POST SUMMIT THOUGHTS

I am addicted to politics and world events. I am paying for it this morning. I remained awake most of the night watching the Singapore Summit. Trump’s press conference was 4 am.

My first thought is I should have gone to sleep. I am dead! Laid in bed till 9. Here it is after 11 and I am just beginning the blog. Still have to prepare for tonight’s podcast Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. Be awake and sharp while I do the show.

What a day it’s going to be!

Talk is better than fury and fire. Trump and Kim agreed on nothing significant. The joint agreement said nothing. Denuclearization danced around.

However, the two met. They are now friends. Trump invited Kim to Washington. The world’s worst dictator has come front stage. They will engage in telephone chats. Things kumbaya. At least for a while.

Not enough for Trump to win the Nuclear Peace Prize. A meet and greet insufficient. A promise to denuclearize was required. The man who deserves the Prize is Moon Je, President of South Korea. He is the person who got the ball rolling resulting in the Summit.

One final thought. Trump was not ready. He has to prepare for these meetings. He requires a knowledgeable staff to guide him. Trump’s personality, good or bad, insufficient when it comes to the details.

So no misunderstanding exists, I consider the Summit a failure, except that now two leaders have come to know each other and will communicate.

Success may come re nuclear weapons. Down the road, however.

History tells us of a major success that began as a failure.

Reagan and Gorbachev met in Reykjavik, Iceland in 1987. They were unable to agree on anything of importance. Nothing was signed. The Summit was considered a failure.

Reagan and Gorbachev however began to talk informally. They now knew each other. Those talks paved the way to the eventual end of the Cold War and at that time the threat of nuclear war.

My KONK Life column several weeks ago was titled: I’m The President, Aren’t I?” Concerned Reagan’s speech at the Berlin Wall. In front of Brandenburg Gate.

Reagan and aides had worked on the speech for several weeks. Reagan wrote what he considered a strong line in the speech: “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” His top advisers thought the sentence too strong. Wanted it out. It came out. Reagan would put it back in. This back and forth continued.

It was the morning of the speech. Reagan in a quandary. The line out. He still wanted it in.

He had a conversation with Deputy Chief of Staff Duberstein.

Reagan: I’m the President, aren’t I?

Duberstein: Yes, sir, Mr. President. We’re clear about that.

Reagan: So I get to decide whether the line about tearing the wall                       down stays in?

Duberstein: That’s right, sir. It’s your decision.

Reagan: Then it stays in.

A dramatic moment. I recall watching Reagan on TV. “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”

Two and a half years later, the wall came down.

Big trees from little acorns grow. The Singapore Summit could result in good. Or, not. Time will tell. One thing certain. Trump and Kim must continue to talk if good is to be accomplished.

My podcast tonight. Join me. Nine o’clock.  A quick half hour of my ramblings, sharing thoughts, etc. www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou.

The show must be good. Or at least, interesting. My numbers keep going up. The show has acquired national advertisers.

Enjoy your day!

 

 

13 comments on “POST SUMMIT THOUGHTS

  1. Need I point out Trump has actually spent more time with Stormy Daniels than he did with Kim Jung Un and we all know how that turned out. I too hold little hope for this, regardless of how it is interpreted by our leadership. I do think this removes any immediate pressure, but that seems to have been actually more caused by us, not him. We’ll be lucky if we end up with things any better than they’ve been in theist 20 years, although Kim already is.

  2. I seem to recall that some of the wall in Berlin was down before Reagan even gave that speech and to many that part of his speech seemed a bit gratuitous. Dissidents and hooligans on the free side at least, were defacing and chipping at it for quite a while, without consequence. The Russians no longer actually defending it or stopping any vandalism. It was kind of old hat by the time Reagan made his speech and the Russians didn’t actually act on Reagan’s words either. It was quite a while after his speech before they did anything about it and by then the wall was more an economic liability than anything else.

  3. Well… I’m going to try to post here again.

    It’s Kim Jung Un 3 – Trump 0.

    Kim Jung Un gained international recognition.
    Trump canceling “war games” as Kim Jung Un wanted.
    Kim Jung Un got the photo op of a lifetime… equals with trump.

    I guess I should give Trump one point. He got the photo op too. Perhaps that should be a negative point but for now it’s wait and see.

    So far all that came out if this is the photo op. But at least they have opened up the possibility for some agreement. However, in this case, it’s “don’t trust and verify.”

  4. Lou, couldn’t we say with equal weight that Kim Jun Un has done exactly what we myopically say about Trump. That he (Kim), has successfully provoked the west into getting what HE wants, by tricking the gullible and vain American president at his own game. Frankly it looks like that’s a pretty arguable point, especially since he’s getting things done that benefit him and Trump isn’t. I’ll bet Kim cherishes the photo of himself with the American president, more than Donald does with Kim. It may turn out that Donald regrets the photo with Kim as much as he does the one with him and Stormy. We pretty much already have peace with Korea just not the peace as we want to define it. Life is bad in North Korea, but only for them, not for us. Kim is changing that and we say we’re winning? What are we winning?

  5. Trump might as well bring our troops home from South Korea since they will now be ineffective as a fighting force due to their lack of training.

  6. President Obama was considered reckless and naive by the Republicans AND Hillary for his plan to reach out to dangerous despots. Trump is being supported by his host party for doing the same, even considered a peace prize candidate. The swamp of politics is alive and well, nothing is drained.

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