Khrushchev and his shoe at the UN, 1960
Trump addressed the UN this morning, and I’m pleased to say that he did not at any point pull off a shoe and pound it on the podium. Credit where credit is due.
However, that’s the good news. Here’s the bad news: The content of the speech.
The headlines from the speech are calling out Trump’s threat to bury North Korea. Â Well, okay, he said “totally destroy,” not “bury,” which arguably is worse. But at least he didn’t remove articles of clothing to make a point. I’m sure someone in media will give him presidential points for being presidential and all, that he didn’t disrobe on live TV.
Here’s a snip from the Washington Post:
The president warned of growing threats from North Korea and Iran, and he said, “The scourge of our planet is a group of rogue regimes.â€
He praised the U.N. for enacting economic sanctions on Pyongyang over its nuclear and ballistic missile tests. But he emphasized that if Kim Jong Un’s regime continued to threaten the United States and to destabilize East Asia, his administration would be prepared to defend the country and its allies.
“We will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea,†Trump said, before calling Kim by a nickname he gave the dictator on Twitter over the weekend. “Rocket Man is on a suicide mission for himself.â€
Trump added, “If the righteous many do not confront the wicked few, then evil will triumph.â€
Ooo, we’re even calling Kim Jong Un funny names. That’s so … third grade.
President Trump took to the floor of the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday and, in his maiden speech there, called the leader of North Korea “Rocket Man,†decried “loser terrorists†and said certain parts of the world are “in fact, going to hell.â€
But Trump’s perhaps oddly chosen colloquialisms masked what was a pretty astounding escalation of his rhetoric when it comes to North Korea. Just to be clear: The president of the United States threatened to wipe a country of 25 million people off the map.
Well, when you put it that way, it does seem unprecedented. And unpresidented.
Trump’s speech Tuesday ratcheted things up in two respects: saying the United States would also unleash a massive response on behalf of its allies, and threatening to “totally destroy†the country.
We still have allies? Who knew?
Polls show the American people are not confident in Trump’s ability to handle the North Korea situation, with 61 percent saying they are “uneasy.â€Â Trump’s words Tuesday likely won’t calm many fears, but he’s clearly gambling on North Korea backing down in the face of big talk.
Yeah, that’s been working so well so far. Oh, wait …
President Donald Trump spent much of his address to the United Nations General Assembly Tuesday berating Iran and complaining about the “embarrassment†of a nuclear deal his predecessor signed with the country.
There’s an embarrassment, all right, but it’s not the Iran nuclear deal.
“It is far past time for the nations of the world to confront another reckless regime,†he said upon first referring to the nation, following a condemnation of North Korea. “One that speaks openly of mass murder, vowing death to America, destruction to Israel and ruin for many leaders and nations in this room.â€
The many leaders and nations worked hard for that nuclear deal, just as they worked hard for the Paris Agreement. They aren’t going to renegotiate it on Trump’s say so.
“The Iranian government masks a corrupt dictatorship behind a false guise of a democracy,†he said.
Well, Trump would know corrupt dictatorships behind a false guise of a democracy. And I bet he knows shoes, too. He could have brought some samples of Ivanka’s shoes and pounded some of them on the podium. Then Ivanka could tweet about which retailers carry her shoes. I wonder why he didn’t think of that.
After all, at one point in the speech he said, “We do not seek to impose our way of life on anyone but rather to let it shine as an example.” Some of Ivanka’s shoes are pretty blingy. Yes, we lead the first world in income inequality, I believe, or at least we’re in the top ten. We’re also number one among the wealthier industrialized democracies in the percentage of citizens with substandard health care. I doubt very much that other nations want our way of life imposed on them, frankly. But who doesn’t like shoes?
I’m sure there will be more commentary about this speech later in the day, as soon as the people who write political commentary have a stiff drink and mutter at the walls for a while. It was some speech.
See also: Here Are the Most Trump Things Trump Said in His United Nations Speech
Ol’ Nikita was no fool.
Unlike our “leader.”
And North Korea’s.
He was an old-line Russian Communist who was smart and skillful enough to avoid Stalin’s murderous rages. At his famous speach at the UN, He was trying to impress upon America’s neophyte Predident that Russia was an equal and not secondary power. He was also fond of dramatic touches – the one similarity he and our insane and poisonous toupee’d orange slug share.
