As we wait for actual news to come out of the initial bilateral meeting between the President and Kim Jong Un with only interpreters present, just a few thoughts of what to look for as the evening/night here in the US wears on.
- The initial bilateral meeting is only the President, Kim, and interpreters. No note takers. This is significant and may lead to completely different read outs of the meeting. With the US presenting a read out that indicates the meeting went one way and the DPRK releasing one that contradicts it. Or, as has been the case so often, the US not releasing a read out until forced to because the other party to the meeting released one that cast the President in a bad light. Or details leaked from within the administration that did the same thing. This is why you never go into one of these meetings without your own interpreter and your own note taker!
- It has been reported that the communique has already been written and agreed to. While this isn’t all that uncommon, it will be interesting to see how different the communique is from either or both of the read outs, let alone the leaks, from the initial bilateral meetings or from whatever the President tweets once the summit is over.
- Earlier today it was reported that Secretary Mattis was unsure if a reduction of US forces in South Korea is on the agenda for discussion. While I doubt that Secretary Pompeo would have allowed it to be part of the structured discussion in the second meeting, given how the President operates it is one of the potential wild cards that could throw everyone for a loop.
- Despite stating otherwise on Friday before leaving for the G7 summit, the President will not be bringing up the DPRK’s human rights issues, so don’t expect that to be addressed in the read outs or the communique.
- It was reported last week that Kim’s envoy, Kim Yong Chol, pitched a development opportunity to the President when he met with him last week in the White House. Specifically a casino development project in the DPRK. If this is indeed an accurate report, then the Trump Doctrine, “I will be treated fairly or else”, is in play. (I’ll have more on the Trump Doctrine tomorrow in regard to Jeffrey Goldberg’s article in The Atlantic. The Bottom Line Up Front is that Goldberg has mistaken sloganeering for a strategic narrative.)
- Keep in mind that Kim has already gotten what he needed out of this summit. He’s meeting with the President of the United States; he got to go out on the town last night; a possible invite for a follow on summit in the US – either at the White House or Mar a Lago – has been floated by the President; rumored assurances of his regimes survival and significant economic aid. Up to this point Kim hasn’t had to do anything he wasn’t going to do anyway in exchange for all of this.
- Watch to see if the schedule is stuck to or if the initial bilateral meeting between the President and Kim runs late.
Stay frosty!
Open thread!
Adam L Silverman
And they’ve just come out. So running pretty close to on time.
rikyrah
I absolutely hate everyone that has brought us this farce?
Mike J
On twitter people spotted the guy carrying the football. Just think, if Kim gets his “denuclearization of the Korean peninsula” that guy won’t be allowed at a meeting in Korea.
Right?
Omnes Omnibus
I am going to need to get this through a filter. I cannot watch.
Corner Stone
@rikyrah: We look so fucking stupid.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Adam L Silverman: IIRC, they both have planes to catch.
James Powell
@Omnes Omnibus:
Right there with you. I will not be able to absorb the shock of the press/media fawning.
Corner Stone
Trump just blathers but KJU is very precise in his language. What a shocking difference for the world to experience.
Omnes Omnibus
@rikyrah: Right there with you.
Corner Stone
Why isn’t Chris Hayes in Singapore so he can get rolled in a whole other country?
lamh36
Nope…nope…you ain’t gonna make me watch this farce Adam S!
So instread ima talk movies…and I’ll wait for what I am sure will be a detaild analysis of what comes out from either you or Cheryl.
Alright, movie trailer news.
Now ya’ll know I don’t do horror films…but I do love me some Jamie Lee Curtis, and I’ve always had a soft spot for Halloween. I thoroughly enjoyed this trailer, and it might actually be the 1st horror film I’ve seen in theatres in YEARS!
BTW. make of it what you will, that I’d rather watch a horror film trailer than watch this real-life horror showing going on now w/Chump and NK…
Halloween(2018) https://youtu.be/ek1ePFp-nBI
Adam L Silverman
@rikyrah: All I did was write this blog post…//
Adam L Silverman
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I’m pretty sure they get to fly stand by. As in the planes stand by for them.
