Yep. Nothing says âFire and Fury unlike the world has ever seenâ like âI plan to start working on a sanctions package.â
And if Kim is made of harder stuff:
âFetchâŚTHE COMFY CHAIR!â
Two man-babies with nuclear weapons. High energy! Sad!
âSteve Mnuchin on Sunday said he will âdraft a sanctions packageâ to send President TrumpâŚâ
It wonât do any good.
Itâs been tried before.
Send Trump anything labelled âdraftâ, and he runs the other way, screaming âbone spurs!â
Ooh, a strongly worded letter and, andâŚTrumpâs test ballooning tactical nukes.
In 2002, George W. Bush called Iran, Iraq, and North Korea an âaxis of evilâ. And then Bush invaded Iraq. What are Iran and North Korea supposed to do after witnessing that - sit around twiddling their thumbs waiting to be invaded also? I dislike and distrust Kim Jong Un as much as anybody, but we have to accept much of the responsibility for this situation.
The solution for Rome with a Nerf Sword?
Nerf nukes.
Damn âŚ
Running down now to stock up on my favorite Chinese flip-flops from the Wally-Marts ----
Now Mnuchin has a nice excuse for dumping âtax reformâ off on Congress.
Pressed for specifics, he said, âWeâre going to strongly consider everything at this point.â
Finally, a DT cabinet member who gets straight to the point rather than speaking in vague platitudes.
Since we lack an effective state department at the moment, sanctions are about all we can do. Lets hope it distracts Trump long enough from saying something more monumentally stupid than he has already.
He said âanybody that wants to do trade or businessâ with North Korea would be prevented from also doing so with the United States.
Really? Would that include China? Because we know theyâre aiding North Korea to prevent a humanitarian crisis on their doorstep.
He said âanybody that wants to do trade or businessâ with North Korea would be prevented from also doing so with the United States.
Absolutely! Weâll economically isolate ourselves from the rest of the world to prove our point. Thatâll show 'em!
True. But in typical Chiselinâ Trumpian fashion, the consideration will be made âstrongly.â
Sanctions. Itâs been tried and, as noted up-thread, it didnât work. It accelerated their efforts, every time. Because hey, thatâs actually a rational response. Kim clearly feels like he needs leverage to force the world powers to treat him with some respect. That need, for respect, has been identified time and time again.
For a while there, we did get them to slow down their efforts to get nukes. Crazy thing is, we did it⌠by giving them aid, by engaging with them⌠and giving them a little respect.
Funny, isnât it? That whole honey/vinegar thing even works on Korean flies. The âcarrotâ here needs to be more than just âIâll stop hitting you with the stickâ.
This is probably the most-worrying facet of this situation. Neither Kim nor Trump has the emotional intelligence to properly negotiate a solution, though Kim is probably being a bit more savvy about it. He knows exactly how to âpush our buttonsâ (no pun intended). Using threats of nuclear attack has been a N. Korean tactic to bring us to the table many times in the past. Sadly, we are now led by a man who thinks he can use playground bullying to get his way. Be afraid, be very afraid.
THE COMFY CHAIR?
(The system wouldnât let me post just that much, as would have been appropriate. It said âBody is invalid; try to be a little more descriptiveâ.
I didnât expect that.)