Here is a prime example of why the utter lack of press skepticism is driving me crazy today. Here we have some North Korean children who are either putting on an act to please their Dear Leader, or they are so deeply indoctrinated it would take generations to undo the damage. I suspect the latter.
During a segment about life in North Korea, the children told [Will] Ripley that “we want to fight the sworn enemy, the Americans.”
Ripley responded by trying to put a human face on their enemy.
“What if I told you I’m an American, do you want to shoot me too?” he asked.
“Yes,” replied one boy without hesitating. “Yes.”
Oh. They seem nice. Even if they were just acting for Dear Leader, it certainly doesn't leave any warm fuzzies ahead of this grand and anticipated "summit" which has cable news reporters running around in a tizzy of speculation and wonder.
In another interview, a Korean woman told Ripley, “I curse the Americans, I want to destroy their land!”
And yet another told him that she harbored "only hatred" for Americans.
Try as I might to put the generous explanation on this, it just isn't working for me. The facts are pretty simple. For 70 years, North Koreans have been isolated and hostile to Western influences. This is by design. They aren't simply going to do a U-Turn now, which is why I continue to believe this whole "summit" is nothing more than a staged photo op designed to make both Dear Leaders look like something other than the despotic idiots that they are.
