Explosions Large And Small

Sydney Morning Herald writer Hamish McDonald goes inside the mind of Kim Jong-il:

KIM JONG-IL seems to have timed his nuclear test for maximum embarrassment in Washington, before the congressional mid-term elections next month.

The test may be unverified as of yet, but the mind-meld's a success. Nobody's ever accused Kim of being politically astute, though, and probably no one's going to be genuflecting to McDonald's acumen either. Security threats the world over make people rally round the flag. In fact, I'm waiting for an article that questions the timing for the benefit of the Bush administration.

I am fond of his theory (and other's) that Kim did it to get Jodie Foster's attention:

Along the way, Pyongyang has been offering to give it all up, as long as it gets diplomatic recognition, security guarantees and economic aid. It seemed desperate to talk directly to the Americans.

Zipping back into Kim's noggin:

Any hint of nuclear material sales to terrorists would bring military intervention by the West, and Kim is probably wise enough to see that.

His main worry, meanwhile, would be the development of a Chinese perception that he is pushing Japan to go nuclear, or that his intransigence is leading America to punish Beijing by freeing Taiwan.

His main worry is probably when his next sushi shipment is coming in. He's a flake, not Bismarck.

Meanwhile, what the majority party has to worry about is alienating its base. If President Bush doesn't sign the fence bill that we thought he signed last week, a clear lesson about alienating the party's core audience is in the offing, and it's definitely going to be nuclear.