Madness is a bad thing especially when practiced on the
world stage. It stands to reason, therefore, that we should believe extreme
madness is even worse when practiced on the world stage or anywhere else.
And yet, it can be shown there are times when the way to
solve an intractable problem is to let it run its course till it reaches the
point of extreme absurdity where it will inevitably destroy itself. This may or
may not happen, which is why a dilemma arises as to when we can step back, and
when we should feel obliged to intervene and arrest an extreme madness that's
trying to run its course.
Luckily, we have an example of publicly displayed madness we
can study. We have the editors of the Pittsburgh Tribune who can be thought of
as the gift that keeps on giving. Time after time, these editors seize a topic
and use it to push the envelop to such an extreme, they prove not that their
recommendations are sound and must be followed, but that they are fallacious
and must be rejected.
Their latest foray in this realm came under the title:
“Podium for a potentate,” an editorial they published on October 9, 2016 on the
website of their rag. In it, they discuss North Korea whose foreign minister
addressed the United Nations General Assembly. Not only did the editors reject
what he said; they did not like that he was allowed to speak at all. Believing
it was madness to let him speak, they angrily denounced him and denounced his
country and its leaders. In so doing, they came close to displaying their own
state of madness.
Denouncing the situation in North Korea is not a hard thing
to do, but what's insane is to be in favor of a concept one day and then reject
it the next day simply because it now applies to someone we dislike. And this
is what you see in the editorial of the Tribune. In fact, rather than
concentrate on what's wrong in North Korea, the editors of the publication
attributed sins to its leaders that didn't happened, and then attacked them for
something they didn't do.
This is how the editorial begins: “North Korea is given a forum at which to
threaten nuclear war … North Korea 's
foreign minister said the rogue nation will strengthen its nuclear capabilities
in response to the US flying
bombers over South Korea .”
This is no worse a threat than to say “all options are on the table,” a phrase
that's used incessantly by the editors of the Tribune and those like them. If
it is insane for North Korea
to say it will boost its defenses, including its retaliatory force to deter an
enemy at its border, it is doubly insane to threaten the “obliteration” of Iran if it
reneges on its contractual obligations.
And that's not all what's wrong with the editorial because
it goes on to say: “...while ignoring Security Council resolutions.” If this
deserves to be condemned, then Israel
deserves to be condemned a thousand times more forcefully for the resolutions
it has been ignoring since that same UN created it. But this was never the
stance taken by the Tribune. In fact, its editors regularly run a feature under
the heading: “U.N. Watch” in which they attack the world body for not cheering Israel when it
commits horrible crimes against humanity.
The editors also cheer Secretary of State John Kerry for
saying that the United
States “has an obligation to enforce the
U.N. Security Council resolutions.” If this is the case, those same editors
should be urging the United States
not to veto resolutions passed by the Security Council meant to regulate the
behavior of Israel ,
but urge it to feel obligated to “enforce” them. However, that's something they
will never do, which is why their words sound hollow, even ridiculous.
And they end the editorial with these words: “It is a
mockery that the U.N. gives North Korea
a podium paid for in large measure by the United States .” Well, like every
international institution (World Bank and IMF,) America has been assessed a premium
proportional to its GDP. The truth is that the rest of the world is getting
wealthier at a faster pace than America .
This means America 's
proportion should diminish with the passage of time.