Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are people blaming the Obama Admin if Americans are not allowed to travel there? Or are discouraged from going there.

People who don't understand a concept of personal responsibility always blame someone else.
If the boy was kidnaped by NK intelligence and taken to NK, that would be different.

I don't like obama at all, but what happened to this boy was self inflicted.
Still sorry for him and his family. Doctors said he has extensive brain tissue damage. Awful.

Exactly

Are liberals blaming the black mother on welfare with six kids and no father(s) for her irresponsible life choices? Or are they talking about systemic racism, the history of slavery, etc., etc.?

This kid chose to be reckless. Those women didn't choose to grow up in poverty. Not pardoning their choices, but it's way more complicated than his case.

A college kid goes to NK (admittedly something most people would not do) for a handful of days and the consequences are his fault but a woman who grows up in poverty, has multiple children she cannot afford with no father around, thereby messing up those kids' lives and expecting the taxpayer to take of them, gets a free pass to make stupid decisions for the rest of her life? And then when her children make the same poor choices because they grew up in poverty and the cycle continues, they get a free pass too?

He went to NK without his parent's knowledge and against government warnings. THEN, he broke the law there. Pretty reckless and illegal.

The women you despise may have made some bad choices, but aren't doing anything quite so reckless or illegal. They really aren't relevant here at all.

Not the poster you're responding to, but first....that poster didn't say she despises welfare recipients,,,,and two, the taxpayers are paying for her bad choices. So even if she's not doing anything illegal, it's still costing us to house her and her children, feed her and her children, and provide medical care for her and her children, educate the children, give them free lunch and breakfast, etc., etc.

Also, growing up in poverty is not an excuse. Both my parents were dirt-poor, and they made responsible decisions. They are now middle-class. (Upper-middle, actually.)

I'm so fed up with liberals who make excuse after excuse for welfare recipients and show absolutely no compassion for this college kid.

Good lord, you all are living in the past. Don't you remember when welfare was overhauled in the 90s?! You clearly do not know anyone on welfare because there is no long term welfare anymore unless you are talking SSDI. SSDI is primarily welfare for white people. Many American white men who are opioid addicts get on SSDI because they are too lazy to learn a new trade or too high to care. They just live off my tax money doing nothing but getting high.

Liberals literally think that the only people who are willing and able to take advantage of the system are white people. Like somehow black people are innately more ethical and hard working.

I never realized how prejudiced black people are against whites until I started reading DCUM. It's amazing. I'm thinking that there are more black racists than white ones (proportionate to their populations).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are people blaming the Obama Admin if Americans are not allowed to travel there? Or are discouraged from going there.

People who don't understand a concept of personal responsibility always blame someone else.
If the boy was kidnaped by NK intelligence and taken to NK, that would be different.

I don't like obama at all, but what happened to this boy was self inflicted.
Still sorry for him and his family. Doctors said he has extensive brain tissue damage. Awful.

Exactly

Are liberals blaming the black mother on welfare with six kids and no father(s) for her irresponsible life choices? Or are they talking about systemic racism, the history of slavery, etc., etc.?

This kid chose to be reckless. Those women didn't choose to grow up in poverty. Not pardoning their choices, but it's way more complicated than his case.

A college kid goes to NK (admittedly something most people would not do) for a handful of days and the consequences are his fault but a woman who grows up in poverty, has multiple children she cannot afford with no father around, thereby messing up those kids' lives and expecting the taxpayer to take of them, gets a free pass to make stupid decisions for the rest of her life? And then when her children make the same poor choices because they grew up in poverty and the cycle continues, they get a free pass too?

He went to NK without his parent's knowledge and against government warnings. THEN, he broke the law there. Pretty reckless and illegal.

The women you despise may have made some bad choices, but aren't doing anything quite so reckless or illegal. They really aren't relevant here at all.

Not the poster you're responding to, but first....that poster didn't say she despises welfare recipients,,,,and two, the taxpayers are paying for her bad choices. So even if she's not doing anything illegal, it's still costing us to house her and her children, feed her and her children, and provide medical care for her and her children, educate the children, give them free lunch and breakfast, etc., etc.

Also, growing up in poverty is not an excuse. Both my parents were dirt-poor, and they made responsible decisions. They are now middle-class. (Upper-middle, actually.)

I'm so fed up with liberals who make excuse after excuse for welfare recipients and show absolutely no compassion for this college kid.

Good lord, you all are living in the past. Don't you remember when welfare was overhauled in the 90s?! You clearly do not know anyone on welfare because there is no long term welfare anymore unless you are talking SSDI. SSDI is primarily welfare for white people. Many American white men who are opioid addicts get on SSDI because they are too lazy to learn a new trade or too high to care. They just live off my tax money doing nothing but getting high.

