A few months ago, I saw an excellent tweet about Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un. Paraphrasing, it was something like “As a Gen Xer, I always knew the end would come because of war started between a Boomer and a Millennial.” Trump IS a Boomer – he was born in 1946. Kim Jong Un was born in 1984, which is considered Millennial. Seen through the lens of generational analysis, the “beef” (nuclear-armed beef) between Kim Jong Un and Bigly Trump ends up making a lot of sense. It was always going to end this way, wasn’t it?
Anyway, Bigly has been trying to out-crazy the North Korean dictator for months. Trump has actually made the impossible happen: Kim Jong Un seems like the restrained one. Last weekend, Trump decided to try out a new bullying nickname for Kim Jong Un: on Twitter, Trump referred to him as “Rocket Man.” It was idiotic, but the Deplorables ate it up. Trump then doubled-down on his childlike understanding of world politics by referring to Kim as Rocket Man in a United Nations address. Well, Kim Jong Un has responded. With more name-calling, because 2017.
North Korea’s leader called President Donald Trump “a frightened dog” and a “gangster fond of playing with fire” in an official statement released Thursday. Kim Jong Un responded to Trump’s U.N. speech in a dispatch written in the first person. South Korea’s government said it was the first such direct address to the world by any North Korean leader.
“Far from making remarks of any persuasive power that can be viewed to be helpful to defusing tension, he made unprecedented rude nonsense one has never heard from any of his predecessors,” Kim said. “A frightened dog barks louder.”
Hours later, North Korea’s foreign minister reportedly said his country may test a hydrogen bomb in the Pacific Ocean to fulfill Kim’s vow to take the “highest-level” action against the United States. Trump had threatened to “totally destroy” North Korea if the United States were “forced to defend itself” in his first speech on the U.N. floor on Tuesday. Kim, whom Trump has recently started calling “Rocket Man,” said the threat had not fallen on deaf ears.
“I will make the man holding the prerogative of the supreme command in the U.S. pay dearly for his speech calling for totally destroying [North Korea],” he added. The statement, which was approximately 500 words when translated to English, also refers to Trump multiple times as a “dotard” — an arcane word for an elderly person who is weak minded or senile.
“I will surely and definitely tame the mentally deranged U.S. dotard with fire,” Kim concluded.
So now Kim Jong Un taught Americans a new word: “dotard.” It’s a real word, just arcane and perfect in this situation. It does fit Bigly Trump, doesn’t it? Twitter thinks so too – #dotard and #DotardTrump were trending for hours. Trump IS a dotard. If this was just about two a–holes having a public bitchfight, I would be all for it. It’s like the Real Housewives of Nuclear Armed Nations though – at some point, Trump is going to call Kim Jong Un a prostitution whore and Kim is going to actually drop some bombs in lieu of throwing a table.
Also: did you guys remember that the Winter Olympics are coming up? Guess where they are in February 2018? PyeongChang, South Korea. For real.
Photos courtesy of Getty.
Can’t we just put the two of them in a pit to fight it out mano a mano and hopefully they’ll destroy each other and we’ll be done with it and the world will be a better place?
That’s the best solution at this point. WWE format with multiple storylines. Maybe Putin and Bashar al-Assad can participate.
Both are bizarre monsters. drump’s tiny mouth screaming loud, angry taunts while Kim (who is curiously roly poly while everyone else in NK is starving) matching him in name calling and world destruction threats.
75 and crazy, I still think Donnie would fight way dirtier and win, and then we’d never hear the end of it from the remaining 18 trump supporters. But I guess if it avoided nuclear winter, yes.
Get Rodman and Baio as the referees and let them all have at it.
It’s so great to see that Trump’s name calling in his UN speech, that “no one had the balls” to do before, has resolved the nuclear standoff with North Korea! That was such a brilliant move, so strategic and cunning. Trump is a military mastermind.
/s
They remind me of bull seals chest bashing on the beach. So this is what the world’s come down to? So beyond f’d up.
Omg, that’s a great analogy! So true
I had no idea Kim was so young. That hairstyle does nothing for him!
they both need new hairstyles bigly ASAP
They’re both ugly as sin, inside and out. Only bags over their heads will help.
I was also born in 1984, and I forgot he was the same age as me. The hair and him being extremely overweight mask his true age.
Right?! I’m an 87′ baby and I thought he was like 10-15 years older than me.
He’s doing it to emulate his grandfather.
I love the idea of nuclear annilation. Seriously the most exciting prospect to come out of 2017 beating out mass murder, racist cops, lack of women’s rights, the KKK and death because I have no healthcare.
2017 has been wild. If I had any emotional output left I would be crying everyday but I have nothing left except extreme anxiety. Thank goodness I see my therapist consistently
I am with you Nicole. All emotions have ceased. All that is left is anxiety
Scary times indeed. I know an excellent therapist who almost could not work after Charlottesville, she was so upset (we’re in Va.).
South Park has pissed me off in a lot of ways in recent years, but their episode this week was about North Korea and the twitter battles and the feelings of anxiety that seem inescapable. It actually made me feel better to watch it. It also addressed how to help someone in your life who might be feeling anxiety because of current events.
Dotty Donald,Donald the Dotard. Dotard Don, Dotty Donny. Sp many great nee nicknames. #Thanksrocketman
Kim telling no lies, but let’s not let makes his accurate shade distract us from his (Kim’s) crazy. He’s just as much a dotard, just in different ways (he’s young crazy not old crazy).
I say this cause I’m disgusted by the Trumpsters saying Libs are supporting that madman (Kim) cause they hate Trump so much. Let’s always remind those Trumpsters that we cab rationally hate both.
Can you be a dotard if you’re still young? Technically the word refers to an old person, and KJU is younger than me, lol.
Honestly though, it was the perfect word to use to refer to Trumpelstiltskin. I don’t know if he wrote that speech himself or not, but gold star for accuracy! That said, yes the man is just as crazy as he ever was and I really hope both of them take a major step back, but I still have to applaud his vocabulary.
Don the Dotard!
