School Yard Diplomacy.

The more I read of the invective flashing like hissing squibs between the North Korean government and certain American politicians, the more it looks like a kindergarten spat between the two fat kids who are each trying to be chief bully.

We have no alternative! says Trump.

Don’t mess with Trump, buddy. He’s a big guy, says somebody else.

We’re with you 100%, Pence tells the South Koreans (as he strikes a heroic pose pointing across the DMZ.)

That’s the really worrying one. When a politician like Pence says ‘we’re with you 100%’, what he really means is:

We’ll be right over there in that aircraft carrier, and if you get into any really bad trouble we just might give you a hand. It all depends, of course, on whether:

1. We think you’re worth the risk, given all the other circumstances then prevailing.

2. We’re convinced that you can be of some use to us in our avowed intent to Make America Great Again.

It’s the South Koreans I’m most concerned about in all this. Let’s face it, even the mentally-challenged juveniles running North Korea aren’t going to attack anybody else, are they? Schoolyard bullies don’t fire their pea shooters at the big guys packing the Magnums. And now the poor South Koreans have Pence’s Promises encouraging a sense of doubt. And South Korea has such a nice flag…