North Korea's nuclear. How's that diplomacy goin', Mr. President?

Long Duck Dong. A North Korean taepodong missile heads straight for President Bush's ass, thereby illustrating his diplomatic skills couldn't organize a petting zoo. No word yet on whether the missile's name is under consideration for the unintentional porn hall of fame. (Readers of Maxim Magazine will understand.) North Korea might not do many things right, but hot damn, they sure as hell know how to name a missile!

It appears that North Korea has finally gone nuclear. I say "appears" because, depending on where you get your information, the mammoth blast over the weekend on the Korean peninsula may or may not have been big enough to be nuclear.

(Psst - Mr. President, it's pronounced [nü-klE-&r]. Just a tip.)

But, just the fact that it might be nuclear is a clear sign of the abject failure of the Bush Administration's foreign policy. It seems like just yesterday that Bush was on the campaign trail (in 2000), stupidly boasting that we shouldn't negotiate with North Korea.

As it turns out, yes, the North Koreans violated and reneged on the 1994 deal, but at least under Clinton, we were negotiating and inside the country where we at least had an idea where we are. Hell, now, I probably have about as much information reading newspapers and Google News as the CIA does.

For those of you who think that's a lot of crap, hark back to 9-11 and the days leading up to it to see how effective our intelligence community is. I don't think it's a stretch to say that we aren't too much better off today.

Predictably, Bush gets on TV and says the act "is deplorable." Wow, calm down, Mr. President. It's amazing that he chided and ridiculed Clinton and his team for diplomacy with regards to Iraq, Iran, Israel and North Korea, yet force hasn't done a damn thing, and where we have made progress, it's been through diplomacy.

Still think I'm full of it? Read what Secretary of State Condi Rice had to say regarding Clinton and North Korea on Wolf Blitzer’s Situation Room:

RICE:…We have been through bilateral talks with the North Koreans in the 1994 Agreed Framework, it didn't hold. They…

BLITZER: That was a mistake the Clinton administration …

RICE: No. I will not blame anyone for trying. I just know that the 1994 agreement, of course, didn't hold. The North Koreans cheated.

BLITZER: Is there any evidence that what the Clinton administration did helped North Korea build these bombs?

RICE: Oh, I think North Korea has been persistent and has been consistent in pursuing this nuclear weapons program for decades. Now, it is going to have to be fought. And the international community is speaking with one voice very loudly, because the North Koreans crossed an important line when they proclaimed that they had conducted a nuclear test.

The best part about her comments is that Karl Rove and Co. probably had a stroke. Stay "Condi! Stay on message!" they probably barked at her. So, at least with THIS situation, you'd think the GOP would back off blaming Clinton, right? Arrrnt! Enter Arizona Senator and President-wanna be John McCain:



McCain is absolute garbage. What little credibility he had left, in my eyes, just great wings. He's fallen a looong way from the "Straight Talk Express" of 2000. It proves that he will say anything to be president. He's a sickening, despicable piece of garbage.

Thankfully, Hillary Clinton, the Democrat everyone loves to hate (especially Republicans), didn't take that claptrap lying down, issuing a statement that read, in part:

A missile shield alone cannot protect us from the Bush-Cheney Administration’s incompetence in their approach to Iraq, Iran and North Korea, and it is unfortunate that Republicans such as John McCain continue to blindly defend their failed policies for partisan gain rather than exercise true leadership. Five years after 9/11, President Bush has allowed the "Axis of Evil" to spin out of control. Our Iraq policy is a failure. Iran is going nuclear and North Korea is testing nuclear weapons. President Bush’s foreign policy failures have made America less safe, not more so, and it is time for a new direction.

I don't know that I totally believe the Hillary spin, either, but to blame Clinton for a problem that has been brewing for nearly six years under the Bush Administration is absurd.

And don't talk to me about a missile defense shield - the Ronald Reagan pipe dream that is the biggest boondoggle in American taxpayer history. If we didn't need it during the Cold War, we sure as hell don't need it now.

Does anyone honestly think that North Korea is going to launch a nuclear missile at the United States, when we would immediately counter-attack by launching hundreds at them? (And ours are hundreds of times more powerful) It would be suicide, but perhaps the North Koreans are that suicidal. Who knows? I have a hard time believing that even maniacal dictators could be that crazy, but maybe I'm wrong.

We don't need a missile defense shield, despite Republican hysteria and demagogy. What we do need: common sense and sage diplomatic skills - something this administration and assholes like John McCain have in shockingly short supply.