4 ms·

I think it is completely because of Trump. He is unpredictable. He is in charge of a nation with the capability to carry out his threats. He talked to North

by sykh 8y ago

I think it is completely because of Trump. He is unpredictable. He is in charge of a nation with the capability to carry out his threats. He talked to North Korea in the sort of bombastic way they talked to the U.S. for decades. This was a sudden change for the U.S. and certainly was unnerving to North Korea. I think North Korea must be quite weak too. They don’t appear stronger to me but I’m no expert on the matter. I wonder how much longer that regime can maintain power. It’s lasted a lot longer than I thought it would be able to so there must be a high level of resiliency in terms of preventing rebellion and regime collapse.

saiya-jin 8y ago
You overestimate the image that clown has outside US. Nobody gives a fk about his emotional ego swings, everybody just patiently waits till he disappears in a same way Bush jr was perceived. Also, you completely overestimate US president's powers - he is a bit bigger and more powerful puppet than most presidents out there, but he is still at mercy of truly powerful people in government and outside (ie Murdoch).
- sykh 8y ago
  Perhaps you should reevaluate things. It appears your strong, anti-Trump feelings may be clouding your judgment. Trump is a terrible President. He is an emotionally insecure person. He is consumed with a fear of narcissistic injury. He lies constantly. He is a terrible human being. But he is not always wrong. There have been benefits due to his presidency.
  - dawnerd 8y ago
    Such as?
    - sykh 8y ago
      In what follows I might be wrong on everything. It's just my opinion and I'm not an expert in these matters. The broader issue to me is the seeming inability of people to see any benefits from those in power with politics we don't share. We had 8 years of idiots saying Obama was a muslim and that he did nothing good. I don't want to be like those idiots. I want to try to evaluate things on their own merits. Is it really feasible to think that there is absolutely nothing positive in what Trump has done? I think it is borderline fanaticism to think in such a way. Positives of Trump: Apparent North Korean desire to make peace. Nato countries starting to realize that they can't forever rely on America to disproportionately defend them. Same for Japan. This may lead to the U.S. being able/willing to cut back on defense spending at some time in the future. Trump's rhetoric on trade deals seem like they may end up generating results in the form of cracking down on abuses of the system. Other countries are realizing the U.S. is not as stable as it once seemed and the over reliance on the Pax Americana may come to an end. I think this is a good thing. By proposing major cuts to non-defense related federal programs there's a possibility that power will shift back toward states. Northern and west coast states largely prop up the southern states and Republican leaning states. There's going to be a shift in outlook on the issue of states rights if Mississippi, for instance, realizes that they may not be able to rely on federal funds to prop it up. In the coming years we'll see more left leaning people start using "states rights" as justification for policies and right leaning people will start shifting toward more federal power. The wealthy states ought to be advocating for decentralization of federal power since too much of their money goes toward the backwards states. I think that is a good thing.
majewsky 8y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madman_theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madman_theory ?
- sykh 8y ago
  Except in the case of Trump it’s not an act. He truly is unstable and has surrounded himself with sycophants and knaves. This magnifies the potential for something truly unpredictable happening.
tobtoh 8y ago
I strongly doubt it has anything to do with Trump or the US. NK has been thumbing its nose at the US for decades in spite of all the embargoes and sanctions. And Trump has not done anything significant - he's just full of bluster and hot air which anyone outside of the US (and most of the US too) know. This has everything to do with NK and regional politics. I wouldn't be surprised if this has more to do with China seeing an opportunity to force the US off the Korean peninsula under the guise of a peace treaty and they are using NK to achieve this aim.
- kneel 8y ago
  This peace agreement was largely due to Trump shaking things up, South Korea is already acknowledging this. Trump is such a polarizing figure I'm not surprised people are reaching to discredit him. He's a wacko president but he's not wrong all the time.
- rdtsc 8y ago
  > I strongly doubt it has anything to do with Trump or the US. Why so strong a doubt though? South Korea's officials say "Clearly, credit goes to President Trump". One would think SK foreign minister would have some insight into the process... > And Trump has not done anything significant - he's just full of bluster and hot air which anyone outside of the US (and most of the US too) know. It is interesting that just a few months ago everyone was sure he was going to start a war in the Korean peninsula and it wasn't just hot air. https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/wjppgm/trump-north-korea-strategy-start-war https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/wjppgm/trump-north-korea... http://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-north-korea-ready-for-war-20170414-story.html http://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-north-korea-ready-for-war... As soon as they started talking about peace, it is back to being hot air again and have nothing to do with it? We could at least say perhaps it had a bad influence and we would have seen peace sooner, but it's really hard to say "he had no influence" at this point.
  - tobtoh 8y ago
    > One would think SK foreign minister would have some insight into the process I'm sure he does - and he's not going to say what he really thinks in public. How do you think politics actually works? SK relies on the US for security, they aren't going to be stupid enough to insult the US publicly by saying that they aren't needed (especially when the President is someone who has clearly demonstrated he needs his ego stroked). There is also the asian cultural norms around 'saving face' which affects how and what they say. You avoid insulting those you want as an ally, and if buttering up someone is going to get a good reaction, might as well do that if it doesn't cost you anything. > It is interesting that just a few months ago everyone was sure he was going to start a war in the Korean peninsula and it wasn't just hot air. That's what the media reports looking to sensationalise everything. Just about everything between the NK and the US over the past few decades has been bluster and hot air - this isn't the first time NK has promised to denuclearise or have a peace treaty - the reality is that NK as just been getting on with whatever program they wanted to do regardless of what they or the US says publicly. Kim is still in power, and they have nukes.

