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The North Korean dictator's first successful intercontinental ballistic missile test on Monday did more than shake up strategic calculations in the Pacific.

It presented Trump with his first real test on the global stage as he flies off to meet far more experienced leaders at the G20 summit in Germany, some of whom are ill-disposed to help him and don't have the US's best interests at heart.

It's a trip that will now be judged on Trump's capacity to secure not just international condemnation of North Korea's actions, but to advance US efforts to change the strategic calculation in Pyongyang.

The mission will test Trump's skill at wielding US power, building international coalitions behind American foreign policy goals and framing innovative policy approaches that haven't yet been tried and that don't fit neatly into the "America First" doctrine that is driving his foreign policy.

Forget the tweetstorms, slams at "fake news" journalists and morale boosting rallies before crowds who thrill to Trump's politically incorrect rhetorical blasts.

This is what being President is really about.

In one sense, the July 4 pyrotechnics from the isolated state ushered in an alarming new reality, one Trump is the first President to face -- the prospect that in theory, Pyongyang could soon hit the US with a nuclear-capable missile.

But what makes Trump's job so difficult is the unpalatable set of options available to try to halt North Korea's nuclear and missile programs. If those fail, an equally unpleasant option would await -- accepting the reality the United States is in Pyongyang's crosshairs.

In other words, Trump is under intense pressure to solve what may be an insoluble foreign policy problem.

He would have to decide how to contain the threat from the North Korean program or to deter the use of a weapon, effectively accepting that in theory at last Pyongyang had the US in the crosshairs.

"There is an argument to be made that everything has changed and nothing has changed," said Jim Walsh, senior research associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Security Studies Program, adding that the test had demonstrated new North Korean capabilities and taken the US across a psychological and political threshold.

But Walsh said the options for the US to respond "really haven't changed. Today's options are no different from yesterday's options, and yesterday's options weren't very good."

Given that military attempts to halt North Korea's nuclear march all risk a horrific confrontation that could kill millions on the Korean peninsula and beyond, Trump has few alternatives but to seek a diplomatic outcome to the showdown with Pyongyang.

Yet there are few approaches that other presidents have not already tried.

One route the administration is taking is a familiar one -- seeking a Security Council condemnation of the test launch on Wednesday at the UN and new sanctions on the already heavily sanctioned North. US and South Korean forces are also conducting exercises in the region in response to the test.

Trump came to office slamming the "strategic patience" strategy pursued by the previous Obama administration on North Korea -- involving tough sanctions and a refusal to talk to Pyongyang until it renounces nuclear development.

But he has yet to diverge substantially from the approach of the last few administrations.

His preferred initial tactic was also a familiar one -- a charm offensive to convince Chinese President Xi Jinping, whom he will meet in Germany, to pressure Beijing's recalcitrant neighbor into halting its nuclear and missile programs.

But now the President, only three months after meeting Xi at his Florida resort, appears to have concluded that effort has failed, further narrowing his options.

"North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?" Trump tweeted after Monday's launch.

"Hard to believe that South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!"

On Wednesday, Trump added: "Trade between China and North Korea grew almost 40% in the first quarter. So much for China working with us but we had to give it a try!"

There are differing interpretations as to how much Beijing has so far done to pressure the North Koreans, following its decision to halt coal exports to the Stalinist state and a temporary freeze on oil supplies.

And Washington may be overestimating China's capacity to change the behavior of the volatile North Korean leader.

Many experts also believe that China is reluctant to try the kind of prolonged oil embargo that could really pressure Kim because of a fear it could collapse his regime and ignite a chaotic situation on the peninsula. Beijing also has no interest in a solution that would lead to a unified Korea in alliance with the US on its borders.

Whatever China's motivations, however, it seems unlikely that its leaders will be swayed by Trump tweets, hence the need for a prolonged and comprehensive diplomatic push by the administration starting at the G20.

"This is really a good opportunity for the President to show leadership, and to show the type of leader he is," said Harry Kazianis, Director of Defense Studies at the Center for the National Interest, who argued that Trump's tweets were merely a type of "strategic signaling" not the extent of US policy.

If Trump's powers of persuasion with other world leaders fall short, he and his administration will be left with some tough decisions.

One option would be to expand secondary sanctions on Chinese firms that do business with North Korea to try to tighten an economic chokehold around Pyongyang.

"We really need to focus on the players in China, Chinese banks. the people that are aiding and abetting the money laundering," said Kazianis, who also advocates stepping up cybersecurity operations against Pyongyang's missile and nuclear programs.

Widening sanctions on China's firms is a logical next step, one of the few new approaches that the administration could pursue.

But such a move would also create a whole new foreign policy headache by triggering a sharp deterioration in relations with China, a scenario that could have unpredictable results and significantly increase regional tensions in Asia.

Another option for Trump -- actually talking to the North Koreans -- has been tried before, and is problematic, since Pyongyang has in the past agreed to nuclear freezes and walked away from the deal. Kim, having watched the demise of other dictators who gave away their nuclear programs, believes that his atomic weapons are the only guarantor of his survival.

"They will never give up their nuclear weapons program. They will never give up their missile program. That discussion is off the table," said Sue Mi Terry, a former CIA North Korea analyst, on CNN on Wednesday.

Whatever path he eventually chooses, it's clear that tough talk and tweets are unlikely to provide breakthroughs and that managing escalating tensions will consume the administration for as long as it is in office.

"The main danger here, contrary to some expectations, is not that North Korea is going to suddenly attack the US," Walsh said. "The danger is that there will be a war, but it will happen through miscalculation or misperception."

See the original post:
North Korea's missile test gives Trump his biggest challenge - CNN

Baby boomers once came into adulthood fighting for the freedom to say crude words on television. As they reach the ends of their careers in this 21st century, they should recognize that the pendulum has swung too far. They should demand a return to civil speech.