I think the choice to be a dictator automatically makes you crazy. And yes, dotard Is specifically an old senile person, but I think young folks can show the same behaviors.
Words…”I have the best words!”
Hopefully rocket boy really wants attention, and this verbal to and fro will help satisfy that. Here’s hoping for something so simple.
For some reason I imagined that Kim said something along those lines and that that translator came up with the actual word. From what I’ve read about him, Kim doesn’t seem much brighter than Trump.
I doubt that Kim is crazy. Our government always calls leaders of other countries “crazy” to prepare Americans to go along with bombing their countries.
Kim is cruel and despotic, carrying on a long tradition in his family. But not necessarily crazy. What he’s doing sounds more like the idiotic deterrence game we’ve been playing for decades ourselves. It’s an especially dangerous game to play with the Orange Dotard in the White House. But considering the US record on bombing, invading, and occupying to get their own bribable puppets into power, I can see why he’s trying it.
So when are we going to offer to negotiate mutual disarmament to resolve this situation? Or do we really believe other countries are supposed to give up their WMDs while we continue to point ours at them?
I think Kim is crazy. He had someone executed because they fell asleep.
Jwoolman…. I see what you mean about other countries and their leaders being labeled certain ways to justify war. But Kim is nuts. No rational person creates state propaganda and demands to be called dear leader. No sane person thinks it’s a good idea to starve his or her people and feed them lies. That’s not shrewd gamesmanship. That’s a crazy man who doesn’t know how to run a country or doesn’t care cause he’s an insane megalomaniac.
Kim isn’t crazy. He went (anonymously) to a posh private school in Switzerland and none of his former classmates have ever suggested he was anything but a quiet, shy, normal kid. He acts this way because it’s what is expected of him as North Korea’s leader.
He’s right about Trump being a frightened dog – sit him next to a real tyrant like Putin and he’s a weak and feeble beta, waiting for the signal to roll onto his back for tummy tickles.
“He acts this way because it’s what is expected of him as North Korea’s leader.”
And that’s crazy. Starving folks and having your own family members killed just because it’s “expected” is lunacy. Nobody sane does this!
Kim was raised by a brutal dictator who was raised by a brutal dictator. When dictatorships are passed from father to son, they get get more brutal with each generation. I don’t think he is crazy, I think he is the man he was raised to be.
I think Elkie and Megan are right. Kim is acting as expected by his family. He was raised to be an absolute ruler.
If we look at leaders in other countries in centuries past, including in Britain and Europe, we see the same kind of behavior in absolute rulers. Which is why absolute rulers are generally a Bad Thing. Take a look at modern Saudi Arabia as another example. They have public beheadings also. Protest will get you at least a long prison sentence and possibly you will lose your head.
Trump has many restraints on him, fortunately, but he has openly admired people like Saddam Hussein in Iraq, Kim in North Korea (before the current shouting match), Putin in Russia, Saudi Arabia. Remember when Trump went around the table and got his cabinet to say admiring things about him? This was really ick, too much like what absolute rulers do even though his power is not absolute (to his great frustration).
Trump yearns for absolute power, and that makes him dangerous. I worry about him using some excuse to order martial law, especially with the likes of Steve Bannon and Stephen Miller whispering in his ear.. We could conceivably be unable to vote under such circumstances, claiming security reasons, especially if it is timed just when the voting begins. We have come too close in the past, although we usually didn’t realize it until long afterward. One possible trigger for martial law and filling concentration camps with dissidents would be widespread protests (that was the plan during the Reagan Administration, in regard to the wars in Central America; Oliver North was one of the planners. Reagan had similar plans for rounding up protesters when governor of California, until some hero convinced him that it would be completely unConstitutional). War is never good for dissent here as elsewhere. Americans tend to believe it can’t happen here, but when people are afraid then they will go along with such things. Our communications system is also rather fragile and it would be easy to shut down contact between communities. So when Trump talks about blocking terrorists from using the internet – realize that he is talking about all of us.
Snowflake, even though we live in the era of “fake news” propaganda still exists. And the info on North Korea is thin in any case. Maybe some of these stories are true but I think we need to be critical about them.
I agree. He is cruel, but not crazy. Kim saw what we did to the leaders of Iraq and Libya – we killed both of them. So it is actually quite sane of Kim to hurry up with his nuclear program, as it may keep us from killing him.
Sounds sane to me.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/03/world/asia/north-korea-purge-kim-jong-un-kim-won-hong.html?_r=0
The guy he had executed because he fell asleep is mentioned halfway or so down. He is also suspected of having his half brother killed. He had his uncle executed, also mentioned in the article.
Bravo, Jwoolman. So well said. Trump is a despot by nature. He just lacks the intellect to carry it off without breaking the law in some stupid way and being deposed, I think. But a lot of awful things can happen to us on his way to fully-realized despotism.
And also, I appreciate your realistic, non-starry-eyed memory of Reagan, who is so fondly and nostalgically referred to now as the Gipper, as if he weren’t the narrow-minded, cruelly conservative man he actually was. I lived in California when he was governor, and it was appalling how many people I knew in helping professions for special-needs populations that lost their jobs because so many state-supported agencies were cut drastically and went under. And ffs, does no one remember his position on school lunches for poor kids? He said they should be cut back or stopped, and one of his suggestions for school lunch budget cuts was to consider catsup a vegetable.
And Jesus, yes, Iran-Contra anyone? Reagan-nostalgia is for the very young who have no firsthand idea of what he actually was.
That said, Trump is so much worse. So much.
Kim is not crazy.
His family has been running, and ruining, the North Korea for 70 years. Their dictatorship has lasted more than every other dictatorship we know: URSS, Iraq, etc.etc.
They are cruel but not crazy: that’s the only way they have to mantain the power, and probably all these nuclear tests were made to force the other nations to negotiate with them…but then Trump spoke…
“Kim telling no lies, but let’s not let makes his accurate shade distract us from his (Kim’s) crazy.”
Eternally this.
