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Yet Another Exceptional NPR Tiny Desk Concert: The Band's Visit

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goddamnedfrank6/01/2018 12:07:52 pm PDT

re: #304 KGxvi

I forget where I heard it, but the point has been made that a photo op is exactly what Kim wants. The moment he and Trump are in the room together there will be a thousand pictures taken. And those pictures will be used for propaganda, inside and outside North Korea. And I’m guessing whatever the actual outcome will be, Kim will tell North Koreans that he kowed the reckless American aggressor to his will.

It is painfully obvious to everyone but Trump and his die hard supporters that Kim has far more to gain from appearing to stand up to him face-to-face than he does from actually denuclearizing. And Trump tearing up the Iran deal gives Kim the perfect rationale for saying the US is a duplicitous and inherently treacherous negotiating partner whose mere presence in South Korea constitutes the real nuclear threat to the Korean peninsula. At best he’s going to demand a total withdrawal of American forces before he agrees to even consider giving up his nuclear weapons, and under no circumstances whatsoever is he going to even entertain giving up the civilian power program.

The real problem is that Trump also wants US troops out of South Korea and reportedly Kelly had to talk him out of doing that in February. He thinks SK should be paying the US protection racket money, additionally he wants those troops freed up for a war with Iran. So he’s already predisposed to give Kim what he really wants and call that a win.