Sunday, December 26, 2010

Sacred Nuclear War

Who in the hell goes around saying things like "we are fully prepared to launch a sacred nuclear war". Why do despots say stupid things like that? Nothing good can come of that kind of rhetoric. It makes you look desperate. To say nothing of stark raving mad, especially when somebody like New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, a former Congressman and diplomat, says North Korea is a "tenderbox" and the worse he has ever seen it, in the wake of a recent visit to Pyongyang.

This is all due to the recent joint military exercises held by South Korea and the US just off the North Korean border. The North Koreans are convinced it is some diabolical plot by the US and South Korea to invade, and they are really ticked off about it. But that kind of over the top rhetoric actually just demonstrates their inherent weaknesses and insecurities. At best, people will laugh at them. At worse, even their allies come to realize they can not be reasoned with and must be dealt with sternly.

If they have to be assholes, why can't they at least be semi-reasonable ass-holes? Something like "we're going to beat you like a red-headed step-child". Or, "we're going to kick your asses up one side of the street and down the other". Maybe throw in something like "we're going to chew you up for breakfast and spit you out for lunch". How about "military exercise these nuts." Anything that would sufficiently demonstrate their agitation while demonstrating something of a human touch in addition to the braggadocio. Maybe even a hint of a sense of humor.

Then folks might say something like, "all right look, just calm down, let's talk this thing out".

But when you go around threatening a nuclear holocaust, you're pretty much asking for somebody to take you out.