Mr. Kite
MNKGA!
Omnes Omnibus
@lamh36: Could we just have some Meters instead?
The Dangerman
Oh, yeah, that’ll bring in the tourist dollars (and I don’t know of any casino that succeeds or fails on locals alone).
Jeffro
@Corner Stone:
Oh, you mean that one of the world’s worst dictators, the leader of one of the world’s truly rogue states is able to stick to his strategy by simple effort of sticking to his talking points and optics? While Grandpa Mango rambles on and on like a second grader winging the oral presentation part of his book report?
Yeah…this is just great.
Barbara
I wonder how Otto Warmbier’s parents feel about this.
Dorothy Winsor
@lamh36: Everyone in my twitter feed is really pissed off tonight. I mean, more than usual, even for twitter.
M4
I wonder if those awful super lefty people down the street are flying the NK flag again.
@Dorothy Winsor: was on the phone with a friend earlier and he said all his FB friends were unusually pissy too.
Adam L Silverman
Someone is sleeping on the sofa tonight:
different-church-lady
@Mike J: KIM: “We give you lovely USB powered fan! Is so hot in meeting room. You have USB port?”
TRUMP: “Hey, didn’t you people tell me there’s a computer in that football briefcase thing?”
Adam L Silverman
Villago Delenda Est
Re: the media. My nym. Again and again.
Wipe them out. All of them.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Barbara: I saw the other day that Mike Pence has called them to assure them their son’s death won’t be in vain. I imagine parents in that situation would cling to any story no matter how far removed from reality, but I can’t imagine they weren’t struck by the Beast calling their son’s murderer an honorable man who treats the hostages he takes excellently (IIRC)
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Adam L Silverman: their bed is too close to the rafters Kellyanne hangs upside-down from?
eemom
WTF?? This was “historic” on the last thread.
different-church-lady
Why does Trump look like Ted Koppel after a couple of cases of beer every day for 15 years?
Raoul
Adam L Silverman
@different-church-lady: You never see them together…//
Corner Stone
@Dorothy Winsor: I guess I’m not sure why?
Jeffro
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: “Our son died…so that Mr. Trumpov could fly over and shake that monster’s hand with our flag next to theirs in the background? And I understand Mr. Trumpov is interested in helping them build a hotel? Oh okay…our son for a hotel development deal plus a photo op…good deal.”
If only they could get the family to speak at the 2020 DNC…(only for Trumpov to rev up his base bashing them for being ‘haters’, while #NeverTrumpers tweet that ‘this is not our party’)
TS (the original)
@Omnes Omnibus: right there with both of you
eemom
@Barbara:
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
My heart breaks for that young man, and his mother, and the rest of his family; but AFAIC his father can comfort himself with the memory of how he sucked up to trump and pence and gratuitously dissed Obama.
M4
@M4: update: yep, flag is up.
Platonailedit
Meanwhile in the real world, the corrupt doj is doing its damnedest to redefine emoluments clause in traitor’s favor. Kay was absolutely right. Every accountability safety net is being shredded right out in the open.
Barbara
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: They aren’t even talking about improving human rights so as per usual it’s just grift and fraud all the way down.
TS (the original)
@eemom:
Argued against by me. Nothing historic about this sh!t show
Vhh
So Trump gets a publicity rush and maybe a ritzy hotel deal in exchange for not mentioning the deaths of millions of Koreans in the NoKo gulag, the systematic kidnapping of Japanese teenagers over decades, and the beating (or whatever) death of American student Otto Warmbier. And the GOPers cheer. Will we ever get tired of so much winning?
Barbara
@eemom: Right. No doubt it will be still Obama’s fault that KJU killed their son.
Cheryl Rofer
Percysowner
Donald Trump Tweets: Larry Kudlow Has Had A Heart Attack
The Ancient Randonneur
Kim Kardashian handling criminal justice reform, Dennis Rodman involved in international relations, and a loudmouth know nothing reality television star as President? Jesus Babbling Christ, you can’t even make this shit up!
