Sometimes, a flash of insight suddenly makes things clear. Here's North Korea, caught reneging on the 1994 agreement to stop their nuclear weapons program. While spending so much resources on their weapons programs, they can't feed their own people. Indeed, some 2 million North Koreans have starved to death in the past few years, a death toll that rivals Pol Pot's autogenocide.

Part of the 1994 agreement was that we would provide North Korea with 500,000 tons of oil each year. When we cut off the oil shipments, they reacted as if it was our fault they were caught cheating. In the weeks since, they've gone so far as to threaten nuclear war. Clearly, that's an abhorent and absurd notion. For every nuclear weapon they have, we have thousands.

For the life of me, this reminds me of the famous scene in "Blazing Saddles" where the new Sheriff, met with a possible lynch mob at his arrival, pulls his gun and points it as his own head, saying "Everyone get back or the n****r gets it." The crowd suddenly sympathizes with the "hostage", saying "Won't anyone help that poor man?" He then proceeds to walk his "hostage" to the sheriff's office, closes the door, and says, "Man, are these people dumb!"

North Korea is trying to prop up itself because it is in danger of imminent collapse. They'll do anything to get us back to the bargaining table, including apparently pointing a gun at their own heads. All we have to do is say that we won't resume talks until they stop their weapons program and stick to it. Let's not let them get away with the "Blazing Saddles" gambit.