North Korea postscript

I'd just like to add that among the many sins of the writers of The West Wing, one of the worst was constantly depicting the North Koreans as hopelessly insane and unable to negotiate seriously, when in fact Pyongyang was waiting 8 years for Washington to live up to its commitments after Pyongyang had already held up its end of the bargain. These kinds of public images are pernicious in a democracy - they make idiotic policies more palatable to an electorate who's main source of information is often fictional television.

Similarly, their depiction of the Iranian ambassador as a total anti-semitic nutjob was shameful. And I say that with the full knowledge that the Iranian ambassador may in fact be an anti-semitic nutjob, because I doubt he acts that way in front of American officials.