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@eemom:
I cited the fucking dictionary to you. Historic isn’t always good
? Martin
Honestly, if we get out of this without Trump gifting California to NK I’ll consider it a victory.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
from other parts of the world
Mike J
Omnes Omnibus
OT: The other day someone posted a link to Frank Turner’s 1933 which is brilliant, but I think his Make America Great Again is even better.
Adam L Silverman
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I’m reading it now. I’ll have more on it tomorrow.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
No puppet no puppet, you’re the puppet!
MomSense
Our country is diminished after the last few days. First the tantrum in Canada and now this farce.
Mary G
That Goldberg article says the new foreign policy is “We’re America, Bitches.” Lovely.
Cheryl Rofer
Not seeing any indication of content of the talks, although presumably Trump has decided this is a guy he can make a deal with.
lamh36
@Cheryl Rofer: someone on another blog pointed out just how many HIPAA violations Chump made in just that one tweet…smh
Chump breakin’ laws…who’s surprised
Dorothy Winsor
@Corner Stone: Me either, though I’m crabby after watching that farce in Korea after the G7 fiasco. Sometimes it’s just a lot.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Mary G:
Our new foreign policy is incoherent, blustering jingoism. Just like any third rate dictatorship.
Cheryl Rofer
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@lamh36: sounds like the tweet went out before Mrs Kudlow knew anything– classy, smart
eemom
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
It’s past your bedtime.
Mai naem mobile
@Barbara: they can talk to white man Trumpov and kiss his big orange ass because the blackit black guy was awful and didn’t find the solution to a problem created by something stupid their son did and Kim Jung Un took advantage of quite cruelly.
Adam L Silverman
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: The actual details in the article is far less shocking:
So it isn’t exactly that they provided their leadership profile of President Obama and dossiers on him and his senior officials that could be used to blackmail them. At least according to Entous’s reporting. Given who we’re dealing with here, Netanyahu and Dermer (fucking traitor), I wouldn’t put that past them though. Dermer grew up marinating in right wing Jewish politics in South Florida. There aren’t a lot of those folks, but they’re uniformly true believers. He has long time ties to the GOP as a former GOP operative before he made aliyah and became an Israeli citizen. So none of this surprises me. The next Democratic president should 1) persona non grata him and 2) yank his dual American citizenship. He should never be allowed to set foot on US soil ever again.
eemom
@Cheryl Rofer:
You should take the opportunity to grab some more popcorn and compare the size of the motorcades again.
Adam L Silverman
@Mary G: No, Goldberg quotes a senior administration/White House official who told him that was the Trump Doctrine. It isn’t a doctrine, it is a slogan. Just as the other things that Goldberg was told, which include “we upset everything in the global system so no one can challenge the US”. This is also not a grand strategy/strategic narrative, it is a tactic. Goldberg is a stenographer. He is also not too bright. And, based on what he wrote in his own book about his service in the Israeli prison system as a guard with rank equivalent to a corporal, a self admitted war criminal.
Raoul
@MomSense:
Yep. To the extent that the Trump Admin ever plans anything, this 1-2 punch for MAGA and against anything sane or rational is going exactly as nihilists have been dreaming. All to own the libs (here and in effete Europe and mild and kindly Canada, among other more-or-less democratic and humanistic places).
Brachiator
@Cheryl Rofer:
After all the show biz pageantry, I can’t see Trump walking away and saying “no deal.” Whatever has been proposed is probably enough to give Trump something to brag about. Whether the agreement is substantial is another matter.
Are we supposed to hear any outline or summary tonight?
And Trump supposedly is leaving later today (Singapore time) and no doubt will be banging away on his Twitter machine.
Raoul
@Cheryl Rofer: “presumably Trump has decided this is a guy he can
make a deal withbe rolled by, via a belly rub and some praise.” FTFY, but I know you know that, of course!Doug R
@Cheryl Rofer: I see some of Trudeau’s voodoo dolls are working.