There seems to be no middle ground with them. Disagreeing with Trump’s braggadocio and threatening behavior does not mean one supports Kim annihilating islands in the Pacific. There is plenty of space for a middle position
I was singing this all night, switching out “goatherd” for “dotard.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaD9Ozdthg8
“Dotard” is one of my most favorite words EVER!
Lol. It is a great word. And that’s one of my favorite movies and soundtracks of all time. Sadly, I could never get my two boys on board with it.
“How do you solve a problem like Tru-um-ump?”
Works better with How do you solve a problem like Ivanka?
Much better. Perfect, actually. 🙂
I have to agree with Kim Jong Un description of Trump
Why does this feel like a pi**ing contest between two immature, over indulged bullies? I think that we should set up a cage match, in the desert somewhere,with the these two idiots as the main event. Stop holding the world hostage!
Because it is a pissing contest between two immature, over indulged bullies. I think we should send the two of them to a deserted island for the cage match so nobody else gets hurt and nobody has to watch it. Cage match, hand to hand, naked. Princess Nagini and her stepmother can be the warm up act.
Sounds good to me.
Ok lp. I am in. How do we make this happen?
I will design some merch. May as well make a buck or three in the process.
This is one Olympics I wouldn’t attend if you paid me! Rocket Man could easily hit that with a missile. Who thought having the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea was a good idea?
South Korea is a modern, respected, Democratic state with excellent facilities and technology. They’ve been dealing with North Korea for 50 years and they’ve been doing a lot better than the Trump administration. They are as qualified to host the Olympics as any nation.
And they have hosted the Olympics in the past.
One my favourite ways South Korea deals with them is by blasting K-Pop across the border. Masterful trolling!
I’m not at all questioning South Korea’s ability or qualifications to host a successful Olympics. They will do a fantastic job. But putting at least half a million additional foreign tourists (many American) within easy missile strike range? We can only hope that Rocket Man knows hitting the Olympics would be instant death for North Korea.
Apparently I’m not the only one who thinks this way – France announced today that if they can’t assure their athletes safety amidst the North Korean nuclear escalations then they will not be sending a delegation. Wow!
And the Olympic Summer Games of 2020 will be organized in Japan!!!! The security situation has deteriorated severely in 2017. I pray everything will be OK.
@someone – Trump is hoping the name ‘Rocket man’ will gain traction. Let’s not follow his lead with that, despite how despicable Kim Jong Un is.
I read somewhere it will be up to Generation X (who could of guessed it-we were so over everything and worshipped Nirvana) to sweep up after this mess after he is out of office.
When Obama was elected, I began wistfully longing for the days when a president of my generation X would come to power. Then the monsters like Cruz and Rubio started coming out of the woodwork. The election was for two nearly 70 year olds. Did I miss the memo? Are Gen Xers the original slacker generation?
Obama was born at the start of Gen X though right? I thought Gen X was early to late 1960s to late 1970s.
@Kitten
“The Harvard Center uses 1965 to 1984 to define Gen X so that Boomers, Xers, and Millennials “cover equal 20-year age spans”
We are slackers but we aren’t traitors. Put me down for Kamala Harris/Joe Kennedy 2020. We are going to need great people to pull us out of this mess.
Slackers. Ok, I suppose I should accept that… even though i have to put a dig in somewhere about being the “sandwich” generation. Can’t slack if we’re doing double duty for the generations around us.
However, millenials have such a bad rap about their work ethics, I’m glad our old stereotype is being overlooked.
You are right we can’t be slackers anymore. We have to step up for our country. I think we have some good candidates in Kamala, Adam Schiff, Joe Kennedy, and a few others. I miss the Obamas but they are continuing to serve with the foundation they made in Chicago. Trump is wreaking havoc on this country. I can’t understand how anyone supports him still. He reminds me of Jim Jones.
I never accepted the slacker label. A description I once read said that we aren’t “joiners” and that I agree with. Cynical and distrusting of authority certainly fits too, and helps explain why a lot us of haven’t embraced public service. @Larelyn, I appreciate the “sandwich” reference, there are a lot less Gen-Xers (by millions) than there are in the generations that came before and after, and it feels like we get smothered from both sides at times.
Gen Xers are a lot more exceptional than the label slackers. That was the term for the younger years, but studies have shown it is the hardest working and most innovative and youthful generation out of the generations in leadership positions. They make great employees and tend to be open-minded and creative.
I’m totally sandwiched between caring for my mother who has severe health and mental issues but isn’t that old and my two young children. It’s no picnic. But yeah that McCain came out against the health care bill. I’m going to keep calling. Wondering what the Friday night will reveal about Trump/Russia that could have provoked this morning’s tweetstorm.
Orange Voldy the Dotard is tweeting wildly this morning: RTing Bots, vowing to “test” Kim, attacking Rand Paul, screaming about Facebook & the Russia Hoax (which pretty much is an admission of Jared’s involvement with the Facebook crap), trying to bully Hillary, bragging about trending on Twitter for his UN embarrassments. Melania is so good at fighting cyberbullying.
The Hillary stuff is so nuts. He says the media was screaming for her. Facts show he got way more positive coverage. Then he says she was a bad candidate. Unpopular, maybe. But a former first lady, senator and secstate is not a bad candidate but a qualified one. A failing old businessman with multiple bankruptcies that forced him into reality shows, now,that’s a bad candidate.
Yeah, I agree that he’s way over the top with the Hillary lies. It’s like his go-to topic to make himself feel better somehow.
He hates strong women, and it bugs him that he can’t take her down. He is obsessed, but even some of his followers want him to move on.
That FB tweet made me laugh with glee.
Not only did FB hand over the info to Mueller, but now to the Senate and House too! whee!
Not that I have any hope Lindsey will do anything with it.
Jewish Mark Zuckerberg taking down anti-Semitic, Nazi supporting Trump, and faux Orthodox Jarvanka will be delicious karma.
Regardless of religion, Mark Zuckerberg sold Facebook to the devil and I hope will be held accountable to its board, its shareholders and the nation.
