh) May 24, 2018

  40. 40.

    Cheryl Rofer

    @Baud: Yes, Trump’s stated desire for a Nobel Prize and his caving on several points give the North Koreans lots of reasons to hold firm. I really dislike the nuclear threats, though. In the past, world leaders have not felt it necessary to compare buttons this way.

  41. 41.

    White & Gold Purgatorian

    @B.B.A.: I don’t think Pence can ever be the smart one. No bar can be that low. Manafort and friends specifically picked Pence for his stupidity and lack of curiosity. As I recall, Trump seemed to be leaning toward Chris Christie and that had to be worrisome for his handlers. I dislike Christie intensely but believe he is nobody’s fool and has a good awareness of anything nefarious going on around him. Plus, a VP Christie would rat out Trump and Co in a heartbeat to put himself in the Oval Office. Just my opinion, but I think Pence’s stupidity was a feature, not a bug.

  42. 42.

    patrick ii

    When Bolton asserted the U.S. would implement the “Libyan” solution he was talking about what would happen if NK talks succeeded, not if they failed. If they failed then military strike . If they succeed then line like Libya regime change through other means and Kim Jung Un with a spike up his backside. Bolton wants war and was trying to break up talks.

  43. 43.

    raven

    I’m going to share the comments of the woman who lost in our district last night.

    Chalis Montgomery For Congress

    Today, there are those who are disappointed in the outcome of last night’s primary in GA-10. I’m not one of them.
    We truly did make history, running two women for a seat that has gone uncontested for ages. I am so pleased that my colleague, Tabitha Johnson-Green for Congress has succeeded in her bid to become the Democratic nominee.
    Many of the folks reading this right now consider themselves part of a larger resistance to policies which have helped the few and hurt the rest of us. I would urge you not to be selective in your resistance, choosing to support only your preferred candidate.
    Instead, let us acknowledge the nobility of the act of running for office, knowing that the strains of this endeavor are large and numerous. Let us acknowledge the humanity of every candidate who has chosen to run, and in so doing, lift up each other as well as the victor. Finally, in recognizing our shared humanity, let us allow the space to see this beloved community that is created when we can unify behind a just cause and its duly selected standard-bearer.
    Godspeed, Tabitha. I’m here when you need me, and always happy to lend a hand.
    To the rest, thank you from the bottom of my heart for your love, advice, and occasional admonishment. Stay tuned to this page for updates on our next adventure, coming soon!
    Always forward,
    Chalis

  45. 45.

    Brachiator

    Wow. I’m impressed with the language of this rebuke. The verbal imagery of the empty words of the Trump administration compared to vomiting or reaction to a very bad meal by a stupid child. Gushing, words being spat out, bad taste.

    Also, the rebuke focuses on Pence and Bolton, but does not specifically mention Trump.

    Leaving room for the summit to proceed, but rejecting team Trump’s negotiation points.

  47. 47.

    Aleta

    Talking about Libya and total rapid DN would be a good tactic if T wanted NK to walk away.

  48. 48.

    Baud

    @raven:

    Shouldn’t she have held off on her endorsement so she could negotiate a better platform from the winner, and then gotten her goons to protest the nominee all the way through the election?

  50. 50.

    Chet Murthy

    @Cheryl Rofer: Perhaps the author blocked you? Uh (gotta ask) did you try to view the tweet in an incognito window? That typically works for me when a “tweet is unavailable”. Though, I no longer login to twitter, so if a tweet is public, I’ll see it.

  51. 51.

    debbie

    @Baud:

    Go to your desktop and comment. There’s a little checkbox by the post button that will save your info. That will carry over to your mobile.

  52. 52.

    Steve in DUVAL!

    @Major Major Major Major:

    ETA Also, if the dang site is gonna keep wiping my email on mobile with each comment (I only see the remember me button on desktop

    You’re not good at taking hints, are you?

    .
    .
    .
    Zing!

  55. 55.

    cain

    @patrick ii:

    When Bolton asserted the U.S. would implement the “Libyan” solution he was talking about what would happen if NK talks succeeded, not if they failed. If they failed then military strike . If they succeed then line like Libya regime change through other means and Kim Jung Un with a spike up his backside. Bolton wants war and was trying to break up talks.

