Success In Singapore?

I don't begrudge our President his success in Singapore. On the one hand, it is a good thing to open communications with North Korea. On the other, however, Trump has elevated Kim Jong-un to a position of prominence on the world stage not befitting a country with the size and the economy of North Korea. Inviting that nation to join the rest of the world is one thing. Being played by a third rate dictator is another—and Kim played Trump like a fiddle with his own trump card, his nuclear arsenal. Kim got what he wanted, legitimacy. We got promises. Neville Chamberlain got promises from Adolph Hitler in Munich, 1938, and we all know how that went—and Kim is no Adolph Hitler, although he might think he is. North Korea is no Germany. Their nukes do pose a threat, but all the bluster from Kim has been in an attempt to hold onto his power and bring him right here, recognized as important by the allegedly most powerful and important man on the planet. Kim can easily see himself as Trump's equal right now. Trump praises Kim with term and tone similar to his praises for Vladimir Putin and other totalitarian regimes. In fact, Trump admires dictators who have an ironclad hold on their countries. He turns his back to those democracies who support us in what Ronald Reagan declared was our mission, to promoite democracy around the world. He also squashes a deal with another rogue nation, Iran, that was working under its limited purview and might have helped that nation rejoin the world. Once again, Trump has presented the American people with actions that are hard to reconcile with what America is supposed to stand for, and I think it shows where his affections and ambitions lie—with dictators. On this one, Fox News's faux pas before the meeting took place was not far off the mark.