Remember reports about how Stevie and especially Jared were supposedly so great with ‘analytics’ and digital operations (FB, fake news and bots, anyone)? Now you don’t hear a peep about that little specialty.
Christin, I think Cambridge Analytica is going to be the thing that ties the Russians to Trump. I think Jared made sure their data was given to the Russians so they’d know who to target on Facebook.
I truly hope the ties are solid enough to convict. They’ve left a trail of crumbs with all their own boasting in the press (circa 2016).
I have to find one of his shadow accounts so I don’t actually have to click him.
UnFollow Trump has all his tweets, even the ones he deletes. It’s great to not have to click on his page. I actually used to follow him on there because my husband loved The Apprentice, and he always tweeted deranged things- even before the birther nonsense.
Sorry I do think think you can blame modern generational lines when one party grew up as the son of a God in a hermit state. Good try though GenX.
Also, how’s fixing the world going so far?
Kim was educated in the United States. He is not unfamiliar with life here.
He is unfamiliar with Not Being the Son of the Supreme Leader.
I thought he was educated in Switzerland.
I’m sure that I had read years ago that Kim had spent some time in school in the US, but can’t find any confirmation of that now. He definitely spent a lot of time in Switzerland as a child and adolescent under another name, and that has been recently confirmed. His family was careful not to spread around photos of him during that period, and his father’s personal history seems even more mysterious so it’s the norm for them…
So the only definite thing is that he lived and went to school in Switzerland for many years. Maybe some other politically significant member of his family lived in the US for a while and that’s what I’m remembering. His aunt and her husband and children did emigrate to the US (she had taken care of him in Switzerland). But she has no real political ties. They emigrated because she figured it would be risky once they were no longer directly useful to the government as Kim’s caregivers.
The #dotard is still adding fuel to the fire.
http://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/911175246853664768
And he will be in north Alabama today, but I will smell the stench down here on the Gulf Coast.
http://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/911193223921635335
Look, I hate Trump completely but can we not minimize the evil sh*t that is also known as Kim Jong Un by saying in comparison to Trump he seems “restrained”? At this point in time Trump is a racist corrupt very-slowly-inching-“America the Great!”-to-oblivion assh*le but there is an opposition; Kim Jong Un is a mass murderer and a bona fide dictator, slaver and torturer. Sure, that could change and Trump could become the more evil of the two. But at the moment he isn’t. I know this is a North America centric site so Trump problems will inevitably seem larger because they are closer for you, but as a Korean that came across as incredibly glib. Both are awful people. But Kim Jong Un is worse.
Yes, I remember how he had his uncle summarily executed.
…. Using a rocket- launcher.
Thank you for your voice of sanity. This thread has saddened and irritated me. Also —- If someone is discussing how emotionally devastated you are by the news to the point of incapacity in daily tasks – thank your lucky stars you weren’t alive during WW2 , snowflake.
Damn…this ISNT a the greatest generation, is it? BRokaw had it right,
No Brokaw did not have it right and I f*cking hate that Greatest Generation bullshit to describe a generation that was largely racist and self-centered.
During late 1940s and early 1950s, the American ruling class had a policy of not reporting race riots as they broke out across America’s cities and towns and even in the military bases where the so-called “Greatest Generation” was being organized to fight Nazism and Japanese imperial racism.
Lynchings and KKK problems continued well into the 1970s, when the “Greatest Generation” was finally forced to end its segregationist and racist ways, mainly due to the Boomers.
The truth is that the “Greatest Generation” were ruthless segregationists who lynched POC regularly so please stop with this romanticized, revisionist history. Not every soldier is a hero, people, even if they fought in WW2.
Kitten…. (whispers) yas queeeeennn!!
What do you expect from someone who uses snowflake as an insult? Ugh.
lee-sun-ah, my heart goes out to you. I’m very afraid for both of our countries right now. And no, I don’t think either of them can be described as restrained. This is an awful, frightening , but not at all surprising situation all around. We have two unhinged megalomaniacs in positions of power threatening to destroy all these human lives over insults.
Much as I detest Donald trump, this is troubling. Kim is literally a mass murderer. He imprisons and starves his people and if anyone looks at him incorrectly he has that person torn apart by dogs. We should not praise anything he does. Ever. It is scary as anything that’s Donald is tasked with dealing with him.
I feel obliged to point out that most American Presidents at least in my lifetime have been mass murderers, typically on scales Kim can only dream about. Our President just stood in front of the United Nations and threatened to murder Koreans on a grand scale as well and wasn’t arrested for it. Our history is full of other mass murders as well, before modern technology made it so easy.
We just tend to absolve ourselves of our own sins because humans are great at rationalization. We also know that our state-approved mass murderers are a mixed bag while it’s easy to demonize others and think we are so different. But dead is dead.
I have to agree. The way Canada has treated our Native Canadians in the past is atrocious. They way they are still being treated. Trudeau is trying, but has a long long way to go. Residential schools were still up and running in the 1960’s.
For them, it’s like they have no voice, no government to help them, swept along with politics they didn’t ask for and didn’t want, starving, living conditions are horrifying. Being abused by the system.
The US is going down a VERY dangerous path. Instead of trying, they are actively working to suppress citizens. Healthcare along will cause the deaths of untold millions. Ripped apart by cancer, poverty, starving. What trump is attempting to do with trumpo TV, fake news, attacking the media, is not much different that NK, Venezuela. It starts not with a bang, but a whisper.
@jwoolman That is a false equivalency. In NK, public executions are held in school yards and the students are brought out to watch. Thousands of people are sent to work camps without a trial of any kind. You can be executed on the spot for any reason. And then there are the rumors of KJU’s sex slaves.
Did not 45 says our government does a lot of killings of our own when he was on morning joe show about two years ago. Joe says to 45, Putin is a killer, he kills journalists and his ow people. Forty five replied, we have done lots of killing, in other words, our country is no better than Putin.
repeat comment. this site is very glitchy for me today
I just don’t think the US should be held up as some sort of moral highground.
