Anju: Congressgnome Kucinich goes down

Last night, Dennis Kucinich (D-Middle Earth) was defeated by fellow Democrat Marcy Kaptur after redistricting pitted them against one another. The defeat of Kucinich is not entirely good, because for Kucinich to advocate a cause is to easily identify it as a fringe position. On the other hand, his long-standing ties to Christine Ahn (Kucinich wrote a foreward to a book she wrote years ago) gave a congressional voice to some extreme policy positions on North Korea. Also, the man was a constant source of entertainment to millions.

PEACE IN OUR TIME! “North Korea threatened ‘sacred war’ against the South in a huge rally in the capital Sunday just days after the secretive state agreed with the United States to suspend its nuclear weapons tests and allow back international nuclear inspectors.” By now, I’d have expected to see NYT op-ed by Selig Harrison, telling us how Kim Jong Eun is a misunderstood moderate who wants better ties with America.

I wouldn’t call this a great loss: North Korea denies Greta Van Susteren a visa.

A few of you have asked me about, “A North Korean Corleone,” by Sheena Chestnut Greitens. Unfortunately, my reaction will have to wait until I have time to read it, but meanwhile, here’s a link so that you can offer me your reaction while it’s still fresh.

I didn’t have time to attend yesterday’s CECC hearings on China’s repatriation of North Korean refugees, but let’s hope that the imprisoned refugees’ chances of survival have improved with the expression of congressional views opposing their repatriation.