The other day the New York Times reported on the chaos that ensued in the House Republican ranks when Kevin McCarthy—in return for their votes to get him the House speakership—allowed the far-right elements to set the Party “agenda,” which can “charitably” be described as deploying the “nuclear option” on any issue they are not temperamentally or intellectually-inclined to think through. Just blow the “problem” to bits and it will just go away just like that; the far-right fanatics are like Greg Stillson in The Dead Zone:
Stillson subsequently “greets” those who have been waiting to tell him that a diplomatic solution has been struck with “The missiles are flying. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!”:
Now we see “main street” Republicans in swing districts, fearful that the "nuclear option" favored by the extremists will only lead to themselves being the victims of alienation among independent voters in 2024, who are pushing back on the draconian measures (especially on border policy) supported by the likes of Marjorie Taylor Greene, Matt Gaetz and Jim Jordan.
So you say that the voters are smart enough to recognize the potential for danger in electing certain extremist candidates who dump on democracy, espouse crackpot conspiracy theories and brag about how if they were in charge of the January 6 insurrection, they would have armed the rioters and "done it right." But we are being told that Greene is a “serious” candidate to be Donald Trump’s running mate in 2024; somebody must think that is a “good” idea.
Unfortunately, we live in a world where people with serious issues with paranoia do have their pudgy little fingers on the nuclear buttons. Take for example North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un, who unlike his father is apparently frightened to death for his personal survival. Of course the question is, is it about ideology or continuing to enjoy the high life?
We are told that under his rule, North Korea has developed a nuclear arsenal that will render U.S. air defenses pointless if someone looks sideways at him. But we are also told that North Korea’s air defense system is also a weak spot, so “common sense” will win out? Probably, but then again if a “stray” missile comes flying toward the U.S. and blows-up, say, Seattle, I’m not sure South Koreans won’t say, well it’s just Seattle, and we don’t really want any of your missiles coming anywhere close to us.
But one must
still remember that however much North Koreans themselves would (secretly)
prefer regime change, the state of fear within and without the country is real
enough so that the “status quo” continues, since Kim has his own "priorities" that have more to do with his appetite for high living.
Jung Pak, writing for the Brookings Institute, claims to be an expert on Kim. She notes that he was raised in the lap of luxury while the people dealt with poverty, natural disasters and famine, imagining himself to be a Hollywood playboy. Although the third son, he was chosen by his father to be his successor—his brothers being deemed “unsuitable”—but because of having such a spoiled existence where everyone was forced to go down on bended knee to him, he is incapable of seeing the world through other’s eyes. Pak asserts that "Kim Jong-un has relied on military demonstrations and provocative actions to get his way, and has no experience in the arts of negotiation, compromise, and diplomacy.”
Like Trump, Kim apparently believes his “personal charm” can sway those he cannot control, but the exchanges of “love letters” between the two were soon to be followed by accusations of “mental derangement” and threats of the “highest-level of the hardline countermeasures.” Who was the loser? Obviously Trump was—not because he tried to deal with Kim at all, but that he was dumb enough to meet with him before there was any “deal” in place, thus making Kim look “strong” to North Koreans and Trump a weak fool.
Pak certainly seems more willing than most to give Kim the “benefit of the doubt,” calling merely “aggressive” assassinations, murders, and executions of real or perceived enemies—including teenagers caught in possession of South Korean or Western entertainment media, which apparently only he has a right to enjoy. He knows how to “recalibrate,” apparently meaning that he keeps his “options” open—perhaps differently than what she means; nobody would really give a damn about North Korea’s existence anymore save that it and its sponsor China are now the biggest threats to peace and stability in that region, and China clearly is Kim’s patron in supplying the know-how to build his dangerous new toys, and I suspect that Kim won’t do anything “rash” without China’s authorization. If Kim did launch a nuclear attack on his own, it would be proof of mental instability.
The Daily Mail reported that a former in-house chef and companion of Kim as a child, Kenji Fujimoto, called Kim’s early years of excess as that of a “rock-star,” and even as a child he “downed whole bottles of vodka and smoked like a chimney.” Fujimoto even claimed that Kim learned to drive his own personal Mercedes at the age of seven, using boxes for support. This is obviously someone who has no sense of personal discipline.
The Daily Mail also observed that while “Millions of North Koreans were dying during two decades of famine…the ruling family’s private palace was like something from the movies.” Fujimoto remembered that “It had an Olympic-size pool, movie theaters and a huge gym. The kids’ playroom was big, with remote-controlled cars everywhere and a billiard table.” His father Kim Jong-Il gifted him two enormous yachts when he was still a teenager, and his preference for “soft” Western living, American movies and watching NBA games has resulted in a “swelling girth.”
But apparently Kim has no desire that any of his own people enjoy the benefits of Western life that would necessarily mean the end of acceptance of the status quo. He wasn’t much for schooling, either: the Mail notes that he was sent to an expansive private school in Switzerland, where he “spent most of his time on the school basketball courts and the ski slopes.”
One thing Kim also has in abundance besides body fat is a lousy temper and demands of complete obedience, with the result of offending both tending to be death. Lately his daughter Kim Ju-ae has been accompanying him to various functions, including missile launches; she obviously shares his taste for soft living…
...and is reportedly being “groomed” as his successor. Given the previous temperaments that are considered “essential” to maintain one-person rule in North Korea, one wonders just how much she is a chip off the old block, and what that could mean. Perhaps more cunning and ruthless under the façade of “femininity,” or a “kinder, gentler” dictator—or someone who could go off their rocker at any time if they feel threatened, like, say, Marjorie Taylor Greene or Lauren Boebert.
In the meantime, in a world where we assume that nations possess nuclear weapons merely as a deterrent and never for actual use, we have only heard the Russians claim that their use is an “option,” but we can deduce that this is a desperate ploy in the face of conventional warfare failure in Ukraine. It could take just one nuclear bomb to “solve” the problem and reverse failure, but then what?
It is interesting to note the time it took between the belief that nuclear fission had no practical application to a weapon of mass destruction occurred in very short order. Using neutrons to split atoms to produce usable energy came as a “shock” to scientists in 1939, and the first thing people thought about as World War II was beginning was to use it for destructive purposes. Its use for “peaceful” purposes was an afterthought, and the first power plant that produce enough energy for useful electrical energy wasn’t constructed until 1951.
Today, many voices want to shut down nuclear power plants as environmental dangers, but there seems no real desire to do away with nuclear weapons. We just want to keep them out of the wrong person’s hands. So far we’ve avoided the scenario involving a mentally-unbalanced, paranoid crackpot with delusions of “history” wanting to test out the theory of limited mass destruction with no “payback”; maybe with Kim it really is just all for show, since he may be only interested in insuring his lifestyle isn't threatened.
But then again, there is MTG, and who knows what a real nutcase with delusions of power is capable of.
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