Death by execution, or watching your mom slowly die of cancer because it’s a preexisting condition? what, one is more civilized because it’s in the privacy of a home or hospital?
death is the same. condemning people to death is the same.
neither country is particularly civilized at this point, only the US has some hope in Mueller. There is no moral high ground here.
russian hookers, anyone?
Megan- the problem with modern technology is that people can feel far removed from the killing. It is easy to see the evil in Kim’s actions because it is usually done old-style, at a personal level. It is harder to see the horror of killing from far above with a bomb. On a smaller scale, this is why it’s so much easier to kill with a gun than with a knife. The more remote we feel physically from the victim, the easier it is for us to do it.
Hundreds of thousands of civilians died in Iraq due to the actions of the United States. They died directly from bombs dropped on them as well as from the aftermath, which medical people who visited later called essentially biological warfare by the US. Babies and young children are especially vulnerable. Clean water supplies were deliberately targeted, as the Pentagon verified. Medical facilities were bombed and there were shortages of basic medicines. Iraq had started out mostly middle class like us, and just as dependent on infrastructure as we are. Epidemics are always a fear in such situations, as you can see with the recent hurricanes here.
In response to 9/11, the US started military actions in Afghanistan, allegedly to look for bin Laden who was blamed for the hijackers. Within two months, the US had killed more unarmed Afghani civilians than all the hijackers had combined. And the death toll continued to rise. Calling this “collateral damage” doesn’t make it right, and we would never accept that excuse ourselves if we were getting killed and maimed and our homes were destroyed in pursuit of a criminal. Those who drop the bombs know very well that they will also hit unarmed civilians. That makes it a deliberate terrorist attack. We need to look at these things with clear vision.
We have not yet reached the point of understanding that these are not false equivalencies at all. We make excuses for our own actions that we quite rightly don’t make when someone like Kim does what he is doing. But dead is dead, and we need to realize that even though it is uncomfortable to think about. Otherwise it will continue until everybody is dead.
jwoolman, your posts about are spot on.
Archiegoodwin, agree with your post to a point regarding native communities in Canada. The only thing I’d say is that while these communities have experienced horrible oppression, it is important to acknowledge their agency., otherwise you have an incomplete narrative. These communities have been and continue to resist the garbage thrown at them by the Canadian state. Don’t forget Oka and Ipperwash where Mohawk and Objibway peoples stood up for their land rights, at great expense to their lives. Tar sands is a more recent example. Also, as Canadians, can we not refer to native people in the possessive ‘ours’? This just betrays a terrible colonial mentality that reeks of white man’s burden.
absolutely sanders, 100%
@ ArchieGoodwin and JWoolman ITA. And let us not forget the state-sanctioned killing of unarmed black people. Those incidents ARE examples of public executions and nobody is held accountable for them.
@jwoolman TL;DR Using extreme human rights violations to maintain absolute power over your own people is not the same as waging wars. Both are wrong, but they are in no way interchangeable.
@jwoolman, sanders and ArchieG 10000++++
Americans like to absolve themselves of any atrocity we commit but point the finger at other countries as examples of our moral superiority.
This is why I get irritated when Americans talk about Israel as if it is an evil empire that cruelly mistreats Palestinians. I have always said there are huge problems, but the issue is more nuanced and complex than they admit but oh no they don’t want to hear it. The irony is completely lost on them.
During WW2 America turned back Jews fleeing from Nazis with the full knowledge they were sending them back to h.ll. The millions of people that have been killed in self-serving wars don’t seem to register as brutal mass murders of innocent civilians. We wanted the oil and lives don’t matter. They aren’t Americans, so the numbers and reality aren’t as important and are left unconsidered.
We dropped bombs on Japan that caused unspeakable human suffering. And long-lasting harm and suffering that isn’t reported or else we would have to consider it, and it is ugly and horrific.
The way minorities are treated right now is appalling, but it is easier to point the finger elsewhere from the comfort of the safety of America than take action about human rights in our own backyards.
America was built on stolen land however where are all the activists when the Native Americans need help. Where are the activists to help them improve their living conditions on reservations. Yeah, reservations that were not built on prime fertile land but in areas we decided weren’t beneficial for us. We ultimately displaced the indigenous people and then abused them, but nothing is done to reverse this and return the land that belonged to them.
Parts of this country belonged to Mexico. I think we should give it back. No? We don’t need Texas and other southwestern states since it wasn’t ours in the first place. We are all about what is right and moral except if it means our interests and comforts may be threatened.
These lands were stolen, and Native sacred grounds violated, but we look across oceans instead knowing we can disapprove but do nothing that requires effective action.
What is the excuse for Standing Rock?
Europeans can take several seats too with all the horrors committed empire building and colonizing countries full of brown folk and people of color. The Dutch are responsible for South Africa. France, Belgium and the most voracious British destroyed countries and oppressed the population.
45 and Kim are two sides of the same coin. He just isn’t bothering to pretend, and we can’t take that.
Agreed! Just because Kim (or an advisor) came up with a good description of Bigly Twitler, we should never forget his cruelty to his own people. He has wiped out entire families and his ego is to be feared at all times; cross him and literally end up dead.
It is almost like he is wanting some kind of rumble with NK. Everyone knows how sensitive NK is to any perceived slight or insult. So with the situation very tense, why the trash talking? It is almost like 45 is trying to distract the media and the world from something. Could there be some major news coming from Mueller’s investigation into his Russian ties?
He’s tweeting about the Facebook connection this morning. It is hitting way too close to home since Jared seems to have had major involvement in that.
http://twitter.com/edkrassen/status/911180354458931200
The hotter the investigation, the more targeted the leaks, the louder the war drums will beat.
Yes Jared Kushner and Steve Bannon were involved with Cambridge Analytica and the data targeting that may have swung the election.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenbertoni/2017/05/26/jared-kushner-in-his-own-words-on-the-trump-data-operation-the-fbi-is-reportedly-probing/#7e10fceaa90f
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/09/jared-kushner-data-operation-russia-facebook
It is so helpful to me to read that they are pinning this stuff down. I recall during the election seeing some seriously unbelievable stuff posted by my republican neighbor (I live in a red/rural area of a blue state) on FB and I was like “You’re a grown woman, surely you do not believe this shit?” But she did! Or she was willing to suspend disbelief because it furthered her “team”.
