OMG! Trump just stepped into N. Korea over the DMZ!

[Lady Freedom Returns]

Watching it now on TV.
You know he did it for a photo opp. And if I remember correctly, aren't we still technically at war with them? Does that mean we can now get him for high treason?

[Rhiannon12866]

1. President Carter did that in 1994

Of course, back then he was sent as a negotiator on behalf of the Clinton administration.

[applegrove]

3. Didn't Bill Clinton go? Or was that just to the DMZ guard house?

[Lady Freedom Returns]

4. They are saying tRump is the first setting president to do what he just did .

And they are also bringing up that we are technically still at war.

[Rhiannon12866]

6. Jimmy Carter was a former president when he went in 1994

He was representing the Clinton administration.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

7. But orange one is the first setting president.

He is the first to be in office.

[applegrove]

9. Right. There was video of Secret Service agent being filmed. He did not look

too happy today.

[COL Mustard]

19. Imagine how much stress the Secret Service was under...

I wouldn't be too happy either.

[applegrove]

35. Oh it must have been a nightmare for them.

[Rhiannon12866]

5. No, it was President Carter and Rosalynn

Most people went through China, but President Carter insisted on going through the DMZ. This was when he went to negotiate a nuclear deal with then leader Kim Il-sung, the grandfather of Kim Jong-un. BTW, that successful agreement lasted until 2002 - until Bush* broke the agreement when he included North Korea in his "Axis of Evil."

What you're probably thinking of was when former President Clinton went to North Korea in 2009 to secure the release of American journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling. I remember that this wasn't publicized until after-the-fact. It took someone with the high profile of a former president to persuade North Korea. With the North Koreans, it's all about "respect." Jimmy Carter was willing to give it to them to negotiate a successful nuclear deal and Bush* broke the agreement with his "Axis of Evil" statement. And it was the same with President Clinton - it took someone with his stature to successfully intervene.

[applegrove]

8. Thank you. I remember the details of Clinton. Did not remember Carter.

[Rhiannon12866]

10. That was pretty historic

I learned the details from President Carter's autobiography. With his background in nuclear physics, not to mention his diplomacy skills, he was the perfect representative to deal with North Korea. And the agreement he made was successfully continued with Kim Il-sung's son Kim Jong-il and Secretary of State Madeline Albright. When Bush* took office, Kim Jong-il asked if he couldn't continue dealing with SoS Albright...

[applegrove]

13. There was an incident at a nuclear power plant in Ontario way back

when. I think it was Chalk River. Years ago my brother told me Carter was there, at the time, to help out (my brother has facts like this all the time). I think i said "what would a peanut farmer be doing at a nuclear incident?" My brother said he was in the army. I had no idea Carter was a nuclear expert until quite recently. LOL!

[Rhiannon12866]

14. Jimmy Carter had quite a brilliant career in the Navy long before he was president

He was a graduate of Annapolis and after the war chose nuclear submarine duty as his specialty. But fate intervened and he made the tough choice to return to the family farm when his father died in 1953. He said in his autobiography that it took quite awhile for Rosalynn to forgive him.

[applegrove]

17. Oh it was the navy. I knew it was one of the armed forces. Thanks for the info.

It does sound like it would be a good read. Love him. What a treasure he is.

[Rhiannon12866]

20. His autobiography was fascinating, he's led an amazing life

The title is "A Full Life: Reflections at 90." Since he left the White House, he's written numerous books, but this one is quite comprehensive, he talks about his childhood near Plains, his experiences in Annapolis and his Naval career, I have it on disc and listen to it in my car and I don't think he even got to his run for the presidency until disc #5, LOL. I recommend it highly - and the audio version is read by the author himself!

[applegrove]

34. I will keep it in mind for when i have gotten through my current load

of books.

[hunter]

39. Carter was in the Navy.

1952 NRX incident

Chalk River was also the site of two nuclear accidents in the 1950s. The first incident occurred in 1952, when there was a power excursion and partial loss of coolant in the NRX reactor, which resulted in significant damage to the core. The control rods could not be lowered into the core because of mechanical problems and human errors. Three rods did not reach their destination and were taken out again by accident. The fuel rods were overheated, resulting in a meltdown. The reactor and the reactor building were seriously damaged by hydrogen explosions. The seal of the reactor vessel was blown up four feet. In the cellar of the building, some 4,500 tons of radioactive water was found. This water was dumped in ditches around 1600 meters from the border of the Ottawa River. During this accident some 10,000 curies or 370 TBq of radioactive material was released. Future U.S. president Jimmy Carter, then a U.S. Navy officer in Schenectady, NY, lead a team of 26 men including 13 U.S. Navy volunteers in the hazardous cleanup. Arthur V. McKeon and Fred Hieber were among the U.S. Navy volunteers. Two years later the reactor was in use again.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chalk_River_Laboratories#1952_NRX_incident

[applegrove]

42. What a hero. Did not know that about him till my brother told me. He has really

done so much with his life. And still is.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

11. Might want to read this....

Trump becomes first sitting US president in history to cross border into North Korea
Natasha Turak | @NatashaTurak
Published 1 Hour Ago Updated Moments Ago
CNBC.com

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un extended warm invitations to one another on Sunday, exchanging lofty visions for the future as they met at the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas.

