What’s Next After the North Korea Nuclear Summit Breakdown?

The Trump-Kim Hanoi Summit ended without any agreement, but that doesn’t mean it’s over. "Pres. Trump himself clearly wants to avoid an escalation. His comments were firm but not harsh, giving Kim a chance to reconsider. He continued to stress the good personal relations between the two leaders, referred to his counterpart by his honorific title, “Chairman Kim,” and avoided diminutive nicknames like “Rocket Man.” That keeps the door open for negotiations, but Trump will not make any more goodwill payments like those that suckered his predecessors. Trump himself has already made one gesture by suspending joint US-South Korean military exercises. One important question now is whether Trump intends to resume those regular exercises.

"For Kim, the main question is what it always was: Will he take costly, irreversible steps to begin dismantling his nuclear program? The summit failure shows he has not yet decided to do that, which is different from saying he has definitely decided to keep the weapons and rocket program. We already know North Korea is still building new facilities. We don’t know if the US will call them out on that, either publicly or through leaks.

"To prevent an escalation, Kim must avoid any actions to show how “powerful” and independent he is, such as testing a missile. In making these decisions, Kim faces his usual problem: he cannot get good information about the risks and rewards because he is so isolated. Offer the Big Boss advice he doesn’t like and you die, as one of Kim’s aides did simply for falling asleep in a meeting.

"If Kim does not escalate, then the US probably won’t tighten current economic sanctions, at least not immediately. It will keep the current ones in place and work closely with allies on their multilateral implementation. China and Russia will continue to undercut them and probably do even more. If Kim does take a provocative act, however, then expect much tighter US sanctions and a very tense situation." . . .  

Charles Lipson is the Peter B. Ritzma Professor of Political Science Emeritus at the University of Chicago, where he is founding director of PIPES, the Program on International Politics, Economics, and Security. He can be reached at charles.lipson@gmail.com

  A Welcome Failure    "Donald Trump walked away from talks with North Korea, the best possible outcome given that he never should have walked into the talks to begin with.

""In the unlikely event that North Korea wanted to give up its nuclear program, it could have demonstrated its commitment over time in low-level talks building toward an agreement. Instead, President Trump took the high-wire route of two direct meetings with Kim Jong-un, giving the North Korea dictator, if nothing else, an incalculable propaganda coup by enhancing his international standing.
"Worse, Trump couldn’t help but make boosterish comments about the Supreme Leader, who enslaves and immiserates his people. In Hanoi, he even professed to take seriously Kim Jong-un’s denial that he had anything to do with Otto Warmbier’s murder, as if rogue security services are kidnapping and torturing Americans on their own initiative in the most tightly controlled society on Earth.
"All signs were that the North Koreans were heading to a diplomatic win . . .

Stilton's Place

"North Korea negotiations reveal media’s ignorance  . . . "Kim tried to offer Trump this deal: North Korea promises to de-nuclearize in return for the U.S. actually getting money into the broken North Korean economy. This is, of course, the same deal every past president has made with North Korea, and the outcome has always been the same: North Korea broke its promises even as the Americans fulfilled theirs to enrich North Korea’s coffers. Incidentally, it is also the same deal that Obama made with Iran, with exactly the same result. It’s a fool’s deal, intended to keep the media happy. It’s also the classic definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over, but expecting different results." . . 

How much can Democrats be blamed for the summit failure? . . . "While the Left was busy trying to sabotage the President of the United States, the President himself was in Vietnam trying to strike a nuclear disarmament deal with North Korea's Kim Jong Un.

"It is "possible" (we told you we like that word!) that Kim was aware of the attempted stateside tar-and-feathering of Mr. Trump, and decided that it would give him a leg up at the bargaining table. Which is why, when the vicious little despot announced that he wasn't willing to put anything substantive on the bargaining table, he was probably shocked by Trump's announcement that the summit was over and that he was leaving immediately without even staying for the fancy diplomatic lunch.
"Frankly, we think Mr. Trump handled this situation perfectly. There was never any guarantee of a deal, but Trump at least brought Kim to the table and, once the situation became clear, made him look like a petulant little jackass." . . .

