The above phrase — “not helpful” — is from a U.S. State Department Spokesman, describing:
a) A staffer who forgot to turn off the coffeepot
b) A staffer who spelled Secretary of State Clinton’s first name with only one ‘l”
c) A cloakroom attendant who lost the spokesman’s coat.
d) North Korea’s in-America’s-face test-firing, on July 4th, of yet another round of missiles, following illicit missile tests earlier this week, in May and in April (in that case a long-range rocket), plus a sanctions-busting nuclear test in May.
… I wish we could rule out (d), but it’s the only choice above that goes without saying. The State Department, both under Condoleezza Rice, and now under Hillary Clinton, has for some time now been in the habit of chiding rogue regimes in lingo usually reserved for naughty children.
It is way past time for the State Department to stop producing such twaddle, and address North Korea’s brazen threats in terms a lot more hair-raising and a lot less “helpful” to North Korea.
PJM Home
Pajamas Media appreciates your comments that abide by the following guidelines:
1. Avoid profanities or foul language unless it is contained in a necessary quote or is relevant to the comment.
2. Stay on topic.
3. Disagree, but avoid ad hominem attacks.
4. Threats are treated seriously and reported to law enforcement.
5. Spam and advertising are not permitted in the comments area.
The clause regarding "hate speech" has been deleted because readers criticized it as being too loosely defined. We agreed.
These guidelines are very general and cannot cover every possible situation. Please don't assume that Pajamas Media management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment. We reserve the right to filter or delete comments or to deny posting privileges entirely at our discretion. If you feel your comment was filtered inappropriately, please email us at story@pajamasmedia.com.
5 Comments
1. the elephant's child:Last night we watched some re-runs of the British comedy series “Yes Minister,” where the humor is based in bureaucratic language and bureaucratic attempts to paper anything that might be, um, disruptive over. It’s an old series that was very funny, but now I’m finding it too close to reality for real humor.
Who could have imagined an American government that would smarmily side with the Castros and Chavez? That would simply express “concern” or even (gasp) deep concern when people are being beaten, shot, and hung in their peaceful quest for a little more freedom?
Jul 4, 2009 - 5:16 pm 2. Carl Sesar:While siding with the Castros, Chavez, etc., State had to say something at least minimally critical about North Korea, in the same way that Obama knew, while cupping his balls during the national anthem, that at least he’d better applaud afterwards. Got to keep up appearances, after all.
Jul 5, 2009 - 8:46 am 3. joeblough:I often wonder what it would take to get the weirdos and traitors out of the state department. Having it headed up by know nothings, anti-Americans, utopians and scholastic fantasists doesn’t help.
Jul 5, 2009 - 11:11 am 4. Tamquam:Makes me think of Robocop II where he goes off on somebody smoking a cigarette. In the real world response should be proportional to the provocation. It is disproportionate if it is either excessive or insufficient. All these false accusations that America uses excessive force has resulted in a climate in which America has been trained to whisper.
Jul 5, 2009 - 1:20 pm 5. Georgian:Thank you Claudia for being so brave and so right.
Jul 12, 2009 - 3:04 amI think you are brave because you have the courage to stand up to all this dirt thrown at you by these in-style liberals who don’t know what they are talking about. I am amazed by the hatred that I see in their comments here. Where does all these come from? Who made these people so rude? Aren’t they the ones who are the liberals and support eloquent speeches and “resets” by being nice? Are not we – the realists, according to them, supposed to be the always rude and hateful?
I think you are right, because I am from the country of Georgia, for those liberals out there, that is the tiny country that today is occupied by Russia and divided into three. My hometown – Tbilisi – was being bombed by Russian air force less than a year ago. My friends died in fight to stop the powerful invaders that outnumbered and outgunned us. I could not stop my daughter crying shocked by fear when Russian bombers raided over our house in the middle of the night. She could hear not only the terrifying sound of the jet engines, but also the explosion of bombs from here and there. And the only reason these was happening was because Russia does not like the idea that Georgian people want to be independent, just because Putin wants to restore the Soviet Union.
I want to say to those who hate Claudia so much, you like liberalism and guess what – we love it too. We had thriving economy for the last few years, with annual growth of 10-12 percent. For its liberal reforms, Georgia was named the world’s number 1 economic reformer by the World Bank. We were building economy so liberal that in the easiness of doing business my country came at number 15th by International Financial Organization’s global ranking (and it’s after we were at 137th only 4 years ago). Today my country’s economy is near dead thanks to Russia’s imperial ambitions. Yes, in the 21st century.
Guess what, we hate wars not only because we think it’s the result of “outdated thinking”, but because its killing us.
We hate military alliances of any sort, but we dream of joining NATO… not because we like playing tough, but because its our only way to survive Russia.
We, the Georgians are very creative people, we have amazing folk songs and dances, are very hospitable and love to dream of the illusionary perfect world. However it is so unfortunate that we have to live in the real world and believe me it’s a very tough place to live.
I love hearing beautiful words spoken by political leaders and admire great speechmakers. President Obama is certainly the one. He is awesome to watch and listen. I would not ask for a better president in a perfect world. But the problem is that the world is yet very far away from being perfect. Unfortunately it’s far away from being in a condition where nice words could change the course. And it’s certainly far away from being liberal.
I don’t ask for the United States to be the guardian of the world order, I don’t expect that my country, or any other, should be saved or protected by the US. I simply cannot ask for such a favor. It’s the decision of the American people that have my utmost respect and love. Its up to you to decide to what extent you want to stand up against the injustices that are happening around our mother Earth. We can only be grateful.
But please, please don’t get so angry if sometimes the “resets” of your liberal euphoria bring ironic but sad smile on our faces, on the faces of those who live in the real world. Believe me the irony comes not from us who are the victims, the first place it comes from those who are being addressed and called for reset.
And don’t be angry if someone dears to describe this world the way it really is. Instead of being angry, try to think bout it more. Try to put yourselves in the others shoes.
Get real, or face the irony.