The leaders shook hands on the North Korean side of the DMZ, making Trump the first sitting American president to ever set foot in the hermit state, before crossing together to the South Korean side and shaking hands again.

Link to tweet

?s=20

[Rhiannon12866]

15. Carter was a former president when he went to North Korea - on behalf of the Clinton administration

That was in 1994. He returned in 2010, by invitation, to secure the release of yet another American who had been "detained," and again in in 2011 when he led a delegation of former presidents (Ireland, Finland and Norway) on a food delivery mission. Even at 94, he's offered to go back if he could be of service to the nation.

[Orangepeel]

25. Wasn't that Al Gore?

[Rhiannon12866]

28. I think he met them when they came back

It was President Clinton who actually went there. And President Carter did the same thing a couple of years before. And then there was that poor hostage they sent back who died. And yet Trump "loves" this murderous dictator.

[BigmanPigman]

2. What went on behind closed doors?

The W House press secretary was physically bruised by others with the reporters in N Korea trying to get photos. CNN is saying that the fucking moron invited him to the W House again. I wonder if they will be lovers by the July 4th Fireworks display.

[COL Mustard]

21. Ewwwwwwwww.....

Bad, bad image! Yuk!!!

🤢

[cwydro]

33. Nice.

Classy.

[blogslut]

16. Not technically, no.

The last time the United States formally declared was WWII. Korea was a Military Engagement.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_war_by_the_United_States

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

18. Fat Donnie is the first president to set foot in North Korea.

Something else he can brag about at his campaign rallies.

On the other hand, President Carter says Trump's an illegitimate president, so I guess they cancel each other out.

[spinbaby]

22. Every morning some new outrage

Every morning, I sit down with my coffee and turn on the TV for my daily news dose on the tube. This morning, there’s lard butt having a photo op with Chairman Kim on the far side of the DMZ. Every morning I wonder if I’m having a bad dream.

[kentuck]

23. Next, he will get to sit in Putin's chair...

...next time he visits Russia.

Ivanka will get to swivel.

[elfin]

24. And by going TO them rather than meet on neutral territory he

showed deference to them. Real Presidents do not show deference to murderers. Others like Carter and Albright were not acting as our President in their meetings.

This was an important "get" by NK and understood keenly by all Asian cultures and apparently not by ours.

[former9thward]

36. Just curious.

Do you believe U.S. presidents should not meet with murderers?

[elfin]

38. Not by showing deference before the meet

Yes, it is sometimes necessary. But even in the Bosnian mess it was Richard Holbrook who did the preliminary (and messy) work and THEN the murderers came to our turf to hammer out the Dayton Accords. We were the leaders who managed the agreement.

They were never our equals.

IMO Trump just symbolically elevated NK to equal status with this. They have craved such acknowledgment and implied respect for years. And he just gave it to them without a clue about what he was actually doing as he waddled across the line.

[former9thward]

41. You do know that China has murdered millions of its people during the communist dictatorship.

Presidents since Nixon have been traveling to China to meet with them. FDR met several times with the greatest mass murderer in history, Joe Stalin, during WW II. This is what is required in the real world. If Trump says the sun rises in the east he is not wrong. And he -- or the U.S. -- is not wrong to try and resolve the 70 year old Korean conflict.

[elfin]

43. And China came here for Trump - Maralago

Yes, you are right on that.

I do think those meetings were prefaced by much behind the scenes diplomatic work. Was this? I doubt it. But if it yields real results that is good. But I expect there will be a tiny movement by NK that will be heralded as a huge deal and then they will blow up another test. We shall see, but I have no confidence in our con man who is conning us and not NK.

[FarPoint]

26. Too bad they don't keep him...

They belong together.

[Mike Nelson]

27. That was great!

… but he didn't stay.

[watoos]

29. All is a diversion

from his failed deal with China at the G20 which is much more significant than a photo-op.

[Greywing]

37. Also a diversion from the Iran situation ... n/t

[Vinca]

30. I just got up and all I can say is it's a shame they didn't keep him.

[watoos]

31. I still wonder if Trump and Kim

are going to declare and end to the Korean conflict? Trump won't need the approval of South Korea.

[sinkingfeeling]

32. Keep him there!

[hunter]

40. Shit. Trump didn't seek amnesty.

Maybe next time.

[czarjak]

44. Let me guess...

Kim still has nukes?