Trump UN speech: I was right to have been nervous

Yesterday I expressed my nervousness about President Trump addressing the UN, saying "I feel like I am going to the prom tomorrow with the horror movie character Carrie. Things can go bad really fast."

I was right to be nervous.

When the President of the United States, while addressing the UN, responds to a threat by saying he will totally destroy another nation, not use necessary force to defend itself and its allies, but totally destroy another nation, anything else you discuss about his speech is like saying, "Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?”

Words are important, and though his followers and even some of the US press may give President Trump a pass when he uses ridicoulously exaggerated language and superfluous hyperbole, on the world stage it is inappropriate and dangerous. Using such language is dangerous if taken literally. It is dangerous if not taken literally because specific intentions are not expressed. It is dangerous if such threats are made and it is impossible to follow through in the real world, the world the President fails to comprehend or acknowledge.

You cannot talk about international cooperation, sovereignty, and making the UN better and then threaten to unilaterally totally destroy another nation. It does not work.

This was a show of weakness, not strength. It was thoughtless and lazy. The United States is powerful enough, technically advanced enough, and I hope civilized enough to defend itself from North Korea without having to totally destroy it.