Boy, oh boy this is amusing.
Last week I noted that Nikki Haley is a “bull in a China shop.”
That’s actually how she described herself in a CNN interview.
Of course it’s not entirely clear that’s what America needs in a UN Ambassador, seeing as how the dictionary definition of “bull in a China shop” reads as follows:
A person who breaks things or who often makes mistakes or causes damage in situations that require careful thinking or behavior.
Yes, “situations that require careful thinking or behavior.” Situations like “nuclear standoffs.”
So you know, we’re all kind of hoping that Haley makes every effort to control her “bullish” tendencies in the increasingly tense staring contest between Washington and Pyongyang because Seoul really doesn’t want the US to “break things” lest Kim should light up the South like a Christmas tree.
Well on Monday, Haley had a simple message for the North delivered via an interview with NBC’s “Today“:
Last week, the [U.N.] Security Council unanimously condemned what North Korea’s doing with their testing.
China has been considerably helpful in putting pressure on him and I think he’s just trying to show his strength to the people of his country, but it’s not going to work.
Working with China for the first time – they have really been our partner in trying to make sure that we hold him at bay and I think it’s a new day when you’ve got China and the United States working together on a statement to condemn North Korea.
They put pressure on him. He feels it. That’s why he’s responding this way. And I think it is a different day.
Our goal is not to start a fight.
Right now, we’re saying, ‘don’t test, don’t use nuclear missiles, don’t try and do any more actions’ and I think he’s understanding that.
What we have said from the beginning and what I’ll continue to say is the United States is not looking for a fight so don’t give us a reason to have one.
There you go – Haley’s best Dirty Harry impression.
Again, I’m not 100% sure trotting out a self-described “bull in a China shop” to essentially quote Clint Eastwood films is sound foreign policy.
“They put pressure on him. He feels it. That’s why he’s responding this way. And I think it is a different day.”
If you think you understand NK, then you are delusional.
I believe the ‘kids” on “Mythbusters” actually put a bull in a makeshift china shop. The bull ran the aisles and didn’t break a thing. I’m afraid that our “bull” will not fare as well.
Shut-up! It’s good diplomacy sometimes not to rub it in especially to a PSYCHOPATH.