One area in which Western governments have long trailed certain less democratic administrations is the willingness to shriek.
It’s become a predictable part of international relations: the dictator/president for life/grand poobah of Nation A hurls crazy talk at some perceived offence perpetrated by the duly elected leader of Nation B. The leader of Nation B sighs, maybe mutters a few frustrated words to an aide, and releases a carefully crafted response, deliberately devoid of nuttiness.
Some countries are more prone to publicly delivered insults than others. North Korea has long topped the tantrum list. Just last month it denounced Joe Biden, the former vice-president and current presidential candidate, as “an imbecile bereft of elementary quality as a human being, let alone a politician.” Biden, it said, is “a fool of low IQ.” It didn’t specify whether that’s worse than being a “dotard,” which is what supreme leader Kim Jong-un called Donald Trump.
China’s communists likewise harbour a weakness for a good insult, as the recently transferred ambassador to Canada demonstrated in various denunciations of Canadians as dolts, bigots and white supremacists. Iran is another contender, especially in regards to the U.S. (the “Great Satan”) and Israel, which former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called an “insult to all humanity.”
It’s questionable whether tantrum tactics produce results, though it’s no doubt a lot of fun. And, until the election of Donald Trump, there was virtually no risk of blowback. Presidents and prime ministers, chancellors and other Western types just showed no taste for spewing scorn. Trump, as in so many ways, is different. Whether he’s gained anything for the U.S. or its Western allies remains open for question: Trump’s current Twitterized screaming match with Tehran may be the — highly dangerous — test of whether matching a dog’s bark is a good way to preclude its bite.
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See Also:
(1) Judicial Watch Statement on Supreme Court Ruling Blocking Citizenship Question for 2020 Census
(2) Pelosi Caves, Will Hold Vote on Senate-Passed Border-Funding Bill
(3) ‘Unmasker in Chief’ Samantha Power spewed anti-Trump bias in government emails
(5) Flynn Attorney Suggests Special Counsel Withheld Info From His Defense
