Josh Marshall nails it "It's not good to have a President who is this emotionally needy or one that

[NRaleighLiberal]

"It’s not good to have a President who is this emotionally needy or one that conducts dangerous foreign policy on whims and ignorance. The entire thing is a ridiculous and embarrassing chapter in our history."

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/what-to-make-of-president-trumps-letter-to-kim-jong-un

What To Make Of President Trump’s Letter to Kim Jong-un
By Josh Marshall | May 24, 2018 11:58 am

Diplomatic communications are usually worded with great care and precision. They aren’t letters one person writes to another. They are documents which communicate specific realities and goals between states. In this case, I completely believe that Donald Trump himself wrote this letter or dictated it. In fact, I feel almost certain he did. The words resonate with a genuine hurt and anguish, mixed with moments of menace and still hope for the future. It reads needy. It’s like a letter you write to a romantic partner who has abandoned you without saying so. You write, hurt, finalizing what is already clear.

We are in an era of candor and transparency. But one would hope it goes without saying that this is no way to conduct diplomacy, certainly not when nuclear weapons are at the center of it. There’s a reason diplomats do things the way they do. It can be good to have a head of state to push past some formalities. But the US never should have agreed to this summit. Indeed, President Trump’s claims notwithstanding, the North Koreans themselves didn’t seem to have suggested this at all, though they have been on the record for decades wanting such a meeting.

So how did we even get here?

Our best reporting suggests that the South Korean National Security Advisor was visiting the White House to consult with top US national security advisors. He was not scheduled to have an at length or substantive meeting with the President. The President switched plans and brought him into the Oval Office to talk and describe his recent meeting with Kim Jong-un. During that conversation, the South Korean mentioned that Kim was eager to meet with President Trump. Trump took this as an invitation to meet and immediately accepted. The key point is that the decision seems to have been based on impulse and to a significant degree a misunderstanding.

It was clear to anyone who was really listening and who knows North Korea’s history that there was little reason to think the North Koreans were seriously considering giving up their nuclear deterrent. Indeed, why would they? They’ve made immense sacrifices to achieve it and see it – quite reasonably – as a guarantee that they will never face violent regime change from the United States or South Korea.


snip - much more.

[dalton99a]

1. Kick

[gademocrat7]

2. K&R

This administration is a debacle.

[DBoon]

3. we have a petulant 2-year old with nuclear weapons

everyone who supported or enabled this is responsible

[Proud Liberal Dem]

4. What happened to that person running for POTUS who warned us all

about the danger of entrusting nuclear weapons to the man who was also running for POTUS at the time who can get baited by a tweet?

[niyad]

5. k and r

[gratuitous]

6. Yes it is, which is why he's known as Needy Amin

[maxsolomon]

10. zing

I quite like that one. filing away for future use - though it will be lost on those <50...

[Ohioboy]

7. Wow, did you read this line from the letter?

Trump to Kim Jong-un

You talk about your nuclear capabilities, but ours are so massive and powerful that I pray to God they will never have to be used.

That line alone should be a red flag that we have a serious problem with Trump as president.

[Cicada]

8. Josh Marshall should teach part time

NYU or City College should hire him as an adjunct professor, one course per year maybe.

[Cha]

9. One more FAIL in a long line of FAILS for

Fake.

[lanlady]

11. Most bizarre of all

Is the last paragraph that states “If you change your mind, give me a call.” Uh, Donald, it was you who changed your mind (such as it is, which ain’t much), whence the need to write this letter.

This has got to be the most bizarre missive in US diplomatic history. He’s emoting like a jilted lover.

And yet, much of the media is falling all over itself trying to put some “wins” on the board for Trump, when the truth is shining through bright and clear in this letter: our foreign policy is being run by a demented love-sick fool.