Kim Jung Un is a PSYCHOPATH who feeds people to dogs and allows his people to starve and live under a brainwashed fear-mongering regime, and this article defends him. Let that sink in. I don’t like Trump but comparing him to Kim is like comparing apple the fruit to apple the company. If Kim attacks us with nuclear weapons of Guam which I’m guessing, are you still going to make jokes? Shame on you for this article. The North Korean people are suffering.
and trump is willing to sacrifice millions, condemn them to death, all so the republicans get their donations next year.
this isn’t a pissing contest. trump is well on his way to being the dictator he admires and respects. don’t ever forget he called Kim a “smart cookie”, praises putin and erdogan.
trump IS them. the sacrifice of citizens comes in many forms. and yes, the US has already condoned the use of concentration camps- matter of fact, the one who did was given a presidential pardon.
Thank you ArchieG. I totally agree with your comment. “This is not a pissing contest”. If the other guy had said what 45 said all the Republicans would be a soap box condemning him.
The article doesn’t defend Kim. It merely states the similarities between the “crazy dictator” and the supposed “leader of the free world”.
It’s also worth pointing out that Trump’s WH budget has proposed a 25% cut in the food stamps program, whilst he Tweets bare-faced LIES about the proposed Ocare repeal covering pre-existing conditions. See, Trump is also very comfortable with the idea of starving and brainwashing his own people – another similarity!
And he proposed ending all federal funding for Meals on Wheels, which for many elders, particularly women, is both the only warm, balanced meal and the only human contact they have all day
How…. American of you.
A question for you: does the inevitable death spiral that Graham-Cassidy will cause (if passed) concern you as much as KJU allowing his people to starve?
Because ultimately, it’s just a different kind of murder.
And KJU allows his people to live “under a brainwashed fear-mongering regime”?
Hmmmm…sounds familiar.
Look, you don’t have to say that NK and the US are the *exact same* to point out the eerie parallels between the Trump regime and KJU’s regime as well as the similarities in their unhinged, erratic behavior.
@kitten
I hope you see this.
My recommendations with consensus from loved ones for Portland:
Duckfat, Slab Sicilian Streetfood, Fore Street and my father’s fave Eventide.
You probably already know them but thought I would throw it out there in case. Have fun!
I agree with your assessment btw.
Been to Duckfat (LOVE) and Fore Street but never been to Eventide or Slab Sicilian. Thank you so much for the recs! We are going to the Beer Meets Wood beer fest during the day on Sat and will wander over to downtown to grab some eats so this is perfect. Looking at Slab Sicilian online and I think that might be our place!
Thank you so much for thinking of me, Magnoliarose ♥
I hope you have an awesome weekend!
The US will mop the floor with North Korea. The people who should be really scared are the North and South Koreans. If I was living in South Korea I’d leave if I could.
@Tulsi, do you honestly believe we should not be scared of two crazy men picking a fight with nuclear weapons? Believe me, American lives will be lost, don’t believe nieve.
Like we mopped the floor with Afghanistan and Iraq?
No. Much worse than that.
Like Vietnam?
Yes, the more than 51 million people living in South Korea should really leave if they could.
Read what I said: “If I was living in South Korea i’d leave IF i could. “
https://www.jacobinmag.com/2017/05/tulsi-gabbard-president-sanders-democratic-party
That’s all I got.
Wow…just goes to show you how flawed the political purity test is. Even the so-called “perfect” politicians are flawed AF.
Thanks for that link..had no idea.
The Jacobin is a great resource, but there are flaws in this article as I have found in others. It tells part of the story, and of course, she isn’t perfect. One thing I like is that she rejects issues that the left embraces based on faulty logic and doesn’t mix it up with a rejection of leaders and a rejection of the country. She doesn’t buy into the biased UN crap just because it coincides with the far right but for very very different reasons. Issues are complex, and I like a thinker that isn’t afraid to evolve.
Citing Breitbart as confirmation that her stances on some things are faulty is unfair and purposely disingenuous. They are fully aware the left sees red when they see that name but when you look at what they are accusing her of it makes no real sense to evoke their name at all.
The article has misogynistic overtones that make me suspicious of the intent.
@Magnoliarose: Great points.
“Dotard”. bingo!!, hahahahahaha, 😂 😂 😂
Kim is evil and I feel for the people trapped under his rule.
But his trolling of our idiot ruler is on point. I could be more complex, but basically this is a terrible and potentially dangerous situation made worse by a moron (our moron) and I’m going to take my giggles where I can. Dotard is funny.
Whoa, I had no idea Kim Jong Un and I were the same age. Strange to think about. He’s an unhinged lunatic but I will grudgingly give him points for vocabulary. Dotard is perfect for Trumplethinskin. Definitely a better descriptor than “very”– the only adjective the Tangerine Tyrant seems to know.
It’s scary as shit that these two psychos have this level of power.
The original Korean phrase translates as
Old
Beast
Lunatic
How apt, Kim!
Speaking as a translator (but not of Korean), “dotard” wasn’t the best choice because it sent people running to the dictionary. Based on your literal translation of the original Korean, probably something like “senile old geezer” would have been a better translation.
But I kind of like Orange Dotard myself….
Senile old geezer probably wouldn’t have generated as much interest. Dotard was trending on twitter and google last night. Which must be especially galling to the dotard because he was bragging this morning that his UN speech got the most attention on Twitter.
Lightpurple- you’re probably right!
Of course Kim is bat shat crazy and very dangerous, but let’s not forget that Donald Trump sunk to his level by calling him ‘rocket man’. In a way he humanised him with that moniker. A proper statesman should know how to address dictators and their horrible deeds.
So yes, I can smirk about #dotard, because DT brought it upon himself.
