Op-ed: 
Negotiations on Hold...But for How Long 
By: Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor / Right Side Patriots on American Political Radio

“Sometimes you have to walk.”
- President Donald Trump's words after the failed Vietnam Summit

It was a summit too many expected too much from...68 years of animosity cannot be expected to end overnight... yet it was a summit that saw truly unrealistic demands being made by one country's leader while the other country's leader held strong by simply walking away. After all, the demands that were made were at best but a bad joke.

So by now we all know that the Vietnam Summit between President Trump and North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un...their second summit in under a year...ended with no agreement being reached regrading denuclearization in exchange for sanctions being lifted. And even though President Trump stated that no fair proposals were made, and with Kim Jong-un of course countering that fair proposals were indeed made but not accepted, thankfully no harsh words of personal condemnation were made by either man.

Simply, President Trump turned his back on negotiations going nowhere and walked away with both a luncheon and the hoped for photo-op signing ceremony being cancelled...a signing ceremony that was to be like last years truly historic diplomatic breakthrough where both Trump and Kim Jong-un signed a document in Singapore agreeing to work towards the "complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula." 
 

Seems the North Korean dictator had his fingers crossed behind his back or at the very least sneakily and ever so calculatedly misled the world...as some of us always expected he would do.

And how right President Trump was to simply walk away because Kim Jong-un not only wanted Trump to lift all...yes all...international sanctions against his country in exchange for the dismantling of his main Yongbyon nuclear facility...one of many nuclear facilities...but Kim Jong-un wanted...demanded...those sanctions be lifted before he would even entertain the prospect of committing to total denuclearization...with total meaning the shutting down of secretive missile and warhead programs as well.

Unacceptable for sure, especially when President Trump simply asked Kim Jong-un to please do more regarding his “intentions to denuclearize,” with Kim's answer being that he was “unprepared to do that” at this point in time. This left our president with no other choice but to end these “dog and pony show” negotiations post-haste while at the same time wisely choosing to end the talks on a somewhat amicable note. This allowed Trump to leave Hanoi and fly back to Washington with the door open for possible future talks between the two men...two men who obviously live in what amounts to being two totally different whelms of both reality and truth.

And by the simple act of Trump's turning his back and walking away...for he is no enemy condoner nor placator as was his predecessor nor will he make what he truly knows is a very bad deal simply to say he made a deal...President Trump actually, but obviously not intentionally, publicly humiliated the man he once referred to as “little rocket man.” I guess Kim Jong-un forgot that while he was making his unreasonable demands that it's we...the United States of America...who call the shots not him. 
 

So what was Kim Jong-un left to do but to try and “save face”...something very important in oriental culture...and he tried to do so by claiming that it was President Trump alone who made an realistic proposal about lifting the sanctions. In fact, adding to Kim's words and in a rare press conference, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho stated that the original deal put forth at last summer's summit in Singapore was that if even “some of the sanctions” were lifted only then would his country close its Yongbyon nuclear facility. 

Continuing on, Ri Yong Ho added that Kim Jong-un was ready to offer "in writing" a permanent halt of the country’s nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests, and that Washington had wasted an opportunity that “may not come again.”

But we all know or should know that is simply not true as President Trump has always stated that all...as in each and every one...of North Korea's nuclear facilities must be fully dismantled or in the process of being dismantled before any sanctions are lifted, and he has not and will not rightfully waiver from that. 

America first for President Donald J. Trump...always has been...always will be...and was proven by his walking away.

  

So while this newest summit did indeed start on a high note, what with Kim Jong-un alluding during a question-and-answer session that he is "ready to denuclearize," and that, “If I’m not willing to do that, I won’t be here right now,” Kim Jong-un also for the first time answered a U.S. reporter's questions about not only his outlook for this summit...where he stated that, "It's too early to say. I won't make predictions. But I instinctively feel that a good outcome will be produced"...but also answered when asked if he was willing to allow the U.S. to open an office in Pyongyang. Saying, "I think that is something which is welcomable"...left President Trump to state that, "We're in position to do something very special.”

