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Curb Your Enthusiasm:

My pals on the neo-Right, of course, are beaming all over their faces. None of them is so dim as to think it’s game, set, and match in the Middle East, and they all have the phrase “there are many things that could still go wrong” set up as a macro on their word processors, but let me tell you, in private they are pretty darn cheerful. The phrase “irrational exuberance” comes to mind.

For once, he’s right. Democratizing the Middle East will take decades of swimming against a mighty tide of medieval ignorance. Between now and then, the weather vanes on various editorial boards will swivel and flutter like so many aspen leaves. But those hopeful images sure do provide needed encouragement. Need another? Thought so.

By now, you’re coming to the realization that this Web site is supposed to be about Korea. Yes, and events in the Middle East affect North Korea in two important ways–by narrowing America’s diplomatic focus, by showing that the oft-served false choice between appeasement and war excludes the better option of empowering the oppressed, and by inspiring North Koreans who hear of events there. And I’m convinced that increasingly, North Koreans do hear of what’s happening on the outside.