Heir to infamous mob family predicts ‘rat’ Michael Cohen might have big problems in prison

Well, this guy is a rat, but our President doesn't need this kind of publicity. The left will make use of this continually for the next two years, regardless of the deaths associated with Hillary. TD

BPR  "Once President Donald Trump’s disgraced former attorney Michael Cohen reports to prison in May to serve a 3-year-old sentence for campaign finance violations and tax evasion, among other charges, he may be in store for some painfully deep trouble, according to Giovanni Gambino.
"Speaking with the Daily Mail early Wednesday morning, a few short hours before Cohen testified publicly to the House Oversight Committee about the president and his alleged crimes, the Gambino crime family heir warned that prison inmates hate “rats.”
“ 'A message for Michael Cohen: He better keep his mouth shut,” he said. “Inmates love Trump, and hate rats. If he wants to get out alive, he better keep his mouth shut about Trump.”

Gambino mob heir predicts Michael Cohen will get WHACKED in prison because ‘inmates love Trump and hate rats’https://t.co/q2gu1230tp

— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) February 28, 2019

"Unfortunately for Cohen, assuming Gambino’s warning is to be believed, he chose to run his mouth and expose all of Trump’s alleged secrets and alleged crimes, including conspiracy to violate campaign finance laws, obstruction of justice and perjury. He also “suggested Trump may have defrauded insurers, cheated on his taxes and illegally used his charity for personal profit.”
. . . 

However,  the term “rat” is a synonym for a “snitch” or “tattle-tale,” i.e., someone who exposes a friend or associate’s crimes or misdeeds for his or her personal gain.The evidence therefore suggests that Cohen is indeed, for better or worse, a “rat.”

Dems Lose ‘Embarrassing’ Gun Control Amendment Vote After Multiple Defections

Free Beacon  "In a rare move, a Republican amendment to gun legislation brought to House floor by Democratic leadership was adopted after multiple defections from moderate Democrats.
"The House voted Wednesday on H.R. 8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019. "The bill would expand background checks to include all gun sales, rather than just sales by licensed gun dealers as under current law.
"Republicans in the minority countered with an amendment to require that federal officials notify Immigration and Customs Enforcement whenever a lawful or unlawful immigrant tried to illegally purchase a firearm. That measure, opposed by most Democrats, was voted down when the bill was still in the House Judiciary Committee.
"When Democratic leadership brought H.R. 8 to the full floor for a vote, Republicans made a motion to recommit the bill with the ICE amendment, usually a last-ditch symbolic action taken by the minority party with little chance of success. But in a surprising development, the motion passed 220-209, with 26 Democrats joining the Republicans.
"Assessments from most reporters were harsh, calling the vote a "huge floor embarrassment for Democrats" and an "awkward defeat for Democratic leaders.' " . . .

Pelosi tells moderate Dems to stop voting with GOP

NYPD: MS-13 Planning To Target Off-Duty Cops At Their Homes

CBS NY

      

. . . "The NYPD is warning police officers about a possible threat from the MS-13 gang, particularly when they are off-duty.

"CBS2’s Dick Brennan reports that in a bulletin the NYPD put out this alert: “Members of MS-13 are looking to ‘hit’ NYPD police officers, specifically in the Brentwood/Central Islip area as well as possibly Patchogue.”

"The bulletin says that the gang members would carry out the attacks on off-duty officers “in order to gain street credibility.' ” . . .

This Is The Exclusive Video For CPAC

Trump calls a timeout at Hanoi summit, sends Kim back to Pyongyang to persuade his generals

It should be noted that the USSR soon was relegated to the ash heap of history.  But at the time, the U.S. media, which loudly proclaimed Reagan an "amiable dunce," was full of condemnation of President Reagan for this breakdown in talks.

Did China nix this process?