But, unfortunately, as we all know, sometimes things that start off good can end very badly, and this summit was one such thing for in the end it was all about lifting sanctions not about denuclearization, and thus came crashing to a screeching halt.

And that halt led Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who was in Hanoi with President Trump, to say, “We were hoping we could take another big swing when the two leaders got together”...and "We the People" were hoping that as well. Also saying that “lower-level diplomacy between the two sides could resume quickly,” directly led North Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui to tell reporters that, “Mr. Kim was finding it difficult to understand why the U.S. left the talks,” and that the "young North Korean leader may have lost his will” to continue the talks. 

I guess citing age does have its advantages when one is being pushed into a corner...or so Kim Jong-un thinks.

So where does that leave our two countries at this point in time? First, we must give President Trump high praise for his not backing down or acquiescing to the rogue nation's leader just to keep him at the negotiation table. Second, with Kim Jong-un being pressured not just from the U.S. but from many of the world's nations...nations who are also telling him to dismantle his nuclear weapons program...it's that very international pressure that actually protects us and our allies from seeing a mushroom cloud appear over any of our respective countries.

And to give up that collective pressure before Kim Jong-un does capitulate and gives up his nuclear ambitions... which in the end he will ultimately be forced to do as his country is on the verge of total economic collapse...that giving up would put America, the world, and especially South Koreans...at risk.

How so for South Korea...South Korea desperately wants an actual formal "in writing" end to the Korean War as well as to begin constructive and lasting inter-Korean relations...family reunification most especially...and they believe that can only be accomplished by seeing a nuclear disarmament deal being both secured and put into effect between Washington and Pyongyang. It is as simple as that.

So as this summit ended not as expected, the political fallout here at home continues to ratchet up but surprisingly Congressional leaders, including some key Democrats, are praising President Trump in a surprising show of bipartisanship...but with some caveats that is.

Republicans are rightfully heralding Trump's decision to walk away, with Sen. Lindsey Graham retweeting Trump's, “it's better to walk away than sign a bad deal,” and with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell saying that, “President Trump should be commended for walking away when it became clear insufficient progress has been made on denuclearization.” And McConnell also said that it was “smart" to meet with Kim Jong-un in both Singapore and Vietnam to show him the "economic prosperity" that is possible for his country if North Korea abandons its nuclear and missile programs.

And on the Democrat side there's Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who is usually out for Trump's blood, saying that President Trump surely “did the right thing by walking away and not cutting a poor deal for the sake of a photo op.” Then there's former Vice-President Joe Biden who while speaking at the University of Nebraska said that, “The president did the right thing by walking away." Even Obama's infamous National Security Advisor Susan Rice, also no fan of President Trump, stated in an NPR interview that, "For the United States to have agreed to lift all sanctions in the absence of real and complete denuclearization would have been a tremendous mistake."

But the infamous Nancy Pelosi played it both ways by first saying, “Mr. Trump was right not to take a bad deal,” but added that Mr. Kim was the “big winner” for having secured two personal summits with an American president and easing his country’s “pariah status” without having made any significant concessions. 
 
Can't let your hatred for President Trump go can you Nancy...Hillary lost...please for our country's sake get over it already.

In fact, some on both sides of the political aisle have said that President Trump actually “enhanced his bargaining position” by showing both the North Koreans and all the world that he was more than willing to risk short-term setbacks to achieve positive long-term goals...paramount of which is North Korea's total denuclearization. And what many seem to forget is that there needs to be not just a beginning, but a middle, and an end to diplomacy before any final and lasting agreement can be reached.

