Reverse Sarcasm

Media Appeasement

Have you ever had the experience of reading something where you go back and forth wondering whether it is sarcasm or a straight up piece?  If you haven't, the following has had us going back and forth, asking "Is This a Joke, or What?"

It comes from the Associated Press and we think it has to be a Monty-Pythonesque joke.  It reads the tea leaves on Kim Jong Un's recent criticisms of Donald Trump.  It argues that things have changed in US-North Korean relationships.  Trump has crossed a line and it's clear (apparently) that Kim Jong Un has had enough.

The piece takes the mien of a mocking teenager taking the mickey out of a blustering bully, with comments like "Ooooh, we're scared", and "We're shaking ourselves into a fever."  It's clear that the alleged author, AP White House reporter Josh Lederman is having fun at Kim Jong Un's expense.

Here are five things to know about Kim's statement:

He's breaking ground. 

You wonder whether Lederman really meant to write, "He's breaking wind" but opted for the subtle reference to "ground".  Our comic proceeds:

It was written in the first person, and issued directly to the international community generally and to Trump specifically. Seoul's Unification Ministry, which is responsible for North-South relations, said it was the first time a North Korean leader had addressed the world with such a direct statement. Neither of the two men to rule before Kim Jong Un - his father, Kim Jong Il, and his grandfather, national founder Kim Il Sung - issued any similar statements. It could be that Kim felt that a direct response was crucial because of the harshness of Trump's comments. The US President vowed to unleash "fire and fury" on North Korea, used the nickname "rocket man" for Kim, and at the UN on Wednesday threatened to "totally destroy" the North if provoked.

We get it.  The North Korean upstart is really, really really, really, really angry.  He is the most angriest of angry people ever to have dictated over the place.  Woooohooo.  What a loser.

He's issuing a warning
The statement suggests more powerful weapons tests are in the works. North Korea's Foreign Minister seemed to confirm this on the sidelines of a global UN meeting in New York, telling reporters that Kim's comments could mean that North Korea will conduct an H-bomb test in the Pacific. Analysts in Seoul also saw the statement as a warning that more tests, possibly of the country's developmental intercontinental ballistic missiles, should be expected.

Comic Lederman is subtly highlighting the North Korean dictator's endless boasts and threats about his ambition to destroy anything and everything he can see, touch, feel, or imagine.  He has been doing this for months, but Lederman's sarcasm is brilliant: Kim's "statement suggests more powerful weapons are in the works."  Well, knock me down with a feather.  Who would have seen that coming?

But the clever sarcasm continues:

He's playing the statesman
Believe it or not, Kim's statement actually used gentler language than his propaganda specialists have favoured in the past. Granted, he called Trump a "mentally deranged US dotard" (a word to describe a fragile elderly person) and a "frightened dog". But this is a far cry from North Korea at its worst. North Korea has previously embraced racist, sexist and just plain rude statements about its enemies. It called South Korea's first female President, Park Geun Hye, "crafty prostitute" and former US President Barack Obama her pimp and a "monkey".

"Gentler language".  "Playing the statesman".  Calling Trump a "frightened dog" is a far cry from North Korea at its worst.  See a master statesman at work.  Ha, ha, ha.

He feels justified
Kim says Trump's threats only emphasise that North Korea has been justified in its pursuit of nuclear missiles. North Korea has long said that its weapons tests are necessary because of US hostility, which for Pyongyang includes the nearly 80,000 US troops stationed in Japan and South Korea. Each Trump threat plays into this narrative.

Yes, folks, it really is the nasty West's fault--along with yellow dogs, the Japanese, and traitor dogs (South Korea) of course.  Ha, ha.  What an absolute loser.  You have to agree.  Lederman is a worthy successor to Neddy Seagoon.  And, then, finally:

He's insulted
Kim seemed to take umbrage that Trump was personally insulting him. Kim essentially says that he expected better of Trump. Because the US President was speaking publicly on the world stage at the UN, Kim thought he'd resort to "stereo-typed, prepared remarks a little different from what he used to utter in his office on the spur of the moment". "But, far from making remarks of any persuasive power that can be viewed to be helpful to defusing tension, he made unprecedented rude nonsense one has never heard from any of his predecessors," Kim said. Kim advised the President "to exercise prudence in selecting words and to be considerate of whom he speaks to when making a speech in front of the world". He added that "Trump has denied the existence of and insulted me and my country in front of the eyes of the world". In a country where Kim's word is law, the message seems clear: This will not stand.

Trump insulted Kim.  Woooohoooo.  Now we are in for it.  The message Kim has sent us is "This will not stand".  Shades of Gandalf on the Bridge of Kazhad Dum.  Superb mockery of Kim Jong Un.  Well done, Lederman.

But maybe, just maybe Lederman is not being sarcastic.  Maybe he is not mocking the stuffing out of Dear Leader.  Consider the possibility that he views himself as one of the Great Appeasers of Western history.  He stands before the White House press gallery, clutching his article, shaking it like a feeble dotard, mumbling "Peace in our time."

Is he fooling with Dear Leader?  Or is he fooling with us, or what?  Want to make an educated guess?