Thomas Lifson  "Media jackals predictably are braying that President Trump failed at the Hanoi summit.  Nothing could be farther from the truth.  President Trump wisely sent North Korea's dictator, Kim Jong-un, back to Pyongyang from Hanoi, where he can tell the generals and security police commanders, on whose support he depends, that they are not going to get sanctions relief without giving up their nuclear arsenal.

"There is every sign that this outcome in Hanoi is a predictable stage in the process of obtaining consensus among the North Korean ruling class that they must give up on the strategy of confrontation and isolation, with their survival guaranteed solely by nukes, and instead open up to the outside world and the prosperity market economies can generate."

. . . "Many people wrongly assume that because North Korea is an absolute dictatorship, Kim can do anything he wishes, and his putative subordinates will go along with it.  This is not my understanding of the real power structure in that benighted country.  The young dictator depends on the loyalty of the commanders of troops and police who have the weapons that could overthrow him and install someone more to their liking.  This threat is why he had his half-brother assassinated at Kuala Lumpur Airport, since having the blood of the Kim dynasty seems to be an essential attribute of a leader there.  But if the military and security force commanders see an existential threat to their survival in power, they could still overthrow Kim and install another leader, finding grounds to claim legitimacy."

. . . 

"The second comparison is an utter contrast: the way the Obama administration caved in to Iranian demands and produced the JCPOA agreement, sending billions of dollars to the chief sponsors of terrorism in the world and obtaining an agreement that allowed full nuclearization of Iran in ten years — an agreement that now is all but defunct."

That Was Unexpected...Democratic Congressman Defends Trump After Vietnam Summit  "Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) tweeted Thursday that he’s disappointed with people who are taking pride in the president’s inability to reach a denuclearization deal with North Korea during the Vietnam summit.

“ 'The hashtag #TrumpFail is trending and I find it inappropriate,” Lieu wrote. “People should not be hoping the President fails or taking pleasure in his failure on the global stage.' ” . . .

But then there is this Democrat, among most others: [Oregon] Dem Sen. Jeff Merkley Suggests That President Trump Is Worse Than Kim Jong Un

Trump made the right call to walk out of Hanoi, says … Susan Rice . . . "Rice’s comments about North Korea’s continued pursuit of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles are well taken, even if both could easily be applied to the Iran deal signed by the president she served. It’s still good to learn the hard way as long as one learns." . . .

Kim almost certainly knew how badly Trump could use a big foreign-policy success and how tempting it would be to go the Iran-deal route to get it. By walking away, Trump demonstrated to Kim that he’ll need to get serious to bring an end to sanctions: . . .

Trump cuts short North Korea summit after dispute over sanctions: 'Sometimes you have to walk'
This is how real leaders negotiate. Democrats: giving in since the War Between The States.
Why Democrats Would Lose the Second Civil War, Too

Michael Cohen Made Four Big Allegations. How Skeptical Should We Be?

Tony Branco

National Review   "It’s over. Michael Cohen’s public testimony has ended, and amidst the hours of assertions, speculation, and contention, four allegations stand out from the others. First, Cohen testified that Roger Stone told Donald Trump about the WikiLeaks document dump in advance of the Democratic Convention. Second, Cohen testified that he suspected Trump knew in advance about Donald Trump Jr.’s infamous meeting with a Russian lawyer. Third, Cohen asserted that Trump directed Cohen to make porn-star-hush-money payments and later reimbursed him while Trump was president. And fourth, Cohen claimed that Trump gave him implied directions to lie to Congress and that Trump’s personal lawyer edited his false testimony.  

"The first two claims grabbed headlines — taken together, they mark the first concrete, under-oath assertions that Trump was involved in any way with the various bumbling efforts of Trump-campaign officials and Trump allies to communicate with Russians or Russian assets. No, the claims are nothing like the collusion fever dreams of the hard-core conspiracy Left — and they don’t add up to anything criminal — but they would be improper and embarrassing nonetheless. Yet those first two claims are among Cohen’s least credible.