We need a real adult. An “adulter” adult rather than these two morons who are going to get us all killed.
You can’t be serious. Jong Un seems like the less crazy one???? As much as Trump nauseates me all he’s done is made careful but direct statements. NORTH KOREA IS FIRING MISSILES ON JAPAN. That is an act of war and if any other country attempted it we’d be knee deep in world war three at the moment. You need to do some self educating on what has been sixty years of North Korean issues.
My stepdad used to call my youngest brother a dotard because he got addicted to playing Dota. I know, not the most pc portmanteau. Now I am imagining Trump getting addicted to online games. I also just learned that dotard is an actual word.
As someone who lives in South Korea, I thank so much for blessing this world with dotard named Trump. Looking forward to the PyeonChang winter olympics(assuming that I’d make it till February).
Somebody in N Korea put in work, dug deep, and came up with dotard which is perfect. Dotard Trump–100% accurate. I hope Kim gave them breakfast, lunch and dinner today since meals are luxuries in NK. They earned it.
What have we come to that two of the world’s least worthy are putting millions if not billions of lives on the line in their sad wannabe macho man d!ck measuring contest. I need some justice and I need it now. Both of them should be struck by lightning immediately.
Kim is not crazy as he is evil and psychopathic but if anyone thinks 45 would be different in that same situation you are delusional. He just doesn’t have the power to dictate like he would like to but if he could, he would be just as psychotic and sadistic.
Crazy is a tame word for what they are.
I get such anxiety when i get news notifications on my phone. Trump is going to lead us into war, if we can’t get him out of office. I have no doubt. It is terrifying.
Also, did not know Kim is my age. I recently realized I’m officially old because people my age are becoming mayors and judges and apparently, dictators of entire countries. It’s a surreal feeling.
I had to look up “dotard.” Trump is such an embarrassment and it really says something that N. Korea’s terrible dictator comes off looking more restrained than our president.
If you want to see trump’s crazy a$$ tweets without giving him any clicks, just go here:
http://twitter.com/unfollowtrump/status/876610054002180096
They are both nuts, you would think they’d be fast friends.
“Kim Jong Un of North Korea, who is obviously a madman who doesn’t mind starving or killing his people, will be tested like never before!”-Trump
This is coming from the madman who is trying to take away healthcare and medicare from millions of people and supporting a budget plan that will only benefit the rich. Let’s not forget the people who died in Yemen as a result of his decision to do the secret raid. The many civilians who have died because he signed an EO allowing the military to do whatever they have to do to defeat terrorists. Heather H, who died when one of his supporters drove a car into a crowd of counter protestors. The increase in hate crimes. The child who was hung from a tree by teens in NH, it also happened to another child in Indiana.
The Dotard thinks that he can use twitter to bully KJU into submission because it worked on the GOP. He doesn’t care that his words will lead to a nuclear war because he and his family get to hide out in a bunker, while the rest of his will be left to deal with the consequences of his actions. Where was John Kelly, the “adult” in the WH, when was writing these posts?
Seriously, are you even following what this guy is doing in North Korea? He is one of the most evil dictators to ever exist. Please don’t give this guy any positive press, or give him kudos of ANY kind.
Agreed. We would all be executed for even one joke about KJU. He runs a gulag, not a nation. Although we are all stressed beyond belief by Trump, there is no comparison.
AGREED!
People need to EDUCATE themselves on what Kim has done. He is a monstrous human being and so were his father and grandfather. The fact that anyone would praise him in any way is horrifying. He is responsible for the deaths of thousands of his people.
How ignorant to refer to Trump as a fascist. Just ask anyone who lives in a REAL fascist regime like those in North Korea. I’m sure they would disagree with some of the people here about what is and is not a fascist.
““I will surely and definitely tame the mentally deranged U.S. dotard with fire,” Kim concluded.”
This is terrifying. I don’t care so much what the guy does to Trump. But the problem is, when he says “dotard” he actually means THIS COUNTRY. A country full of people who, ironically, AGREE with Kim. It won’t be Trump that deals with “fire” , it will be a bunch of innocent people.
Just like Trump went to the UN and threatened to kill an entire country of people (North Korea.)
And all the Trump-lovers are loving Trump for this. Maybe not all of them, I don’t know. But plenty think he is awesome for saying what he did.
Civilians are always in the front lines in modern warfare. Dropping bombs on people is inherently immoral no matter what excuse is given.
Kim isn’t better than Trump, he just has less capacity to do damage. He can’t annihilate us simply because he doesn’t have the firepower. He can damage us like the hurricanes can, but he can’t destroy the whole country. Not that he wouldn’t if he could. But Trump does have the firepower to do that to North Korea, taking along South Korea with it. Maybe part of China also. Oh, heck, some of those missiles might wander over to Japan. Stuff happens. Plus nuclear explosions have some nasty long term effects that literally travel with the winds around the world. Everybody in the region will be affected and eventually we will be also. We saw some measurable effects here from the explosions at the Chernobyl power plant in Ukraine.
We keep hoping that Trump is just blustering and that Kim won’t be suicidal enough to poke him too much. We hope that the Chinese are trying to convince Kim to cool it with the poking. The odds don’t look great on that point at the moment. We also hope that someone in our military has quietly disabled Trump’s ability to launch the missiles, as apparently was done during the height of Nixon’s paranoia, but I personally won’t count on that. We have an impulsive, ignorant, volatile, vengeful man in the White House who actually can decide, if he’s in a snit at 3am, to launch those missiles with no consultation with or approval by Congress. He has that kind of power because we gave it to him. Nobody ever should have that kind of power over such an arsenal, but we have been stupid enough to allow it for decades.
And now we have a Trump in charge of the arsenal, a man who shouldn’t be trusted with a water pistol. This is why people with actual knowledge of the situation and the effects of nuclear weapons were warning during the campaign that Trump does not have the temperament to be President. It is the Presidential control over that damnable nuclear arsenal that is the problem. Many Americans don’t seem to realize how absolute the Presidential authority is in this matter.