Cheryl Rofer
@eemom: There are a lot of things to be upset about in the Trump and Kim governments. I think that we need to understand them if we’re going to do something about them beyond condemnation.
Cheryl Rofer
@Brachiator: I think we may have something substantive by tomorrow morning. And tweets.
Mike G
Trump has turbocharged the arrogant stupidity of GW Bush’s lazy “Ah go with mah gut” deliberate non-preparation.
gene108
I bet Kim gave Trump direction to set up forced labor camps for political opponents, which the DoJ is furiously trying to now implement.
Also explained to Trump how he can be worshipped as a leader, no matter what, and how to hand the government over to his kids and grandkids.
That’s why Trump agreed to this. He wants to turn us into a North Korea style dictatorship
Raoul
@Adam L Silverman: Oh my g-d. “We upset everything in the global system so no one can challenge the US” is patently childish and absurd. Calling his staff third-rate would be an insult to those of modest competence.
I hate to even divert to any pretense of policy analysis, when the most effective route is mockery, power mobilization and eventual smashing of the Trump apparatus while wasting no time analyzing the chaff they spit out.
But. Disruption only guarantees change. It may very well not predict advantage.
What a flaming bowl of morons we suffer under.
Omnes Omnibus
@gene108: Well then, he is fucked.
Platonailedit
@Cheryl Rofer:
Given the horrible track record of both (especially the twitler turd’s just in the last 24 hours), that’s a fool’s errand.
Calouste
@Cheryl Rofer: Considering Huckabee Sanders said that, it probably means they’re scrambling to find a priest for the last rites.
Cheryl Rofer
@Platonailedit:
Sun Tzu:
? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?
@eemom:
Thanks for the condescension
TenguPhule
Trump regimen immutata est in morte
Adam L Silverman
@Raoul: It is what it is. That’s why Goldberg got it wrong in the limited analysis he did. There is no Trump Doctrine in what he was told by his contacts. Just slogans and, at best, tactics. Kahl has a very detailed, four part delineation of the Trump Doctrine. His second point is, using other terms, my entire delineation. I think Kahl has overthought this and tried to make it too much within the boundaries of International Relations theory and scholarship. The other end of the spectrum are what Goldberg was told and what was said by Lewandowski when asked about this last year. Lewandowski’s explanation of the Trump Doctrine is that it is America First and Make America Great Again. Here too this is just sloganeering. Not that I expect much more by a sandwich shop manager with delusions of grandeur. Finally, there are some who argues there’s no Trump Doctrine at all. It’s just all reflex and reaction. I think these folks do a disservice. I don’t disagree that the President is not a reflex and reactionary responder to events, but it ignores what the President tells us repeatedly: it’s about being treated fairly. He said it over and over before leaving for Canada last Friday. He tweeted it repeatedly over the weekend when Trudeau got under his skin. When someone is sending the same message over and over and over with the volume turned all the way up, you need to listen.
TenguPhule
@MomSense:
Or as we call it now, Infrastructure week.
Omnes Omnibus
@? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: You gave her an opening.
TenguPhule
@Cheryl Rofer:
Succumb Faster, Donald!
TenguPhule
@different-church-lady:
Good genes, only the best! //s
Gin & Tonic
Another very long day ends with another cocktail at The Dearborn. When you find a good saloon, why change?
Platonailedit
@Cheryl Rofer: At this point, everything that needs to be known, is already known. Very publicly. So, that sayism is quite meaningless.
Ohio Mom
@Barbara: Fred and Cindy Warmbier are registered Republicans. They publically criticized how the Obama administration tried to deal with Otto’s kidnapping and have previously voiced their support for Trump.
In other words, Karma, baby!
