Fecteau: The Rocket Man & the Dotard – Worried Yet?

Monday, September 25, 2017

Matt Fecteau, GoLocalWorcester Guest MINDSETTER™

Kim Jong Un

Nuclear weapons are a serious business which is why I am concerned we have President Donald ‘dotard’ Trump and Kim ‘rocket man’ Jong-un in charge of nuclear weapons of such devastating destructive capability. With tension between North Korea and the United States at a boiling point, these two respective leaders have turned to frivolous insults to resolve the problem at hand – nuclear war.

I want to first apologize to the schoolyard bullies: I am sorry they sullied your craft; with any luck you can think of and used more original names than dotard and rocket man – maybe Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim can ask you for some advice? At the United Nations, -- in front of nearly all the world leaders -- President Donald Trump referred to North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un as the ‘rocket man’ (not to be confused with Elton John’s delightful song ‘Rocket Man’). Tit-for-tat, Kim Jong-un then referred to Mr. Trump as a dotard (an antiquated word which means senile) in a written statement. This was productive gentlemen – very productive (sarcasm).

Mr. Trump should be the adult in the room – he is our president. I would like a him to treat this threat seriously instead of hurling childish names at an individual that could trigger a nuclear winter – Kim Jong-un. If Mr. Trump wants to increase sanctions on North Korea (okay), increase the U.S. military presence across Southeast Asia (right on), but what is name calling going to solve? Kim’s regime is a dire threat and while we shouldn’t kowtow to him, let’s stop with this grade school banter.

If the ruler of North Korea, Kim, wants to act like a schoolyard punk, I could simply care less (in fact expect it from that spoiled brat), but that doesn’t mean the leader of the free world should resort to similar tactics. I expect much more from the president of the United States. Mr. Trump is taking the threat of nuclear war as seriously as Mr. Stephen Curry’s invitation (or dis-invitation) to the White House.

Mr. Trump doesn’t seem to be willing to end his temper tantrum anytime soon so maybe North Korea will finally freeze or dismantle its nuclear program with the proper incentives. Yet, no one knows how this will end, but with the rocket man and the dotard, we have plenty to worry about.

Matt Fecteau ([email protected]) is a Master of Public Administration candidate at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and an Iraq War veteran. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewFecteau