"Nice photoshoot you got there, Mr. President. Shame if sumfing should... 'appen to it."

*LOL* Poor Donald. ;)

I agree with TS [7], Trump only want the next photo shoot, and Kim wants a chance to pull another fast one on the U.S. and sees an opening.

"Nice photoshoot you got there, Mr. President. Shame if sumfing should... 'appen to it."

I agree with Neil and TS. :)

Trump only wants the next photo shoot, and Kim wants a chance to pull another fast one on the U.S. and sees an opening.

Ah, the life of the unrepentant con artist who thrives on projection, fabrication, melodrama, and chaos while knowing exactly who he is and how he's lived his life and those he burned in the process... all while claiming he's the victim here. Sad.

Trump wants better headlines than Stormy Daniels and Mueller.

I am not sure who is the needier party.

Benedict Donald Trump is the "needier party." :)

The phrase "dinner and a show" comes to mind.

Yes, sir, and the Orange Blowhole is interested in his ratings and little else. Sad.

donald is not a horrible negotiator, he's just out for the best deal for himself, not the united states.

Too true... a modern-day Benedict Arnold who would sell out his country if it meant money and praise for himself.

They're going to prison for what they did. :)

North Korea has watched how China used flattery and tacky gifts to get Trump to bend over backwards for them, and they will use the exact same game plan.

Absolutely correct, sir... with Putin pulling the strings of multiple puppets.

Trump has shown himself to be an incredibly horrible negotiator, and all the world leaders know it!

He doesn't really "negotiate" anything... just gets angry, talks a lot about how great he is, and then files lawsuits and threatens people.

This is not going to go well for us.

I think you're right, but they'll spin it like it went well regardless of how it actually goes. Example: Special Counselor Bobby Three Sticks has 5 guilty pleas and over a dozen indictments made public already with multiple sealed indictments and Michael Cohen taking in millions in the Benedict Donald Pay-To-Play Quagmire and more shoes still going to drop about where the outgoing money landed... meanwhile the GOP insists in unison that absolutely nothing has been found in a year and investigation should be wrapping up... that kind of utter ridiculous spin. :)

stick around

JL

Do you remember when and/or which post title(s) we had a very long discussion about the use of torture?

I want to refer back to those but haven't been able to find them ...

Can't CW do something about the issue you raised above?

Saw your post about oppo. You do what you gotta do. Sometimes life sucks - keeping your priorities straight is obviously the right thing to do.

Your absence is definitely felt on SAB.

Be well.

The Chinese look at the sanctions as a useful tool the rest of the World hands them to control N. Korea. If China knows that the World will stand firm, they can switch on and off their adherence to get what they want. And what they don't want is behavior that results in a couple of U.S. carrier fleets floating around the East China and Yellow Seas.

Since they can basically control the belligerence of a maniac, they can use him to needle Trump on demand - and the more Trump gets invested in his vision of a Nobel Peace prize, the better it gets for them. They can "help" Trump get his Nobel by holding out a tame Kim in exchange for rolling over on trade, etc.

Kim will put a price tag on everything - including another meeting - in fact I'd not be surprised if he waited until Trump had bragged about the current meeting to the point where he can't back out then ask the U.S. for a "goodwill/facility fee" for attendance.

I miss you.

I miss ya'all too and I also miss the way things were around here..

But when tactics like "opposition research" on a commenter and a commenters' family are employed in an effort to extort commenter into silence become, either by commission or omission, acceptable debate tactics....???

Well, let's just say I won't subject my family to such threats..

I still lurk, but as long as those who are sworn to opposition research-based extortion are here....

I won't be...

I think you may be overcomplicating the situation.

Trump wants better headlines than Stormy Daniels and Mueller.

Kim wants international recognition as legitimate.

I am not sure who is the needier party.

The phrase "dinner and a show" comes to mind.

If there are any professionals left at State they are nervous. Everybody in N. Korea is perpetually nervous. It is a Stalinist State.

donald is not a horrible negotiator, he's just out for the best deal for himself, not the united states. he'd give away seoul if jong un promised him a trump tower there.

JL

I've been looking at some of the comments from back when I first started commenting here.

I miss our little discussions very much.

And, I hope we can get back to those early days of this blog where there was no name calling or other juvenile behavior ...

I miss you.

If Trump signs a nuclear deal with NK that is better than the JCPOA, then he deserves his share of a Nobel peace prize.

Let's get real and spell out the bottom line.

Which is to say that Trump will not be able to sign a nuclear deal with North Korea unless it is a better deal than the nuclear deal negotiated between Iran and the E3/EU + 3 now being complied with by E3/EU +2, a deal otherwise known as the worst deal ever put to paper. Ahem.

I'm afraid the American president is in way over his head on this one, as per usual.

As for Korea, I guess we can hope for the best. It will be interesting.