"Let’s look at them in turn. The clearest expression of Cohen’s claims regarding Trump and Stone comes in his opening statement. Here’s Cohen:. . . 
. . . 
To conclude:

No single witness will decide this case, and the real losers in yesterday’s testimony were the Americans who thought that Cohen’s testimony would somehow represent the beginning of the end of one of the most divisive national controversies of modern times. The controversies will rage on, and we now turn our attention to the next big event — the long-awaited Mueller report, rumored to be released soon. I expect it to be far more instructive and dispositive (for good and ill) than anything we heard Wednesday in Washington, D.C.

California’s Rendezvous with Reality

Victor Davis Hanson  "Californians brag that their state is the world’s fifth-largest economy. They talk as reverentially of Silicon Valley companies Apple, Facebook, and Google as the ancient Greeks did of their Olympian gods.
"Hollywood and universities such as Caltech, Stanford, and Berkeley are cited as permanent proof of the intellectual, aesthetic, and technological dominance of West Coast culture.
"Californians also see their progressive, one-party state as a neo-socialist model for a nation moving hard to the left.
"But how long will they retain such confidence?
"California’s 40 million residents depend on less than 1 percent of the state’s taxpayers to pay nearly half of the state income tax, which for California’s highest tier of earners tops out at the nation’s highest rate of 13.3 percent.
"In other words, California cannot afford to lose even a few thousand of its wealthiest individual taxpayers. But a new federal tax law now caps deductions for state and local taxes at $10,000 — a radical change that promises to cost many high-earning taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars.

. . . California’s progressive government seems clueless how to deal with these issues, given that solutions such as low-cost housing and strict enforcement of health codes are seen as either too expensive or politically incorrect."

Seven Ugly Lessons About the Media From Jussie Smollett's Debacle

They were wrong. Will they apologize? Why on earth would they? No reporter will ask them to clarify their initial remarks.Their industry peers won’t expect an apology of any sort. There’s no incentive for them to say they’re sorry … so they won’t. Christian Toto

 
Christian Toto   . . . "Still, most media outlets focused on the alleged attack over those critical questions. The narrative proved irresistible for our biased press. A gay black man assaulted by Trump supporters?

"Stop the cyber presses!

"Kyle Smith serves up a strong recap of their malfeasance at the New York Post.

"The story seemed scientifically engineered for The Resistance TM. And, sadly, today’s reporters too often belong to that group.

"Smollett insisted this weekend he didn’t stage the attack in question, even while lawyering up. It’s a perfect time to look back and see what we’ve learned from this news cycle.

"The short version? It isn’t pretty. The longer one? It’s a seven-step process." . . .

Read the full article here.

"Christian Toto is a film critic and podcaster and runs the website HollywoodInToto.com." Cartoons added, TD

Ellen Page last month emotionally blamed the Trump administration for what was at the time being investigated as a hate crime against Jussie Smollett.  On the Stephen Colbert show, naturally.

CNN: whatever happened to the profession of journalism?

Rich Terrell

Even CNN Had To Call Michael Cohen Out For Lying During Hearing 
"CNN: Cohen isn't telling the truth when he said under questioning by Jim Jordan that he didn't want a job in the White House."

Has Kamala Harris made one blunder too many?  Another "Even CNN..." post.
"Lovey-dovey CNN has finally called Harris out on her lies about her record on deporting "unaccompanied minors" who are here illegally." . . . 
. . . "Now CNN, which along with the New York Times has been her fiercest booster, has called her out.  It's possible that these outlets are trying to recover their own reputation for impartial news by delivering this hit on Kamala, after that adoring tweet from a CNN correspondent showing reporters picking out Harris's clothing in a boutique.  But that doesn't make the critical call-out any less valid." . . .

Obsession: CNN, MSNBC Spend 428 Minutes on Cohen, 12 on NoKo Summit
. . . "Now, to be fair, host Erin Burnett did cut to speak with White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins, who was in Vietnam following the President. But, for one minute and 30 seconds, they were discussing how the Cohen testimony was distracting from the trip." . . .

Those liking CNN have to see in them a political ally and not a reliable source of information.