ETA: I see that eemom and some others got there first
Raoul
@Adam L Silverman: Oh, I think his personal doctrine of “being treated fairly” is very much at the heart of things. Its just that what he sees as fair is so gobsmackingly petty/stupid/wrong/ignorant/specific to him/undergirded by his own greed and or narcissism that the word ‘fair’ loses meaning if applied outside the single-user definition.
Adam L Silverman
@Raoul: Pretty much.
M4
@? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: I’m so old I remember when you apologized to her for being a little rude.
Omnes Omnibus
@? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: May I offer you some advice?
danielx
In other news, it has been revealed to me that my true life’s purpose is admitting cats to and from the back porch.
Could be worse, I could be Charles C. Johnson or James O’Keefe.
Gin & Tonic
@Ohio Mom: I think I should feel some sympathy for them, but I just can’t work up the energy.
Vhh
@Percysowner: Great news. Hope he croaks soon. Kudlow is the idiot who attacked Krugman. Then the market tanked and Krugman won the Nobel Prize.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
so old I remember when restoring honor and dingnitude to the Oval Office was half the Republican presidential platform
M4
@Vhh: if every idiot who attacked krugman had a heart attack the world would be a better place.
Mary G
O/T but this makes me so happy – Hillary comes out against Wilmer and the bros in a very specific statement.
Love her bulldog tenacity. I’m still with her.
danielx
Larry Kudlow has heart attack.
Paging Jude Wanniski…..oh wait….
ETA: late as usual I am, and not even stylishly so.
Corner Stone
@Cheryl Rofer: Every time I see someone quote Sun Tzu I am immediately reminded of Wayne speaking Cantonese in Wayne’s World.
Adam L Silverman
@Mary G: That interview was from last September.
Platonailedit
West of the Rockies
@The Ancient Randonneur:
Chachi is a kingmaker!
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@M4:
No good deed goes unpunished apparently
@Omnes Omnibus:
What’s that?
Cheryl Rofer
@Platonailedit: Wow! You’re way ahead of me!
Omnes Omnibus
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??: It is too late.
Ohio Mom
@Gin & Tonic: Yes, something shitty happened to their family. Before and after that event, they have consistently voted for people who make shitty things happen for lots of families. They are well-to-do, they probably gave money to those candidates as well.
I can’t hate Republicans and make exceptions for the likes of the Warmbiers.
Mai naem mobile
Trumpov’s face looked swollen to me. Did anybody else think that? I wonder if it’s a health issue or not having his normal make up/tanning stuff done. Or side effects of meds they’re giving him.
Corner Stone
I must have dropped into a different episode of House Hunters than Cole is watching. Are they shown regionally?
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Omnes Omnibus:
I’m a firm believer that nothing is too late.
jonas
Remember how Obama restoring ties with Cuba w/o demanding war crimes trials for the entire Castro regime was the biggest sellout and humiliation for America in the history of the universe?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Corner Stone: he bought the boxset
@jonas: seeing some rightwing whataboutism. I must’ve dozed off when Cuba got nukes and harassed Mexico (and maybe Florida) by shooting missiles over their territory
Ohio Mom
@Omnes Omnibus: I am beginning to wonder if Goku isn’t experimenting with enjoying one too many nightcaps. (Lord knows I certainly did when I was his age.)
Mary G
@Adam L Silverman: I didn’t see it then, and it is freshly relevant by the Democratic Party’s recent decision to require candidates to actually be Democrats, and all the new comments by so-called “progressives” complaining about it.
Platonailedit
@Cheryl Rofer: One sees what one wants to see. Gaslighting included.
Omnes Omnibus
@Ohio Mom: He may be.
West of the Rockies
@Mai naem mobile:
Is he on anything more powerful than Rogaine and Viagra?
Maybe history will reveal he’s on a Hitleresque cocktail of meds.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Ohio Mom:
I’ll bite. Why do you think that?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Platonailedit:
scott alloway
@lamh36: I watched the Sox-Orioles game. Extra innings and 0-0 thru 11. Sox win. More than I can say the tRump.
TenguPhule
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??: Hey Goku, I found a manga series I think you’d really enjoy.
