Kim’s victory leap
A year ago, President Trump became the first U.S. chief executive to sit down with a leader of the totalitarian North Korean regime. The Singapore summit, festooned with U.S. and North Korean flags, gave Kim Jong Un a public relations triumph. The U.S. got, well, the return of imprisoned Otto Warmbier (who died one week after the summit), the promised return of the remains of U.S. Korean War dead (unfulfilled) and, well, the promise of more talks.
In a second summit earlier this year, Trump walked away in the face of getting nothing. But, even before the meeting, the administration dropped long-standing U.S. demands that Pyongyang fully disclose its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs. While Kim hasn’t done any long-range testing since last year, he’s resumed short-range launches (which Trump called “minor”). (Meanwhile, a frustrated Kim, subsequently killed the head of his negotiating team, so there’s that.)
And now, in one more acquiescence, after exchanging fawning letters to one another, Trump, drops by into the DMZ after the G-20 Summit, becoming the first incumbent president to enter North Korea. Another fantastic photo-op for Kim.
And, according to a reports, the U.S. will apparently give up on the idea of denuclearization in exchange for a nuclear freeze.
“To jaw-jaw is always better than to war-war,” but shouldn’t the U.S. have something tangible to show in exchange for delivering public relations coups sought by a tyrannical regime for generations?
— New York Daily News
California, Canada sending Trump right message on auto emissions
It’s too early to get too excited about the agreement signed last week between the country of Canada and the state of California on advancing cleaner vehicles and fuels because it lacks a lot of specifics. But at a time when automakers have expressed frustration with President Donald Trump’s efforts to essentially create two sets of auto-emission policies by weakening ones adopted by California and 13 other states, the deal sends the right message.
Not only will California not cave to the administration’s strong-arm tactics, it will seek out ever more allies to show the nation _ and world _ that its approach on reducing vehicle carbon emissions is better business than Trump’s planned rollback.
The states working with California to cut greenhouse gas emissions are Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. Collectively, with California, these states make up more than 40% of the U.S. passenger vehicle market.
Canada’s auto emissions standards have emulated U.S. rules, but several analysts told The New York Times that Wednesday’s announcement signaled a potential switch to the tougher standards of California and the other states. More states should take a stand against the administration’s planned rollback this year, forcing automakers to follow a single, cleaner set of standards. That’s better for the long-term health of the industry and the planet.
— The San Diego Union-Tribune