So while both sides are now licking their wounds, so to speak, after having returned to their respective home countries, they need to access the damages done by a summit gone bust. And as far as President Trump is concerned the only faux par...the only mistake...I believe he made was in taking Kim Jong-un's word that he did not know about the brutal treatment received by Otto Warmbier, the American college student who in 2016 was "detained"...jailed actually...in North Korea only to be returned to the U.S. in a coma in 2017, and who died soon afterward. Saying he will "take [Kim] at his word" that he was unaware of the torture was surely not a wise thing for our president to say about a man who for sport routinely murders his own people...that man's word should never be trusted nor believed.

But I wonder though if President Trump, the very man who secured Otto Warmbier's release, truly believes Kim Jong-un or was he somehow told to say what he said in order to keep the negotiations on track...only time will tell I guess.

And as for Kim Jong-un, even he has to know that it would make no sense for North Korea to exit negotiations at this stage of the game, or to start making threats, or even resume provocative acts like launching missiles into the Sea of Japan. His country's economy is in serious trouble, truly on the verge of collapse, and his people are starving...and starving people can only take so much before even they will start to fight back. And dare Kim Jong-un forget public perception for to act up now would only prove to the world that President Trump was correct for not trusting Kim’s assertions of his good intentions and improved behavior.

And while he cannot show outward weakness per se...he must “save face” after all...Kim Jong-un has not yet said "no" to another chance for negotiations...negotiations that have not been shutdown just sidetracked for awhile. And things can surely get back on track if only Kim would both stop lying and stop taking his "marching orders" from China. Kim Jong-un must instead start listening to the U.S., for on some level even he knows that his and North Korea's only hope for the future lies with America and with President Trump, and not with a country who would throw him under the proverbial bus if need and necessity be.

It cannot be said any clearer or more directly than that.

Copyright @ 2019 Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor / All Rights Reserved.

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For more political commentary please visit my RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS partner Craig Andresen's blog The National Patriot to read his latest article For Liberals...Truth is the New Hate Speech.

*************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************  RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS...LIVE!

Tuesday, March 5th from 7 to 9pm EST on American Political Radio, RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS Craig Andresen and Diane Sori discuss 'Negotiations on Hold...But for How Long'; 'For Liberals...Truth is the New Hate Speech'; and important news of the day.

Hope you can tune in at: http://listen.samcloud.com/w/73891/American-Political-Radio#history...or on Tune-In at: https://tunein.com/radio/American-Political-Radio-s273246/

Hypocrite: Report Shows Ocasio-Cortez's Massive Fossil Fuel Consumption Despite Green New Deal Demands
Timothy Meads / Townhall Tipsheet

"For thee but not for me," New York Democratic Socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez apparently beleives when it comes to saving the planet from its potential doomsday within 12 years. A new report by the New York Post shows that the woman who is touted as the "future of the Democrat Party" spends thousands of dollars on fossil fuels and other carbon-emitting expenses.

via New York Post:
Since declaring her candidacy in May 2017, Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign heavily relied on those combustible-engine cars — even though a subway station was just 138 feet from her Elmhurst campaign office.

She listed 1,049 transactions for Uber, Lyft, Juno and other car services, federal filings show. The campaign had 505 Uber expenses alone.

In all, Ocasio-Cortez spent $29,365.70 on those emissions-spewing vehicles, along with car and van rentals — even though her Queens HQ was a one-minute walk to the 7 train.

The campaign shelled out only $8,335.41 on 52 MetroCard transactions.

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Developing now, Monday, March 4, 2019

TRUMP SUGGESTS COHEN HEARING MAY HAVE LED TO 'WALK' AT SUMMIT: President Trump late Sunday tweeted that the call to have his former attorney Michael Cohen testify Wednesday in front of the House Oversight Committee may have contributed to the "walk" that resulted in his second nuclear summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ... Trump initially blamed North Korea for demanding too much in sanction relief that would only come with total denuclearization. But late Sunday, he tweeted the following" “For the Democrats to interview in open hearings a convicted liar & fraudster, at the same time as the very important Nuclear Summit with north Korea, is perhaps a new low in American politics and may have contributed to the “walk.” Never done when a president is overseas. Shame!”