esrosedotblog

KOREA?

Deja vu all over again. I mentioned the Israel thing stretching back in my time. Here is another one: Korea. When I went to college I shared a dorm with Korean veterans. They had the 3000 yard stare. They had seen the real thing. That shut up whatever political naivete there might have been on our floor. That would put this North/South thing at FIFTY years. Jumpin' jeezus. Even I am surprised when I do the math.

And, here we are still doing the 38th parallel thing. The North went under the crazed hands of Kim Il Sung (Sr.) and Kim Jong Il (Jr); the South went western into industrialization and all the attendant dirty government stuff. The pot kept simmerin'. The South got so western, they even used impeachment as a political axe on their liberal government.

Josh Marshall Talking Points Memo has an interesting piece (April 15th scroll) drawing parallels between their politics and ours as well as pointing to the impact of our politics on theirs.

If you want to learn more about the Korean police action go to 50th Anniversary: History of the Korean War. When we think of parallels between Iraq and Viet Nam, we might also want to consider Korea; lessons learned and forgotten.