Political correctness is a catch-all term for using self-restraint when talking. It means restraining derogatory comments about race, gender or creed aimed at individuals or groups of people. It means restraining fighting words.

Engagement in political correctness does not mean that people may not protest or vociferously disagree. It means that insults, profanity or violence used to deny the rights of others in this free nation are not acceptable behaviors.

On the fringe left this year, groups dressed in black with covered faces and calling themselves anti-fa, short for anti-fascists, broke windows and defaced buildings in supposed opposition to a politically incorrect speech on the University of California-Berkeley campus. It is not at all certain they were students, but that is relevant only in that the criminal property destruction added to the universitys unfair reputation for harboring antisocial activists.

On the fringe right, a white supremacist hurled racist slurs at two young women on a train in Portland, Ore., killed two men who came to their defense, then ranted in a courtroom that being politically correct is an affront to freedom.

Since the nations founding, Americans have seen many changes in what is considered socially acceptable speech. Changes in speech create social norms that can prevent, cool or fuel incendiary confrontations. For capturing hearts and minds, social norms are often more effective than laws.

For example, cigarette smoking was once ubiquitous despite scientific proof of disastrous health consequences. Yet, it wasnt until smoking became socially unacceptable that the numbers of smokers began to fall. Ashtrays that once were everywhere barely exist today.

Political speech, delivered over the air or in the streets, is a precious right that includes the distasteful, the ignorant, the politically incorrect. However, just because citizens can use uncivil speech doesnt mean we should.

When uncivil dialogue becomes political partisanship and then hardens into armed conflict, the times demand a return to the lessons of childhood: Speak your mind, but dont hurl profane personal insults. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Think before you speak.

This will make America a better, stronger and smarter place.

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Make uncivil speech socially unacceptable | Editorials | mtexpress.com - Idaho Mountain Express and Guide

The events leading to this online call to arms began Sunday morning, whenPresident Trump tweeted a gif created by Reddit user HanAssholeSolo depicting a scene from Wrestlemania XXIII in which Trump body slams and pummels WWE promoter Vince McMahon. In the gif, the CNN logo is superimposed over McMahons face.

Auernheimer heralded the tweet as easily the greatest tweet in the history of Twitter.

After scouring HanAssholeSolo'sReddit account, which contained scores of racist and xenophobic postings, CNNs KFile was able to track down the users Facebook page and contact him.

Fearing public embarrassment and his safety, HanAssholeSolo published a lengthy apology on the Reddit group r/theDonald, asking that CNN not publish his identity. (The apology has since been removed.)

Alt-righter Jack Posobiec claims HanAssholeSolo is a 15 year-old LGBT person; however, CNN has identified the Reddit user as an adult male. (via Twitter)

CNN obliged, on the condition that HanAssholeSoloremove his offending posts and cease his trolling, but that didnt stop the self-proclaimed real media at the Daily Stormer from issuing an ultimatum to every staffer at CNN.

Just like CNN tracked down this child and used media exposure as a bludgeon against him for posting (truthful and funny) things that they dont like, we are going to begin tracking down their families as a bludgeon against them for publishing (seditiously fraudulent) things that we dont like, wrote Auernheimer. CNN, this is your one singular chance to walk back this behavior of public blackmail. You have one week to fix this.

Auernheimers list of demands includes the public firing of the KFile team, a denouncement of their alleged threats, a $50,000 college scholarship for HanAssholeSolo, and a public assurance that he and his family will never be harmed by your organization.

The only problem:HanAssholeSolo is an adult,according to CNN.

Andrew Kaczynski, senor editor of CNN's KFile, Tweets that HanAssholeSolo is an adult, not a teenager, as some have claimed. (via Twitter)

We are going to track down your parents. We are going to track down your siblings. We are going to track down your spouses. We are going to track down your children. Because hey, thats what you guys get to do, right? Were going to see how you like it when our reporters are hunting down your children, continued Auernheimer.

Auernheimer instructed CNN employees that do not want to be doxed to quit within the week and denounce the organizations alleged blackmail.

We didnt make these rules you did and now were going to force you to play by them. Hope you enjoy what is coming, you filthy rat kike bastards. Kill yourselves, kike news fakers. You deserve every single bit of what you are about to get, concluded Auernheimer.

The call to "kill the lying mass of shit that is CNN" posted to 4chan's politically incorrect forum, /pol/.

Within hours, personal information for multiple CNN staffers and their family members -- alongside images and gifs of individuals with CNN superimposed over their facesbeing shot in the head -- appeared in the comments of the posting.

The incident is a rare moment of unity for the far-right with members of r/theDonald, 4chan, the Daily Stormer, and the alt-lite banding together to attack CNN.

The 4chan message board /pol/, which isdedicated topolitically incorrect discussion,dubbed the campaign Operation:Autism Storm and posted a four part plan of attack that includes banding together with other far right sites, going after CNNs advertisers, discrediting everyone at CNN, and forming a legal strategy for HanAssholeSolo should he later be doxed.

At least nine separate hashtags trended across far-right accounts Tuesday evening including #cnnblackmail, #cnndoxing, and #fraudnewscnn as the controversy erupted.

To people who troll on the Internet for fun, wrote HanAssholeSolo. Consider your words and actions conveyed in your message and who it might upset or anger. Put yourself in their shoes before you post it. If you have a problem with trolling it is an addiction just like any other addiction someone can have to something and dont be embarrassed to ask for help.

The Daily Stormers veteran troll army hasnt heeded his advice.

See original here:
Daily Stormer Troll Army Threatens CNN Staffers Over Reddit User Behind Trump/CNN GIF - Southern Poverty Law Center