    A military strike will put us at odds with China who holds a lot of our debts. They will crush us financially and god knows what they’ve been doing while we’ve been busy and distracted with the Iraq War.

  66. 66.

    patrick ii

    @cain:
    I didn’t say a military strike is a good idea, but it is what Bolton wants. Also a strike on Iran, and probably parts of California.

  69. 69.

    J R in WV

    @raven:

    She is really something, isn’t she!!

    I hope the winner is as much better than this as the voters indicated — that would be amazing!!!

  70. 70.

    GregB

    I am back to my nagging fear that before these horrible people are done, there will be an unfathomable tragedy because of their arrogance, stupidty and bellicosity.

  71. 71.

    cain

    @patrick ii:

    I didn’t say a military strike is a good idea, but it is what Bolton wants. Also a strike on Iran, and probably parts of California.

    What does he think happens he starts these wars? Does he think that Gen Y is going to answer the call and fight? They’ll tell him to fuck himself and happily go to jail. Starting wars with two countries at the same time is insane. Plus you’re still in afghanistan. They’ll put the country in so much insane debt that.. Fuck.

  74. 74.

    Gin & Tonic

    For those who care, reports from Europe are that the Dutch JIT group (the official investigating body for the MH17 disaster) will be having a press conference tomorrow naming a specific Russian military unit as supplier of the Buk battery that shot that plane down.

  75. 75.

    tobie

    @Cheryl Rofer: North Korea has nothing to lose…either Trump caves to their demands because he so desperately wants a deal he’ll agree to anything or he gets irate and walks away from the summit, which would prove yet again that the US government’s word is not its bond with this clown at the helm. We’re the ones who are boxed in.

  77. 77.

    Mnemosyne

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    I’m still marveling at this:

    Yet Kim Jong Un stays above the fray, playing the adult in the room …

    KIM JONG UN is making himself look like the rational, reasonable leader when he’s compared to Trump.

    Jesus fucking Christ.

  78. 78.

    Steeplejack

    @Major Major Major Major:

    Re desktop site on phone:

    1. Is it readable? I have been using the mobile version on my phone for a long time and seem to remember the problem with the desktop site was that the text was way too small.

    2. Can you switch back to mobile if you want? Another problem I saw a while ago—but haven’t checked in a while—was that if you switched one way (can’t remember whether it was desktop to mobile or vice versa) you couldn’t go back. I would hate to switch to desktop on my phone, then not be able to get back to mobile if I hated it (desktop).

  79. 79.

    Chip Daniels

    @cain:

    Starting wars with two countries at the same time is insane.

    I am happy to stand corrected, but by my count we have forces in harms way in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, and Niger. I would bet money we are involved in hostilities in a few other places which are classified.

    We don’t call any of these “wars” until or unless it becomes convenient to do so. But we are essentially in that continuous war with Eastasia which we have always been engaged in.

  82. 82.

    Chip Daniels

    @GregB:

    I am back to my nagging fear that before these horrible people are done, there will be an unfathomable tragedy because of their arrogance, stupidty and bellicosity.

    And in my moments of pessimism, I think we are like the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1914.

  85. 85.

    Ken

    @Platonailedit:

    So, what happens to those stupid tacky coins now? A ‘collector’s item’ for his rabid racist base?

    I could readily believe that the entire summit was set up just to sell those coins. However, there’s no way that they planned to derail the summit just to drive up the value. That would require Trump to plan weeks in advance, and from all available evidence he doesn’t even know how he’s going to end whatever sentence he’s currently babbling.

  86. 86.

    The Lodger

    I’m on the mobile version of Chrome… my nym and email are showing up as always… here goes.
    ETA: so it works.

  88. 88.

    Doug R

    @Major Major Major Major:

    ETA Also, if the dang site is gonna keep wiping my email on mobile with each comment (I only see the remember me button on desktop), well, that sucks.

    Doesn’t your browser remember your comment settings from before? All my browsers do until I delete cookies on exit, then they autocomplete when I come back. How hard is it to remember your email-I guess that’s one reason I kept my nym simple.

