Sleaze At The DMZ

I should have started working on this idea as soon as Donald Trump tweeted out an invite to North Korea’s dictator to meet up for an impromptu photo-op at the DMZ. For a nation and dictator still craving legitimacy, I don’t think anyone seriously considered that Kim wouldn’t show up. I’m only surprised he wasn’t wearing bells, or Trump for that matter.

Trump touted the historic significance of an American president stepping foot on North Korean soil, even if he only ventured about ten feet from the South Korean side. Former presidents, Carter and Clinton, have visited North Korea, but this was the first time a sitting president made the journey.

And it was historic, but Trump is a very historic president. He’s the first thrice-married American president. He’s the first president to defend Nazis. He’s the first president to throw his own intelligence agencies under the bus for the word of a Russian dictator. He’s the first president to lie and claim his predecessor wiretapped him. He’s the first president to endorse a pedophile. He’s the first president who doesn’t know how to spell “president.”

Also historic is Trump’s Defense and throwing cover for fascists, strongmen, bullies, and dictators. He claimed Mohammad bin Salman hasn’t been accused by anyone of being involved in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, which is a lie. He continues to defend Vladimir Putin’s meddling in the 2016 presidential election. He claimed Kim Jong Un wasn’t aware of the torturing of American student Otto Warmbier, who was returned to the U.S. in a coma shortly before dying.

Trump gave a summit to North Korea in exchange for a bunch of empty promises. The summit produced a treaty that was empty on conditions. Trump gave Kim a second summit, despite no actions on denuclearizing or ending his brutal treatment to his own people. There was no positive development from the second summit. In fact, it ended early in frustrations for both nations.

Trump claimed everything was great with North Korea because they stopped testing nuclear weapons and firing missiles. Then, they started firing missiles again. Instead of condemning the testing of missiles, Trump tweeted an offer of another photo op with Kim, this time on his soil.

If Trump condemned the actions of these tyrants in their presence before the free press, he would receive unanimous praise and support from Republicans and Democrats. There would at least be a point to these meetings and photo ops other than gratifying Trump’s ego.

While sitting with Vladimir Putin, he should condemn his meddling in free elections, his poisoning on our allies’ soil, and his murdering of journalists instead of sitting ugly like Putin’s poodle.

When sitting with MBS, he should condemn his nation and his involvement in the murder of a Washington Post journalist who was an American resident instead of waxing romantically about their friendship.

Instead of talking about “falling in love” and the “beautiful letters” Kim has sent him, Trump should look Kim in the eye, point a finger at him and condemn his treatment of his own people, his murdering of his own family members, his hacking attacks on movie studios (Siskel and Ebert only gave films a thumbs down they didn’t like), and mostly, for the murder of American college student Otto Warmbier. While betraying the Warmbier family for the sake of a photo op, he’s also betrayed America. A U.S. court handed down a default judgment ordering North Korea to pay the Warmbier family $501 million in damages for the death of Otto. Do you think in his three meetings with Kim that Trump has brought up the judgment?

Dictators who murder Americans should NOT receive visits and legitimization from U.S. presidents. All they should get are condemnations, grief, and scorn. Not only does North Korea receive legitimacy from Trump, but they also promised a check for returning Otto’s comatose body.

Each time Trump offers legitimacy to Kim Jong Un, his own legitimacy diminishes. Trump truly is an illegitimate president.

Be Complicit

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