Heh. This whole pseudo-discussion exemplifies just how successful the whole "Us vs Them" approach to shaping domestic opinion really can be, and just why it's so important for the perception of powerful enemies to be cultivated. Knee-jerk emotionalism is easily exploited as a unifying force, and that unity can easily be diverted to other unrelated purposes.
Basically, the whole argument boils down to "It's teh cwazy, teh ebil NKoreans we're talkin' 'bout!" which is precisely what you're supposed to believe, as that kind of public sentiment allows for a variety of equally insane acts on the part of our own leaders, from before Reagan to the present.
As we've seen in the past, a general reduction of tensions leads to the advancement of freedom. Nixon took the initiative wrt China, and it was Gorbachev who took the initiative wrt the cold war, forcing Reagan to set aside the yearnings of his neocon advisers in favor of disarmament. Basically, we're running out of enemies, so it's important to maintain the ones we have, even to create new ones if possible, and to try to make sure that they're not real threats, but rather imaginary ones...
Under the surface of the Admin's bluster, there are forces at work, undermining their efforts to keep the electorate's attention focused on the boogeyman, forces beyond the control of the current leadership... The two Koreas recently agreed to field a single olympic team, and continue to expand economic ties. The more of that happening, the sooner the NKorean regime will collapse into the waiting arms of the SKoreans, just as the EGerman regime collapsed into the arms of the West. Which doesn't serve the Neocon domestic agenda, at all, and is precisely why those efforts are opposed by our own leaders...
I guess I just decided to get onboard the most crowded bus on that one.
Facebook
Twitter