When Ted Turner Speaks, Plug Your Ears and Hum
by Richardson ~ September 20th, 2006. Filed under: Engagement, Fiskings.Turner visited North Korea in 2005 and thought everything was just fine:
Ted Turner, just back from a visit to North Korea, declared his belief in the sincerity of North Korea and how the U.S. can trust the regime’s new deal to not build nuclear weapons. Turner rejected the “despotic” characterization of Kim Jong Il, insisting that “he didn’t look too much different than most other people,” or that he treats his people brutally since Turner saw the people “were thin,” but “they were riding bicycles.”
Turner: . . .”I am absolutely convinced that the North Koreans are absolutely sincere. There’s really no reason — no reason for them to cheat or do anything to violate this very forward agreement. I mean, I think we can put the North Korea and East Asia problems behind us and concentrate on Iran and Iraq, where, where we still have some ongoing difficulties.”
[. . .]
Turner: . . . “I didn’t see any [starving North Koreans], I didn’t see any brutality in the capital or out in the, on the DMZ. We went, we visit, drove through the countryside quite a bit to get down to Panmunjom and Kaesong. We traveled around. I’m sure we were on a special route. . . I think they want to join the western world and improve the quality of life for their people just like everybody else. And I think that we should give them another chance. It doesn’t cost us anything. We already have agreements. And North Korea never posed any significant threat to the United States. I mean, the whole economy of North Korea’s only $30 billion a year. It’s less than the city of Detroit. It’s a small place, and we do not have to worry about them attacking us.”
Listening to him say it is even better.
Turner is undeniably very good at organizing media, but there is no reason for the media to give him such attention when he spouts off on politics.
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September 20th, 2006 at 8:31 pm
Three words: bat shit crazy.