Ah, now Nicholas Eberhardt has a real man's approach to North Korea. No weak knees here! I personally like the part about calling South Korea a "Taliban regime". So muscular it's scary.

Hey! Wait! Shouldn't there be an "on the other hand" right about now? Oh yes. On the other hand, there are bizarre rumors of late that Kim Jong Il's regime may be on the verge of collapse. Who knows? But if this is the case, and if it's also the case that Clinton-style engagement over the past four years would have only propped up a dying North Korean regime—something Eberhardt has argued elsewhere—then let's be honest, Bush will look like a genius for all his saber-rattling and gridlock. That assumes, of course, that the collapse of North Korea isn't accompanied by terrorists or secret agents or whatever making off with nuclear secrets and spreading them to the ends of the earth. If that turns out to be the case, there won't be a dunce cap big enough to fit all the Eberhardts and John Boltons of the world.