Reincarnation no Kaben.
Its awesome crazy balls. I can’t explain anything without spoiling it, just read it.
FlipYrWhig
@jonas: Remember how Obama was supposedly disqualifyingly naive for expressing a willingness to meet with rogue state leaders WITHOUT PRECONDITIONS? It’s like that old quip about how only Nixon could go to China because if anyone else had gone to China he’d have been attacked by… Nixon.
? Martin
@FlipYrWhig: But to be fair, Obama was black.
Cheryl Rofer
This is a good commentator to listen to. She knows both nuclear issues and east Asia. She’s been on several shows so far.
Hkedi [Kang T. Q.]
@eemom: Well it IS making history…… (horrible horrible history)
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@TenguPhule:
I’m having a hard time finding much on it. Scans are a little disturbing. Could you give me a synopsis that doesn’t have many spoilers?
Ohio Mom
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??: Because some of your comments seem a little disinhibited. I know you can be a sweetie but you’ve been very provocative these past few evenings. I apologize if I’ve insulted you — we oldsters can’t help but feel a little protective towards you, that’s all.
And speaking of late evenings, it’s my bedtime. Sweet dreams one and all!
M4
@Ohio Mom: night!
Adam L Silverman
@Ohio Mom:
Have you considered getting a puppy or a kitten or even a hamster?
West of the Rockies
@TenguPhule:
Looks intriguing.
burnspbesq
@Adam L Silverman:
Can you blame him?
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Ohio Mom:
I was irritated with eemom since she apparently couldn’t understand that “historic” doesn’t always imply something positive. I even quoted the dictionary to her and I was ignored. And then she tells me it’s past my bedtime? I wasn’t going to take that slight lying down.
But good night!
Gin & Tonic
@Mai naem mobile: I’m not going to search or link, but have seen several seemingly knowledgeable people on Twitter commenting about his health – from the thumbprint after the handshake with Macron, to obvious issues with gait and balance at the G7.
MisterForkbeard
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??: To be fair, quoting the dictionary at somebody is SUPER annoying, regardless of how right it is. It feels like something that annoying kid in your high school english class would do during a debate. :P
Raoul
Fun thought: Remember, too, that an entire, lengthy (and I presume again wifi enabled) 747 flight home awaits. We saw what Trump did to Canada after taking wing.
Gin & Tonic
@Ohio Mom: This oldster feels no such impulse.
Adam L Silverman
@burnspbesq: No!
Mary G
@FlipYrWhig: yeah, John McCain was apoplectic about in a debate.
Vhh
@Ohio Mom: Maybe Trump should send them to Pyongyang as a Goodwill Delegation to visit prisons etc, they can get photo ops with Kim.
Adam L Silverman
Lunch! They’ve made it to the working lunch in Singapore.
M4
@MisterForkbeard: yes, and I’m sure that’s the only reason eemom was an asshole to him.
Raoul
And by fun, I mean not fun.
Platonailedit
There is always a fucking tweet.
Déjà vu hug itself.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@MisterForkbeard:
If someone quote the dictionary to me proving me wrong, I would be slightly irritated, but I would own up to being wrong.
@M4:
I hope you’re joking.
Steve in the ATL
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??: also, never start a speech with “the dictionary defines _____ as…”
Millard Filmore
@Raoul:
When you are on top, change means your situation deteriorates.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Steve in the ATL:
How’s your wife doing?
chopper
@Steve in the ATL:
unless you’re giving your farewell speech as ceo of webster’s. then it’s okay.
TenguPhule
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
Doing so would spoil too much. Trust me, just read it without knowing anything about it the first time. It is crazy awesome. And when you reread it the second time, it completely changes once you know what you know from the first read.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Adam L Silverman: They’re having lunch? KJU must be better than that Justin fella.
Mary G
@Steve in the ATL: or any piece of writing either. One of my pet peeves.
TenguPhule
@Raoul:
Fucker is stopping off here on his way back.
