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As Trump Made History With North Korea, Look What Obama Was off Doing

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In terms of foreign diplomacy, President Trump’s shocking announcement that he would be meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was probably only matched in its capacity to dumbfound geopolitical analysts by Nixon visiting China or the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Just after 5 p.m. Thursday evening, the White House said the South Korean delegation would have an announcement to make, according to CNN. Shortly thereafter, South Korea’s national security adviser, Chung Eui Yong, announced that the North Korean leader had “expressed his eagerness to meet President Trump as soon as possible.”

While praising Trump’s “leadership” and saying that it had “brought us to this juncture,” he added that Kim had promised that “he is committed to denuclearization” and that North Korea would “refrain from any further nuclear or missile tests.”

The announcement came shortly after Trump learned of Kim’s offer, which led to a meeting between Chung and U.S. National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster.

This will be the first sit-down between a U.S. president and a North Korean leader. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that Trump “greatly appreciates the nice words” of the South Korean delegation and “will accept the invitation to meet with Kim Jong Un at a place and time to be determined. We look forward to the denuclearization of North Korea. In the meantime, all sanctions and maximum pressure must remain.”

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You, being an informed reader, likely already know all this. The real question for you ought to be, where the heck was Barack Obama in all of this?

Barack Obama? He was, as you might remember when you wake up with night sweats, our 44th president. He presided over this august land for eight years, and when it came to one of the greatest existential threats that faced it — namely, North Korea using atomic weapons as blackmail to achieve foreign policy goals — Mr. Obama was strategically patient. How did that work out for us? One look at the miniaturized nukes and global-range ICBMs Pyongyang now has and you can judge for yourself.

So, where was he at this historic moment? Congratulating the president? Taking credit for it? Offering his assistance?

No, apparently, he was in talks with Netflix so that he could host his own political show on the streaming network.

Do you think anything will come of the talks between Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump?

“Former President Barack Obama is in advanced negotiations with Netflix to produce a series of high-profile shows that will provide him a global platform after his departure from the White House, according to people familiar with the discussions,” The New York Times reported Thursday.

“Under terms of a proposed deal, which is not yet final, Netflix would pay Mr. Obama and his wife, Michelle, for exclusive content that would be available only on the streaming service, which has nearly 118 million subscribers around the world. The number of episodes and the formats for the shows have not been decided.”

The Times insisted the couple “does not intend to use his Netflix shows to directly respond to President Trump or conservative critics, according to people familiar with discussions about the programming. They said the Obamas had talked about producing shows that highlight inspirational stories.”

Now, dear reader, before you start in on writing the 1,500 piece of invective about how the two incidents we described are not causally related, let me assure you we’ll be the first to agree with your estimation. Barack Obama didn’t find out that Kim Jong Un was agreeing to meet with President Trump — mostly on the president’s terms — and rush to Netflix headquarters, demanding a show to drive his successor out of the headlines.

However, for everyone who complains that Trump is a “Twitter president” or speaks in derisive terms about his time on reality television, Thursday, March 8 provided the perfect contrast between the 44th and 45th presidencies.

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Whenever Barack Obama was in trouble, or whenever he felt that his legacy wasn’t secure, he relied upon popular culture and media to carry him through. In fact, he did that even if things were just fine. Remember his appearance on “Between Two Ferns?” Or his interview with GloZell? Or the “McKayla is Not Impressed” viral photo? Or Michelle Obama dancing to “Uptown Funk?”

Viral moments during the Obama administration: too many to count. Meetings with Kim Jong Il or Kim Jong Un during the same administration: zero.

Ironically, it was Obama who warned Trump that the presidency was not entertainment, which was a bit like Kettle placing a collect call to Pot in order to discuss the color on the latter’s exterior. After eight years of being strategically patient, despite that strategy’s popularity with the rest of the world, North Korea became a nuclear threat. In a year and a half of hardline policy under Trump, Kim Jong Un is coming to the table.

That’s a pretty inspiring story, come to think of it. The first president to meet with a North Korean leader, against all odds. Maybe Obama can use it on his Netflix show.

Please like and share this story on Facebook and Twitter if if you think “The Obama Show” could just be the worst thing on Netflix since “Dear White People.”

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C. Douglas Golden is a writer who splits his time between the United States and Southeast Asia. Specializing in political commentary and world affairs, he's written for Conservative Tribune and The Western Journal since 2014.
C. Douglas Golden is a writer who splits his time between the United States and Southeast Asia. Specializing in political commentary and world affairs, he's written for Conservative Tribune and The Western Journal since 2014. Aside from politics, he enjoys spending time with his wife, literature (especially British comic novels and modern Japanese lit), indie rock, coffee, Formula One and football (of both American and world varieties).
Birthplace
Morristown, New Jersey
Education
Catholic University of America
Languages Spoken
English, Spanish
Topics of Expertise
American Politics, World Politics, Culture




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