PRNK...

I guess it only makes sense that I should put in my two cents about North Korea.

I believe that Kim is no longer in power. He's either on a ventilator somewhere because he had a second stroke, or he's abdicated his power.

I believe this because of three things they've just demonstrated.

1. That they have a demonstrated functional nuclear arsenal, though of unknown quantity and quality.

2. The surface to air launch is an act of deterrence against fly overs.

3. The surface to ship launch is an act against the many navies (including our own) who have surface intelligence gathering ships.

All this adds up to a new dictatorship that wants to show the world how strong it is.

Think about the environment in NK. You have at this point two generations of people who've been schooled in the idea that they are at war with the west. Now these people are coming to power. They've been convinced their whole lives that we're in South Korea just waiting for the chance to pounce on North Korea and destroy them.

What is the first thing their going to do when their in power? Show the world how strong they are. Now that their is a new administration in Washington, Pyongyang wants to be taken seriously.

Hopefully those in North Korea who are a bit even temperament will explain to the new people in charge how tenuous their position is. Though I doubt those in power will listen to them.

Now how this bodes for the international community is yet to be seen. Do I think the North Koreans are crazy enough to attack South Korea. I'm not sure their that crazy. However if they do think that their still at war (which they do) and they think that their about to be attacked (who knows) maybe that would start something stupid.

I sure hope not. The North Koreans have a huge stock pile of chemical and biological weapons.

People tend to forget that the last war that we were involved with in the Korean peninsula cost more lives then Vietnam and only lasted a year.

A bloody war is the last thing anybody needs. Not the least of which is the fact that the North would invariably get their asses handed to them (though it would be an ugly costly affair on both sides) but with it would come a really messy humanitarian problem as well.

Cheney, the GOP talking head...

I know that people could argue that maybe the best thing our president could have done instead of addressing our former vice president Dick Cheney is ignore him, but I think they'd be wrong.

What we're currently seeing from Cheney is a rear guard action. Can anybody remember in recent history the last time a sitting president had to contend with sniping from the former vice president? What it comes down to is as President Obama sorts through the myriad of messes left by the former administration and works to right the many wrongs, some seriously dirty laundry has been hung out to dry.

Firstly, I think the GOP has charged Cheney with being their bulldog. He's not going to win any popularity contents but due to his former position in the government, he gets a default bully pulpit. Also, he has a cultivated cadre of people and organizations who support him. His entire job is to merely be the guy who everytime Obama says "The Bush administration was wrong about X" He jumps and and yells "No we weren't, you're wrong!!! We're all gonna die because you're against X!!!!" I guess that makes him the GOP heckler... or something.

Secondly, It's a form of damage control. Cheney wants to control the message of how the Bush adminstration legacy is percieved and remembered. Right now peoples take on the Bush administration is generally bad. This lets him get out in front of the message and put his spin on the policies he implimented, instead of having the Obama administration saying "X policy was bad for this reason."

What's interesting is that I don't think this gets any points for either side.

The people who think Cheney is an evil sociopath who helped run our country into the ground are going to see him sniping the president as merely that. A has been who wants to make sure he's not completely remembered as a crack pot nutbag.

Those whoe think Cheney was on the right track and is protecting the country will keep believeing that as well.

It's a win/win for everybody... except for the American people who get to watch their president get side tracked as the former vice president conducts a side show.

Either way, I think it's foolish.