So Trump is actually the greater danger, but only because he has access to and control over a much larger collection of deadly toys. He does have more restraints on his power in general than Kim, but not really in the matter of those damned nuclear missiles. We can only hope that some people will actually violate the law and risk their lives and careers trying to stop him if he ambles into the Oval Office one lovely night looking for something to distract from the investigations and to make him feel more powerful and to get back at Kim for calling him names.
“A frightened dog barks louder.”-KJU
It’s scary that KJU was able to read The King of Lies and Fake News so well.
Notice how the Trump supporters are getting upset because “dotard” and “dotardTrump” was trending and everyone is calling The King of Lies and Fake News dotard, but they had no problem when The King of Lies and Fake News and Stephen Miller called KJU Rocket Man several times and threated to destroy North Korea. People are not excusing or praising KJU actions just because they give attention to the word he called The King of Lies and Fake News. The King of Lies and Fake News is a dotard. He is only in this situation because he thought that he could bully KJU into submission like he does with the GOP.
In other news, Grassley is still trying to interfere in The Trump Russian investigation. Grassley asked the FBI if they warned The Dotard about Paul Manafort as if he is the victim in all of this and had no clue that Manafort had connections to Russia. Mueller needs to go after Grassley, Rosenstein(he keeps making excuses for The Dotard), Devin Nunes, Gowdy, and Graham for obstruction of justice.
Kim is a dictator and the real fascist. WHY would you even remotely come close to siding with Kim? This is a man who routinely executes people who disagree with him, fed his own uncle to the DOGS for an execution, lets his people starve in the streets, sending journalists to hard labor camps for “spying”, terrorizes his people who are not permitted even a taste of the outside world… regardless of your feelings for Trump, ALL people in the free world should be standing up to this psychopath. Just look up hidden camera footage inside of North Korea. How unbelievably ignorant of ANY of you who defend Kim’s regime. He is a monster!
NO ONE is defending Kim’s regime. I understand that outrage can be fun to indulge in, but can we stop with the exaggerations that make is sound like the article is supportive of Kim Jong Un?
No one is siding with KJU. Just because people agree with him that Trump is a dotard it doesn’t mean that they condone his actions. Trump is a dotard and he brought this all upon himself when he and Stephen Miller decided to call KJU Rocket Man and threatened to destroy North Korea. I think it’s crazy that people are all up in arms over “dotard”, but said nothing when Trump was taunting KJU by calling him Rocket Man.
It’s crazy how the bots are now trying to spread the narrative that anyone who agrees that Trump is a dotard is supporting or praising KJU!
WTH do you think is defending Kim’s regime. It is perfectly possible to loathe him and also loathe trump. Saying trump is a dotard is not defending Kim. Even a blind pig can find a truffle.
My husband and I do not speak the same first language so we tend to use google translate a lot when we are using complicated words and the other doesn’t get it. We often get back weird words and are like nope not really what I was going for but I guess it fits. I feel like Kim absolutely had to be using an electronic translation device to come up with dotard. No one in this century would have thought up that insult….but I’m so glad he did. Kim just brought an extinct English word back to life lol!!
Maybe they should try and find some common ground, like their mutual love of bad hairstyles.
After calling NFL players SOB for protesting and attacking Jemele H,The Dotard is now trying to bully Steph Curry. Notice that The Dotard wasn’t this critical of WS!
” Going to the White House is considered a great honor for a championship team.Stephen Curry is hesitating,therefore invitation is withdrawn!”-Trump
It’s time to stop saying that The Dotard is speaking to his base when he repeats the speeches that the WS Stephen Miller has written for him. Last night at the rally in Alabama, it was as if The Dotard thought he was giving a stand up comedy routine. He isn’t doing this for his base, he is doing it because he can’t function without their adoration. Stephen Miller’s speeches have gotten bolder and more aggressive. Why? The press kept validating his WS ideals whenever they sayid that The Dotard was presidential for reading the speech from a teleprompter.
“Alaska had a 200% plus increase in premiums under ObamaCare, worst in the country. Deductibles high, people angry! Lisa M comes through.”-The Dotard
The premiums are going up because the Dotard’s administration are actively sabotaging Obamacare by withholding funds and reducing advertising. I hope that Lisa doesn’t give in and vote “yes” due to The Dotard bullying her and threatening to withhold funds to Alaska. This bill is worse than the other bills, and Lisa M had no problem saying “no”. It would be a shame if she became complicit like Niki Haley, McMater, Mattis, John Kelly, and the GOP senators(Grassely, Gowdy, Nunes, Graham) who are actively trying to sabotage the Trump Russian investigation.
“Arizona had a 116% increase in ObamaCare premiums last year, with deductibles very high. Chuck Schumer sold John McCain a bill of goods. Sad”-The Dotard
The Dotard is spreading fake news again. The premiums are going up because the Dotard’s administration is creating uncertainty.
“Two themes stick out: One is that, while insurance premiums will rise substantially in many cities, the increases are generally not bigger than they were last year. The other is that insurers are being quite explicit about citing the Trump administration’s hostile policy messages as a substantial reason for the higher prices.”-The Upshot
Earthquakes and aftershocks in Mexico
Puerto Rico and islands impacted by hurricane, flooding, and lack of supplies
Families trying to locate their relatives after the earthquake and hurricanes
Texas and Florida recovering from hurricane
The GOP trying to take away healthcare and Medicare from millions of people
child hung from a tree by teens in NH
WS
the child who shot up his school
…meanwhile The Dotard is worried about NFL players(“those people who kneel” and making them play despite CTE findings) and Steph Curry saying that he doesn’t want to visit the WH!
There is no way that The Dotard would have been elected president without the help from a 3rd a party. He treats this presidency like it’s an episode of Celebrity Apprentice and does these rallies as if he is doing a stand up routine.
I don’t buy the results.
He just bit some of the richest, whitest hands that ever fed him. The men who own and run the NFL scene. He said to boycott games over kneeling athletes after calling them a name he would get KTFO over had he said it to someone’s face without his security detail.