Ain't Gonna Happen

You knew the U.S.-North Korean summit wasn't going to take place.

Donald Trump accepted Kim Jong Un's offer for a summit meeting, even setting a time (Tuesday, June 12) and a place (Singapore), before even beginning to figure out what they were going to talk about.  Kim apparently had everything figured out . . . including Donald Trump.   He hoped to use Trump's myopia to show him up in Singapore or pull out of the summit himself.  But then, he should have known better; Trump is the master of pullouts.      

Trump actually did the right thing for once.  He was so eager to achieve a diplomatic breakthrough that he misread Kim's intentions - and it took comments from national security adviser Milk Mustache Man and Vice President Mike Pence comparing hopes for North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons to Libya's Muammar el-Qadaffi giving up his nuclear program to draw them out.  There was one thing wrong with that comparison - Qaddafi was overthrown and killed.  But even if the Trump White House envisioned a plan based on Libya that would allow Kim to remain the North Korean leader, Kim would never agree to anything that would require him to disarm.  But by canceling the summit before Kim had the opportunity and being nice about it, Trump actually got the North Koreans to respond with a hopeful message for future talks.  Some Democrats are even giving him creidt for his efforts at a peaceful solution.  Right now, there are rumors that the summit may be back on.  But, no, more likely that not, it's off.  It's not going to happen.

Which brings me to the subject of Stacey Abrams, a former Georgia House Democratic leader and the new Democratic nominee for governor of Georgia.  Abrams became the first black woman nominated for governor of any state by a major party, and she did it by bringing in new Democratic voters in Georgia. Asked if she would still be proud of her achievement if she loses in November, Abrams replied that she's going to win.

Yeah, right.  Ain't gonna happen.  Her Republican opponent hasn't been decided yet - the Georgia Republican Party needs to have a runoff for that - but I think it's fair to say that the mere thought of a black female governor is going drive Republican voters in Georgia to the polls in November in record numbers and cancel out any new Democratic voters Abrams brings in.  Also, Democratic candidates in past elections have had trouble getting to 50 percent because the Georgia GOP is so entrenched and there simply aren't enough independents to get the Democrats over the threshold.  I keep hearing about Georgia's changing demographics and all that, but if you want any proof that demography is not destiny, look at Texas.

If Democrats want to win back power, they should concentrate on places where they can win.  I'm sure a black woman can get elected governor of a Democratic state, but even a white man with a D next to his name can't get elected governor of Georgia, as Jimmy Carter's grandson Jason found out when he tried to run for that very office in 2014 (and became the latest in a series of Democrats banished to the Archipelago of Failed Democratic Candidates).      

Also, Hillary Clinton thought she could win Georgia in 2016.  The end.