Is Hillary Clinton the fulcrum around which turns the fate of  the Korean Peninsula?  Probably not, but unfortunately it doesn’t seem as impossible as one might think.  Elections matter.  Appointments to Secretary of State matter, and using that office as a political consolation prize may not have been the best thing for our country.

North Korea is now threatening nuclear response to our joint military exercises with South Korea tomorrow.  It is also important to note that North Korea torpedoed and sank a South Korean ship earlier this year, killing 46.  Reflecting on that fact for a second, it becomes alarmingly clear that that is in fact already an act of war.

So how much of North Korea’s tough talk is the bluster of a dying dictator?  Does anyone know, with enough certainty to risk a US carrier group, or perhaps the South Korean capitol of Seoul?  Perhaps Kim Jong Il is getting old and would like to go out with a bang, and has surrounded himself with enough psychopaths to really give it a shot.

In any case ultimately we can’t blame crazy dictators for being crazy dictators.  Until human society is somehow perfected they will always be around, and throwing a wrench in the delicate balance of international relations is just what they do – along with building yachts made of pure gold and ordering 10,000 pairs of diamond tipped cowboy boots while their people starve – such is their nature.  What we can control is our response to them.  Kim Jong Il and his Iranian counterpart have little to fear from Obama’s apologies, diplomatic initiatives, and seemingly boundless desire for detente.  I suspect that strongly worded resolutions from the UN do not haunt the dreams of dictators at night.

On the other end of the spectrum is Reagan’s response to Iranian agression in 1987.  It is now largely forgotten, likely due to its success in solving the problem posed by the Iranians.  Iranians acting up?  Sink their navy.  Problem solved.  Agressors must be put in their place.  Negotiations are nice if we need something from France — not if we need to deter a nuclear armed madman.

I certainly hope that North Korea’s threats are nothing but hot air intended to test Obama’s resolve.  And I hope that for once he can find some.  Maybe he would even consider taking some time off from his domestic agenda and agressive vacation schedule to act like the President of the United States.  Probably too much to ask.