Maybe it'll become a collector's item: the challenge coin for the non-event....

neilm [2] -

I agree. And I worry about that speed bump, too.

TheStig [3] -

Maybe if we're lucky, he'll win a Darwin prize sooner or later...

Paula/Don Harris [6/7] -

Actually, what Paula's comment brought to mind was Fidel Castro, laughing at, what, 11 US presidents? 12?

TheStig [9] -

That's what I've been reading from people in the know, too. It isn't (if you'll excuse the pun) rocket science to dig a tunnel and test a nuke in it. My guess is KJU is already working on the next site...

Don Harris [11] -

Bully for you! The 49ers haven't gone that far (yet), but they did abstain from the owners' vote. Kapernick doesn't play for them anymore, but he left a legacy behind...

ListenWhenYouHear [12] -

I don't believe so. It's the whole "civilian control of the miltiary" -- Trump is a civilian, thus not subject to the UCMJ. I think.

He'd be impeached, though, that's for sure. If it were obvious and provable.

nypoet22 -

That's how I read it, too.

-CW

the short of it is that's constitutionally forbidden. other than the 25th amendment route (which CW has discussed at length and which would require the VP and over half the cabinet members to vote that the president is unfit to serve), impeachment is pretty much the only way to remove a sitting president against his or her will.

JL

Thanks for the response. Wasn’t sure if the military could step in if the president wasn’t impeached by Congress despite evidence showing he had committed criminal acts.

although the president is the commander in chief of the armed forces, it's still a civilian position, so no. if removed by impeachment, the president would then be subject to the civilian justice system.

JL

Think Military Strikes Could Stop North Korea? Try It and See.

Although it's billed as a "simulation" it's really a game with a dichotomous decision tree based on plausible assumptions. It does make you think. Hint: the winning strategy is not to play.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/05/24/opinion/north-korea-trump-military-strikes.html

Logging off, picking gardening tools.

It's likely that K.J. Un demolished an unusable, or unsafe to use, test facility. The 6th nuclear test in Sept. of last year caused an immediate 6.3 magnitude earth tremor followed by a swarm of four lower magnitude earthquakes over the following weeks. This pattern certainly suggests tunnel collapse from what is charmingly called in the nuke test business "tired mountain syndrome." With its 125th rank GDP it's unlikely that N. Korea can afford any Mountain Geritol. Should a need arise, it would likely be cheaper to dig a new tunnel in a new mountain or re-purpose an old tunnel in another mountain. North Korea has lots of tunnels and lots of mountains

I put some credence in the tired mountain assessment. Earth quakes are very much "open source" information picked up by seismographs all over the world.

Speaking of re-purposing I'm going to trot out the phrase "dinner and a show" for N. Korea's invitation only demolition of an already demolished tunnel. Also with regards Trump, "over-promised, under delivered." People rarely break long established habits that haven't killed them yet.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/26/north-korea-nuclear-test-site-collapse-may-be-out-of-action-china

Trump, along with the rest of the modern Republican party, have dropped even the pretense of trying to represent all Americans, including those that did not vote for them. Now they simply cater to their base only, putting themselves and their own personal interests or political well being about that of the nation as a whole.

Un will have to answer to China, who don't want North Korea to be an issue since it might amp up U.S. military activity in a region they are quickly militarizing themselves (they landed a full sized bomber on one of their new artificial islands this week - https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/20/asia/south-china-sea-bombers-islands-intl/index.html).

Trump doesn't have anybody to answer to - he never has since Daddy died. He'll just blunder along using a combination of fast food fecal matter and Fox and Friends to assist in deciding the next issue that he happens to briefly focus on.

In one respect the Libertarians are getting their wish - a combination of deregulation and no effective government is essentially what they have wanted all along.

The country is on cruise control at the moment, but if the economy hits a speed bump (and it has been an unusually long time since we hit one), things will get interesting.

Eric Swalwell
@ericswalwell

Even after cancelling the talks with North Korea, Salesman-in-Chief @realDonaldTrump is still shilling his celebratory coin. Only 20% off for something that 100% didn't happen

https://twitter.com/ericswalwell/status/999762743614898176