Herr Bush is getting nervous over Pyongyang's refusual to deal with him

Herr Bush's hit man Chris Hill who is negotiating with North Korea to fork over a full laundry list of its nuclear arsenal is meeting resistance. What's new tired voices will moan? Pyongyang is dragging its tail for the simple reason the promises Hill gave are slow in actualisation. You'd think after years of face to face talks with North Korea the US would have more ably to deal with Pyongyang. Apparently they haven't. Herr Bush sent a nicey nice letter to Kim Jong il in December 2007; he even gave the green light to the New York Philharmonic to perform in Pyongyang, but never took the extra step to meet his actions with say Condoleezza Rice's presence at the Philharmonic or Chris Hill's too...she was in Seoul, he in Beijing. What could the North Koreans make of such pusillanous diplomacy...well they saw the fly in America's puny shifts of mood, and rightfully came to the conclusion that there was nothing to be gained at present in dealing with Herr Bush. They didn't break off jawing with Hill, but he will have to do a little better in meeting the obligations the US undertook in talks with North Korea. If it is not clear as a bell that Herr Bush is a failed president who talks big, wages war on the cheap, and plays to the stalls for approval which is feather light in results, well, dealing with Pyongyang is a classic case of turning an opportunity into failure. 18Brumaire recently saw the American Experience 3 segments on the fall of Saigon. It is instructive listening to the arch Nazi Kissinger when he talks about dealing with North Vietnam...he was willing to give away the baby and bath water to get a deal...and he and his crooked Richard Nixon. So has anything changed...in a way yes, North Korea has the bomb and thus the confidence in dealing with Washington as an equal of sorts and taking advantage of Herr Bush who is too clever by half. A golden opportunity has turned out to be another flash in the pan...