CSotD: Beans, and the promise of beans
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Twitter is becoming more sensitive to potential triggers and upsetting graphics generally, and so chose to automatically hide the disturbing photo in this tweet, as passed along by Michael de Adder.
However, I trust his judgment enough to know that, however horrifying the picture might be, it was making an important point, so I clicked on it.
It was more appalling than I had imagined.
I said yesterday that most cartoonists hadn't made much of the upcoming summit, but several of them did nice work once the outcome appeared.
Clay Bennett probably summed it up best with this silent summary of how America's premier dealmaker came out. It's nice when you can make a coherent political point and include a touch of humor, and not only is the overall concept funny, but Bennett caps it with a goofy, self-satisfied smile on Trump's face and a somewhat more purposeful smile from Kim.
Drew Sheneman was one of a couple of cartoonists who used the "magic beans" metaphor, but he breaks out ahead because, in his cartoon, Jack has given up the cow for the promise alone.
We talk about selling the cow for a handful of magic beans as symbolic of a foolish bargain, and it's true that Jack's mother was furious with him. But they really were magic beans and they ultimately led to Jack's fortune, so that, while Jack may have foolishly stumbled into the bargain, it was a very good deal.
Sheneman, however, picks up on the fact that North Korea has been offering the same handful of beans for the past quarter century, and somehow the cow ends up in Pyongyang but the beans never cross the DMZ.
So we end up with a President saying this:
Good afternoon. I am pleased that the United States and North Korea yesterday reached agreement on the text of a framework document on North Korea's nuclear program.
This agreement will help to achieve a longstanding and vital American objective: an end to the threat of nuclear proliferation on the Korean Peninsula.
This agreement is good for the United States, good for our allies, and good for the safety of the entire world. …
This agreement represents the first step on the road to a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula.
That was Bill Clinton in October, 1994, which I remember because there was a nose-to-nose confrontation between the US and North Korea in that time period, during which my son's ship quietly sat off the coast of the peninsula, prepared to be first to absorb and dish out whatever might happen if push came to shove.
I doubt Clinton had, himself, ordered that specific precaution, but he was probably assured something was being done, and it makes me wonder what sorts of meetings go on under the leadership of a fellow who is always right, who will brook no contradictions and who doesn't think planning is important.
In any case, Clinton came away with an agreement which sounds like same magic beans North Korea has promised multiple times since.
They make an empty promise, we extend whatever little bit of carrot we feel we can spare. Rinse and repeat.
We rarely offer as much carrot, perhaps, as Pat Bagley suggests, though we ought not to panic too much, given that our dealmaker is no more honest or reliable than their dealmaker and you could fill a large room with people who have found his checks hard to cash.
Still, not only did Trump promise to halt our longstanding practice of conducting military exercises with South Korea, but adopted North Korea's rhetoric, labeling the wargames as "provocative," though "expensive" seemed more critical in his thinking, as he told the press:
>> What did Kim Jong Un say to you to give you the confidence that for once in the history of North Korea they are not cheating the system and cheating the people of the world and making sure they are giving up their nuclear arsenal?
>> Fair question. He mentioned the fact they proceeded down the path in the past and nothing got done. In one case, they took billions of dollars during the Clinton regime.
Took billions of dollars and nothing happened. He brought it up to me. He said we have never gotten this far. I don’t think they have ever had the confidence in a president they have right now for getting things done and ability to get things done. He was very firm in the fact that he wants to do this — I think he might want to do this as much or even more than me.
Because they see a bright future for North Korea. You never know. We never know. We signed a comprehensive document today. I think most of you have been given that document. We signed a very, very comprehensive document and I believe he will live up to that document.
Which brings us to our …
Conservative Juxtaposition of the Day
(Trump may believe Kim, but some conservatives are invoking the words, and wisdom, of Ronald Reagan. Not all of them, of course: Others are making fun of Kim's hair or otherwise diverting from the facts at hand.
But cartoonists are not like congressmen. Many of them are willing to serve the country's best interests, even when it goes against their partisan loyalties.
Finally, Adam Zyglis riffs on the photo op to question just how "very, very comprehensive" that document was, given that it didn't address the human rights issues that are, along with the nuclear issues, key to the sanctions the free world has imposed on North Korea.
Though I suppose as long as we're separating families and locking up children whose parents follow the legal process for seeking asylum, we're fortunate to only be condemned by the UN's High Commissioner for Refugees and not by the entire body.
We should thank Kim for not bringing it up.
Several radio stations stopped playing this 1964 hit, because of stories like this:
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