You Mean Like in 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2007, and 2008?

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama says the Bush administration should have sought direct dialogue with North Korea earlier. The Illinois senator said Sunday he felt disturbed to hear the North is likely to have helped Syria pursue a covert nuclear program. He said such suspected activities took place while the U.S. suspended direct talks with Pyongyang.  [KBS]

Which would distinguish those suspected activities  from these suspected activities, which took place during  The Gilded Age of Peace in Our Time, when direct bilateral talks were as frequent and casual as the San Francisco bath house scene in the 70’s. 

Obama stressed the need for dialogue not only with U.S. allies but also countries hostile to Washington. 

And yet for some reason,  all of that dialogue  failed to persuade them.  Probably our deficiencies of audacity, hope, and change.   It is well known  among the inmates of Camp 22 that Kim Jong Il  has great difficulty resisting the allure  of superficial bromides and  pablum.