Will he see into his soul?
by digby
He’s sees the chance of a breakthrough but I don’t think he has stars in his eyes,” Bolton said of Trump. “I think one advantage of having this meeting between President Trump and Kim Jong-un so soon, in effect, without months and months and months of preparation is that President Trump will be able to size Kim Jong-un up and see whether the commitment is real… I think the key point here is that the president’s going to make the decision when he sits down with Kim Jong-un just what exactly the North is up to. And he’ll size him up. And he’s an outstanding — got an outstanding ability to do that. And we’ll see what comes from it.
If that makes sense to you you’re a Trumpie.
In other words it makes no sense.
I am seriously suspicious that Bolton wants the talks to fail. He believes regime change is the only answer:
Sept. 23, 2017, on Fox News: Asked whether the United States should shoot down North Korean test missiles, Bolton replied: “Yes, I think that’s at a minimum. But the real question is whether there’s a remaining nonmilitary option.”
Dec. 28 on Fox News: “My proposal would be: Eliminate the regime by reunifying the peninsula under South Korean control,” Bolton said. Asked whether he is calling for regime change, he said: “Yes. Regime elimination with the Chinese. This is something we need to do with them.”
March 7 on Fox News: Bolton said chances are “pretty remote of a diplomatic solution with North Korea,” adding that “the two choices, both bad, are you accept North Korea with nuclear weapons or use military force.”
March 10 on Fox News: “I think nobody wants to see military force used here. But we don’t have very many options after 25 years of talking have failed.”
Maybe he’s changed his mind in the past two months. But I doubt it. God only knows how he’s “preparing” Trump, who has the attention span of a 1 year old unless it’s someone talking about how great he is, in this short period of time. And depending on Trump’s great natural talent for “sizing people up” is a joke. He insults everyone who fails to kiss his ass, and those who do get his warm approval. That’s it. There’s nothing more to it.
Let’s just hope by some fortuitous accident or sophisticated strategy by the South Koreans and the Chinese that we come out of this with a decent result. If it’s even half way good, look for the political media to turn Trump into Nelson Mandela and gird yourself for some really sickening displays of sycophancy. Anything is better than war, but this would not be pleasant either.
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