He’s gonna fuck up our local traffic if he spends any time here.
Go away Trump. Far far away,
Mai naem mobile
I know this joke is not in good taste.but really did Larry Kudlow want to quit Trumpov so bad that he faked a heart attack?
Raoul
@Millard Filmore: Not that I’m a huge fan of Michael Gerson, but he more or less says the same thing today. We are in descent, and the GOP is in thrall and loving it.
TenguPhule
@West of the Rockies: It is. Trust me. The best way to read it the first time is to know nothing about it and let the story explain it to you. And then you read it the second time and holy shit everything changes.
Kdaug
Know what? Bottom line?
I don’t care
M4
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??: of course.
@Kdaug: thanks for checking in
Frankensteinbeck
@Adam L Silverman:
Whenever this is said, I think it’s crucial to also note that he uses ‘fairly’ in the way an abuser, a narcissist or an alcoholic does, which means he gets to win all the time. Anything you do that he doesn’t want is automatically unfair. We’re being treated ‘unfairly’ by our allies because they don’t give us everything, with no expectation of anything in return. Questioning Trump (and the US, when he feels the US is part of him), is unfair. Trade deficits, anything that looks like the US is not winning in even the most superficial way are unfair. The US must get everything, and give only what it feels like. Anything it does choose to give, should be received with obsequious gratitude and praise.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Frankensteinbeck:
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I gotta think Lil Rocket Man wants to laugh his ass off
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@TenguPhule:
I’ll take your word for it. I’m used to reading either older manga, most of them gag and adventure manga (80s and 90s) or superhero comics.
@M4:
Cool
Adam L Silverman
@Frankensteinbeck: Yep. No argument at all.
eemom
@Cheryl Rofer:
Wow. That is almost spectacularly meaningless.
uh, I know I’ll be sorry I asked this….but what is the expertise that prompted Cole to “hire” you again?
eemom
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
You’re on the right track. Stick with psychostalker Omnes as a role model, like you did with Kay, and you’ll do fine.
Just like when your constant idiot babbling about violence against various public figures got folks across the comment board to implore you to tone it down before you got the secret service on our collective asses. I’m so old I remember that.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@eemom:
I’m so old I remember when you weren’t such a bitter, mean person, going on what you type here. All you ever seem to do lately is criticize how the blog is run and how people comment, which is rich coming from you. You even attacked a front pager.
And yes, I did speak violently. But I changed that. I even apologized for how I treated you and this is how you pay me back? With passive-aggressive bullshit? Why don’t you take a few days off and cool off.
Adam L Silverman
@eemom: Cheryl is retired from a career at Los Alamos National Laboratory where she was a chemist. During the course of her career she was involved in a number of US nonproliferation efforts as a subject matter expert.
Suffragettecity
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
from other parts of the world
Adam Entous @ adamentous
On Flynn’s last day as national security adviser, Israel shared with him a summary of Israeli intelligence on Obama and his team.
So that’s why we are thumbing our nose at our allies. NK is just a sideshow.
It’s all about Iran. This will not end well.
eemom
@Adam L Silverman:
Thank you. All snark aside, I appreciate the substantive response. Could you perhaps elaborate on what that second sentence means?
prostratedragon
@different-church-lady: I noticed back during the campaign that he goes for the “Koppel” variation when he’s looking to project gravitas.
Contrast to the increasingly horn-like peaks that rose from each side last week at the G7.
Amir Khalid
Re the casino project North Korea is dangling before Trump’s eyes: North Korea is, well, not among the playgrounds of the rich. There are already 23 casinos in South Korea (22 of them foreigners-only) and more in other places that are lots more fun than anywhere in North Korea. It doth seem to me that only an idiot would want to put a casino there.
Adam L Silverman
@eemom: That she was part of the team involved in nonproliferation talks, the development of nonproliferation protocols, and/or the application of nonproliferation protocols for monitoring to enforce a nonproliferation agreement in order to provide inputs derived from her education, experience, and/or expertise.