romad1

Nixon played the divide between the PRC and Soviet Union very well. The situation is fundamentally different now. Russia is so much weaker and under sanctions. China might want a general war with NK and SK to divert US attention in a Taiwan invasion scenario.

the payoff is strategic missile technology. He wants to be able to take out Washington, DC.

Certainly, some bad faith actors like Jon Stewart will be all over this with a "why do we have to pick between these two awful choices" take.

and it appears SCOTUS is going to sit on Immunity case until never.

e.g.,

Today's rulings won't change any minds about the SCOTUS being corrupt AF.

Most Americans plan to watch Biden-Trump debate: AP-NORC Poll | AP News "Most" is that a lot?

"I thought Hindenburg was too old. Hitler was the younger, more dynamic man"

For whatever reason our kid's HS has had a bunch of NK asylum seekers lecture the student body over the years. We do have a massive Korean population here in western Fairfax county, VA. The stories he's heard from these people are remarkable. My wife got me a very interesting novel "The Orphanmaster's Son" which described the bizonkers system. For a while I had access to North Korean TV in one of my jobs. Very little joy in those broadcasts. Their soap operas were all about struggle and serving nobly and at great sacrifice, the Juche state. Everyone was in uniform. Meanwhile, Cuban TV was delightfully latin: music, baseball, very attractive ladies in the soap operas. I have heard that the excesses of the Russian "illegals" programs are dwarfed by what North Koreans do to their people. I cannot give details. Basically...North Korea is a weird, weird place.

I guess you are really invested in Minnesota or Iowa. If the victory of those two teams isn't a life or death matter for you, then it doesn't fit.

I mean...

Gonna be some interesting fallout from this. Thomas C. Theiner on X: "North Korea is sending troops to Ukraine?? Nice! Ukraine is gonna get EVERYTHING South Korea's defense industry can produce that shreds North Koreans! South Korean weapons >>>>>>> North Korean/russian cannon fodder https://t.co/o3QFb0KI6E" / X (twitter.com) I can imagine the NK troops who get captured and then fed, clothed and catch a glimmer of a world with more freedom than they have ever known (yes, in a Ukrainian POW camp).

You can play out all the ways this could backfire on Biden. Be too aggressive and you make Trump seem like the good guy. Then again, what if Trump reverts to previous Biden debate form? What if Biden can just drop a "would you shut the hell up? or a Reagan-like "There you go again" on him. Biden has a lot of actual ammo to use: "This is as close as most convicted felons can get to a Secret Service protectee" "Let me tell you about 'suckers and losers'; the people who decide against all better sense to be your legal team" "My cabinet supports me; you tried to murder your VP" "Why did you have all those documents and why did you fight the subpoena, and why were you so interested in the Deutch bank whistleblower?"

My feelings about this are similar to my feelings before the 2021 OSU vs. Michigan game. More dread than anticipation without the hope that I would feel as good about it as I would when it was over. I am confident that Biden is a better person than Trump and that he's got better command of issues and that the American people will see in Trump a huckster who can't prepare. But Trump is a brawler and he could land some haymakers. Biden is older and looks it. God, grant me the serenity etc.

I can see this playing out

We should do a GDT for the debate

i keep seeing optimism from the Dems… Polling might be broken but the elections are trending like this.

inoculation for ROEvember?

weird pitch clock violation. Dan and Andy talking about how Philly does a lot of bush league stuff (they did not use that word) to get this sort of thing to happen.

obvious joke but it took me a minute to read through to dismiss completely.

How convenient.

believe that.

Kristol is easier to understand if you remember that he's a neo-con. He starts and stops at the position that democracy is based on core principles. He may have advocated for war and all manner of foreign policy adventures because of that position. Trump represents an un-democratic force. He's incompatible with the American experiment.

Seriously NYT...just stop