A sitting US president has never met face-to-face with a leader of the North Korean regime. Thanks to an invite from Kim Jong-un Thursday night, Donald Trump will be doing just that in about eight weeks. No one expected it. Not even the State Department. On Thursday morning no less, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that we were “a long ways” from direct talks with North Korea. Understandably, most of the world is agape.
CNN is aghast.
Months ago we were on the brink of nuclear war with North Korea, and CNN was aghast then. Now we’re on the brink of a conversation about nuclear disarmament, and CNN is no less aghast. Donald Trump was the target of their hysteria when we were on the brink of war, and Donald Trump is the target of their hysteria now that we’re on the brink of a conversation. CNN is using words like “dangerous,” “crazy,” “scary,” and “rudderless,” and they don’t mean Kim Jong-un.
The doom-and-gloom network frets that President Trump accepted the invitation too quickly! He didn’t consult with experts in the region! He let South Korea make the announcement to the US media! He gave Kim Jong-un the credibility he craves! Omg, what might he agree to in a room with the North Korean dictator!?
CNN paints Donald Trump as an excited little boy jumping up and down at Christmas: “I got a meeting with Kim Jong-un! Me! I’m the first one ever! Me!” (They may have a point there.) What they don’t do is give him credit for the historic moment. Even if Kim Jong-un is secretly plotting to play Donald Trump like a cheap violin (I wouldn’t wanna be him if he does), it is still historic that the leader of the North Korean regime even suggested they meet face-to-face. Of course Donald Trump said yes and said it quickly. He’s Donald Trump. Are we really still hoping he’ll turn into Winston Churchill?
The worried blathering continues as CNN wonders why South Korea made the announcement about the meeting. Haven’t they been paying attention? They’re lucky they didn’t get the message in a tweet! And they’re so busy giving South Korea all the credit for the meeting, they forget who arranged the situation and applied the pressure on South Korea-and China-to motivate the South Koreans to act. Does anyone think the Art of the Deal had nothing to do with this? South Korea facilitated this meeting because they took Donald Trump seriously that he was prepared to go to war with North Korea over their nuclear weapons.
CNN is so convinced Donald Trump is the Muffer-in-Chief, they’re already bemoaning his inevitable muffing-in their eyes-of his conversation with Kim Jong-un. “This is a great opportunity,” they soberly intone. “Let’s just hope he doesn’t blow it.” I guess they’re blind to the fact that “Little Rocket Man,” some wildly inappropriate tweets, and a “don’t mess with us” attitude is exactly what brought the meeting about. If he didn’t blow the setup, why would he blow the homerun? A homerun isn’t denuclearization, a homerun is a lessening of tensions on the Korean peninsula, which, as they say, would be Yuge. There shouldn’t be anyone left who’s willing to bet against Donald Trump’s ability to charm the pants off (poor choice of words) anyone he wants to. Everything else is gravy, but nothing would surprise me at this point.
Like I said, most of the world is agape. Only CNN is aghast.