by sykh 8y ago

saiya-jin 8y ago

You overestimate the image that clown has outside US. Nobody gives a fk about his emotional ego swings, everybody just patiently waits till he disappears in a same way Bush jr was perceived. Also, you completely overestimate US president's powers - he is a bit bigger and more powerful puppet than most presidents out there, but he is still at mercy of truly powerful people in government and outside (ie Murdoch).

sykh 8y ago
Perhaps you should reevaluate things. It appears your strong, anti-Trump feelings may be clouding your judgment. Trump is a terrible President. He is an emotionally insecure person. He is consumed with a fear of narcissistic injury. He lies constantly. He is a terrible human being. But he is not always wrong. There have been benefits due to his presidency.
- dawnerd 8y ago
  Such as?
  - sykh 8y ago
    In what follows I might be wrong on everything. It's just my opinion and I'm not an expert in these matters. The broader issue to me is the seeming inability of people to see any benefits from those in power with politics we don't share. We had 8 years of idiots saying Obama was a muslim and that he did nothing good. I don't want to be like those idiots. I want to try to evaluate things on their own merits. Is it really feasible to think that there is absolutely nothing positive in what Trump has done? I think it is borderline fanaticism to think in such a way. Positives of Trump: Apparent North Korean desire to make peace. Nato countries starting to realize that they can't forever rely on America to disproportionately defend them. Same for Japan. This may lead to the U.S. being able/willing to cut back on defense spending at some time in the future. Trump's rhetoric on trade deals seem like they may end up generating results in the form of cracking down on abuses of the system. Other countries are realizing the U.S. is not as stable as it once seemed and the over reliance on the Pax Americana may come to an end. I think this is a good thing. By proposing major cuts to non-defense related federal programs there's a possibility that power will shift back toward states. Northern and west coast states largely prop up the southern states and Republican leaning states. There's going to be a shift in outlook on the issue of states rights if Mississippi, for instance, realizes that they may not be able to rely on federal funds to prop it up. In the coming years we'll see more left leaning people start using "states rights" as justification for policies and right leaning people will start shifting toward more federal power. The wealthy states ought to be advocating for decentralization of federal power since too much of their money goes toward the backwards states. I think that is a good thing.

majewsky 8y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madman_theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madman_theory ?

sykh 8y ago
Except in the case of Trump it’s not an act. He truly is unstable and has surrounded himself with sycophants and knaves. This magnifies the potential for something truly unpredictable happening.

tobtoh 8y ago

I strongly doubt it has anything to do with Trump or the US. NK has been thumbing its nose at the US for decades in spite of all the embargoes and sanctions. And Trump has not done anything significant - he's just full of bluster and hot air which anyone outside of the US (and most of the US too) know. This has everything to do with NK and regional politics. I wouldn't be surprised if this has more to do with China seeing an opportunity to force the US off the Korean peninsula under the guise of a peace treaty and they are using NK to achieve this aim.

kneel 8y ago
This peace agreement was largely due to Trump shaking things up, South Korea is already acknowledging this. Trump is such a polarizing figure I'm not surprised people are reaching to discredit him. He's a wacko president but he's not wrong all the time.
rdtsc 8y ago
> I strongly doubt it has anything to do with Trump or the US. Why so strong a doubt though? South Korea's officials say "Clearly, credit goes to President Trump". One would think SK foreign minister would have some insight into the process... > And Trump has not done anything significant - he's just full of bluster and hot air which anyone outside of the US (and most of the US too) know. It is interesting that just a few months ago everyone was sure he was going to start a war in the Korean peninsula and it wasn't just hot air. https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/wjppgm/trump-north-korea-strategy-start-war https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/wjppgm/trump-north-korea... http://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-north-korea-ready-for-war-20170414-story.html http://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-north-korea-ready-for-war... As soon as they started talking about peace, it is back to being hot air again and have nothing to do with it? We could at least say perhaps it had a bad influence and we would have seen peace sooner, but it's really hard to say "he had no influence" at this point.
- tobtoh 8y ago
  > One would think SK foreign minister would have some insight into the process I'm sure he does - and he's not going to say what he really thinks in public. How do you think politics actually works? SK relies on the US for security, they aren't going to be stupid enough to insult the US publicly by saying that they aren't needed (especially when the President is someone who has clearly demonstrated he needs his ego stroked). There is also the asian cultural norms around 'saving face' which affects how and what they say. You avoid insulting those you want as an ally, and if buttering up someone is going to get a good reaction, might as well do that if it doesn't cost you anything. > It is interesting that just a few months ago everyone was sure he was going to start a war in the Korean peninsula and it wasn't just hot air. That's what the media reports looking to sensationalise everything. Just about everything between the NK and the US over the past few decades has been bluster and hot air - this isn't the first time NK has promised to denuclearise or have a peace treaty - the reality is that NK as just been getting on with whatever program they wanted to do regardless of what they or the US says publicly. Kim is still in power, and they have nukes.