  91. 91.

    Steve in DUVAL!

    @Doug R: unfortunately, US nym memory regulations are not as robust as Canada’s, so our mobile browsers don’t work properly. Maybe they work ok on Android, but honestly who cares about non-iPhone users?

  92. 92.

    Steeplejack

    Just did a test (mobile version of the site with Chrome on Android phone):

    Closed all Chrome tabs, closed Chrome, did a hard reboot of the phone (turned it off, turned it back on).

    Opened up a minty-fresh instance of Chrome. Went to Settings | Privacy | Clear Browsing Data and cleared “cookies and site data” for the last seven days, excepting Google, NYTimes and Weather.com but including WordPress.com.

    Opened up Balloon Juice in a tab. Entered my nym and e-mail address and posted a comment. No joy: nym and e-mail not saved. End of story.

  94. 94.

    Shalimar

    @sdhays: Brian Williams casually mentioned the other day that he collects government commemorative coins and he couldn’t recall one ever being issued before the event it was supposed to commemorate.

  95. 95.

    Frankensteinbeck

    So, North Korea pulls its five hundredth bait-and-switch, but this time Pence and Trump are such asshole dimwits that NK comes out of it sounding like the mature, reasonable negotiators. It should serve them well dealing with South Korea and China. Trump is going to sit on his thumb and spin. He was never going to contribute anything but idiot bluster anyway.

  98. 98.

    Chet Murthy

    ISTR Daniel Larison is terrible on domestic issues, but he really hit this one out of the park on North Korea

    It may be that administration officials are trying to anger North Korea so much that they call off the summit to save Trump from an embarrassing failure, or it may be that they are so clueless about the implications of their rhetoric that they don’t realize that they are jeopardizing negotiations with North Korea for the sake of silly soundbites.

    And he writes for Racist Paleocon Unka Pat Buchanan’s mag.

  101. 101.

    Platonailedit

    Ukraine paid ‘the fixer’ 400K to set up a meeting with the corrupt in chief and this pay for play didn’t even create a fucking ripple in the fucking msm.

  102. 102.

    Platonailedit

    Two meetings, two hours apart. Either these individuals are doing the same thing twice rather inefficiently, or they're doing something different in the first meeting than they are in the second meeting. https://t.co/FxLGYBP2Ew— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) May 24, 2018

  104. 104.

    Chet Murthy

    @Platonailedit: Damn. Laura Jarrett (don’t know her from Eve, but sheeite) bringin’ the pain:

    Finally confirmed – “The Meeting” is really 2 briefings at DOJ tomorrow – one at noon with Reps. Nunes/Gowdy and then followed by Gang of 8 + Gowdy at 2pm; if you are wondering why Nunes is carved out then you haven’t been paying attention; Rosenstein in attendance for all— Laura Jarrett (@LauraAJarrett) May 24, 2018

  105. 105.

    moops

    @Platonailedit:

    I would guess that the presence of Gowdy indicates that no high clearance material can be presented that is not already in the public space. Material is in the public space because Nunes has knowingly violated security protocols and the DOJ and FBI know it and can likely prove it now. Reading the tea leaves, I think they are serving Nunes an indictment. Kelly re-invited himself to try and stop it.

  107. 107.

    Peale

    @Platonailedit: goody is there because he’s the leader of the group in the house demanding a full investgation into the “political crimes” committed by Obama and the Hillary Campaign. My guess is that while the gang of 8 is being briefed, he’ll be put braying that he’s seen proof that Obama had Jarrett cover up Hillary email crimes and planted spies to hand Hillary the presidency while demanding that the e-mail case be brought to court.

  113. 113.

    NorthLeft12

    Choe Sun Hui and the DPRK government in general, could teach Deadbeat Donald and the rest of his idiot sidekicks more than a few lessons in diplomacy and insulting.
    That was some elegant and highly effective put down of Pence in particular.

    Really, was there anyone with any knowledge of Mike Pence that honestly thought he would not make a public ass of himself if he ventured onto the world stage?
    He looked like a complete doofus in Indiana, for pete’s sake. INDIANA!

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