What t-RUMPLE-THIN-sKKKin knows about American and world politcs, and international relations, starts at one end of (Stupid & Evil, DUMB)FUCK’S “new’s” couch, and ends at the other.
Our only hope may be that Rupert Murd(ous)och stages an intervention, and tells our “Toddler-in-Chief” that his (Stupid & Evil, DUMB )FUCK’S “news” was created solely as a means to grift money from rubes, assholes, bigots, fools, dim/nit/half/fuck-wits, etc… (Only he’ll have have to carefully guild that lily, lest t-RUMPLE-THIN-sKKKin’s’ tender fee-fee’s might be really hurt, and he decides to nuke Australia, after North Korea and Iran!).
Or, maybe Rupert’s kids can, since at this point, I suspect Ol’ Rupert has only a slightly better grip on reality than our insane and poisonous toupee’d orange slug has.
Please remind me again, ‘Oh Great Sages of our MSM,’ how much better off we are with t-RUMP, than we would have been with that Clinton WOMAN (*cough* -sorry, I didn’t mean to shout)… woman… who was (maybe) a bit sloppy with her e-mails and cell phones.
This, THIS, fucking mess is ON YOU, YOU you miserable egotistic SOB’s!!!
GO FUCK YOURSELVES!!!
(I hope your bomb shelters are as useless against the rest of the world’s judgement – and revenge – as our playroom, which is only partially underground).
HAVE I TOLD YOU LATELY TO GO FUCK YOURSELVES?!?!?!?!
I ran into news of the upcoming film “The Death of Stalin” with Steve Buscemi as Nikita Khrushchev. It looked pretty good.
By the way CUNDgulag, you can also say, “Va te faire foutre!” Which I guess would be closer to, “go give yourself an orgasm.” I knew these French lessons would pay off sooner or later!
But, on the other hand, I’m sure you know some choice phrases in Russian.
It appears time for a reading from the work of HST. I think page 40 -41 under the heading of The New Dumb from the book of Kingdom of Fear would lend the necessary enlightenment. Dr. Thompson’s words transcend time.
“Ho, ho. Think again, buster. Look around you. There is an eerie sense of Panic in the air, a silent Fear and Uncertainty that come with once-reliable faiths and truths and solid Institutions that are no longer safe to believe in….There is a Presidential Election, right on schedule, but somehow there is no President. A new Congress is elected, like always, but somehow there is no Congress at all–not as we knew it, anyway, and whatever passes for Congress will be as helpless and weak as Whoever has to pass for the “New President.”
If this were the world of sports, it would be like playing a Super Bowl that goes into 19 scoreless Overtimes and never actually Ends…of four L.A. Lakers stars being murdered in different places on the same day. Guaranteed Fear and Loathing. Abandon all hope. Prepare for the Weirdness. Get familiar with Cannibalism.”
This writing was dated November 19, 2000. Â
Just for the record, the thermometer here reads 101, and Maria reached category five status. Our denier in chief is calling other heads of state rocket man in a formal international assembly and looking for allies and supporters. We were warned this would happen.
When the US goes down in history as the pariah of the world after turning the deaths of 20 – 40 million into another of Trump’s game shows of the week, then will the jerks who voted this garbage pull their heads out of their asses?
Why are there no longer links to Facebook. Yours is not the only site that’s stopped having them and I’ve wondered why.
I like to post your articles on FB. They are always so well-written and insightful.
Thanks!
aj,
R u kiddin’?
They’ll be too busy chanting “USA! USA!! USA!!!” and worshipping their “Dear Leader,” to even notice their heads are up their own asses.
I have said before – if Trump undertakes unilateral military action, especially nuclear action, the UN will respond. These days that is usually economic sanctions as were levied against Russia for invading Ukraine and N. Korea for their antics. I have a suggestion for world leaders who think they must sanction the US for Trump’s decisions.
Seize Trump’s international assets. This would be fair – Trump is a loose cannon. The majority, including most republicans do not want a new war. Nationalize his foreign assets – take the Trump name off foreign hotels. Revoke the foreign copyrights on the Trump brand. Confiscate his international golf courses. He’s used his position to enrich himself through his foreign investments – that can be a two-edged sword.
Yes, I’m half, kidding in previous post. But I’m not sure which half, because the more I think about it, the better I like it.