Good Lord, don't you know that Obama walked that back? He expanded he definition of "work" in order to get more people onto welfare. It's the liberal dream to have as many people dependent as possible.

All I see from you is a rant against white people. Still no compassion for this college kid or his poor parents. Is it because he's white?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are people blaming the Obama Admin if Americans are not allowed to travel there? Or are discouraged from going there.

People who don't understand a concept of personal responsibility always blame someone else.
If the boy was kidnaped by NK intelligence and taken to NK, that would be different.

I don't like obama at all, but what happened to this boy was self inflicted.
Still sorry for him and his family. Doctors said he has extensive brain tissue damage. Awful.

Exactly

Are liberals blaming the black mother on welfare with six kids and no father(s) for her irresponsible life choices? Or are they talking about systemic racism, the history of slavery, etc., etc.?

This kid chose to be reckless. Those women didn't choose to grow up in poverty. Not pardoning their choices, but it's way more complicated than his case.

A college kid goes to NK (admittedly something most people would not do) for a handful of days and the consequences are his fault but a woman who grows up in poverty, has multiple children she cannot afford with no father around, thereby messing up those kids' lives and expecting the taxpayer to take of them, gets a free pass to make stupid decisions for the rest of her life? And then when her children make the same poor choices because they grew up in poverty and the cycle continues, they get a free pass too?

He went to NK without his parent's knowledge and against government warnings. THEN, he broke the law there. Pretty reckless and illegal.

The women you despise may have made some bad choices, but aren't doing anything quite so reckless or illegal. They really aren't relevant here at all.

I am the poster you accuse of despising women on welfare. I was born into inner city public housing. My parents chose not to repeat the cycle of poverty. Many do not.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are people blaming the Obama Admin if Americans are not allowed to travel there? Or are discouraged from going there.

People who don't understand a concept of personal responsibility always blame someone else.
If the boy was kidnaped by NK intelligence and taken to NK, that would be different.

I don't like obama at all, but what happened to this boy was self inflicted.
Still sorry for him and his family. Doctors said he has extensive brain tissue damage. Awful.

There are Americans all over the world in trouble zones. Many are missionaries (Philippines, Africa) or have dual nationality (Iran) or business interests. Some even may even be helping foment revolution or resistance to terrible regimes. I agree to travel to NK as a tourist was not a choice I would make, compounded by the poor choice in the hotel. However, this punishment was disproportionate to his actions and world wide our diplomats advocate for (and our Marines sometimes rescue) Americans being used as political pawns or unfairly treated. Thats what we do. For all of them.

?!

You are surprised he was treated poorly in North Korea?! He had no business being there. It costs us a lot of money to rescue people who make really bad decisions.

Yeah, kind of how expensive it was to bring Bergdahl home.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are people blaming the Obama Admin if Americans are not allowed to travel there? Or are discouraged from going there.

People who don't understand a concept of personal responsibility always blame someone else.
If the boy was kidnaped by NK intelligence and taken to NK, that would be different.

I don't like obama at all, but what happened to this boy was self inflicted.
Still sorry for him and his family. Doctors said he has extensive brain tissue damage. Awful.

Exactly

Are liberals blaming the black mother on welfare with six kids and no father(s) for her irresponsible life choices? Or are they talking about systemic racism, the history of slavery, etc., etc.?

This kid chose to be reckless. Those women didn't choose to grow up in poverty. Not pardoning their choices, but it's way more complicated than his case.

A college kid goes to NK (admittedly something most people would not do) for a handful of days and the consequences are his fault but a woman who grows up in poverty, has multiple children she cannot afford with no father around, thereby messing up those kids' lives and expecting the taxpayer to take of them, gets a free pass to make stupid decisions for the rest of her life? And then when her children make the same poor choices because they grew up in poverty and the cycle continues, they get a free pass too?

He went to NK without his parent's knowledge and against government warnings. THEN, he broke the law there. Pretty reckless and illegal.

The women you despise may have made some bad choices, but aren't doing anything quite so reckless or illegal. They really aren't relevant here at all.

Not the poster you're responding to, but first....that poster didn't say she despises welfare recipients,,,,and two, the taxpayers are paying for her bad choices. So even if she's not doing anything illegal, it's still costing us to house her and her children, feed her and her children, and provide medical care for her and her children, educate the children, give them free lunch and breakfast, etc., etc.

Also, growing up in poverty is not an excuse. Both my parents were dirt-poor, and they made responsible decisions. They are now middle-class. (Upper-middle, actually.)

I'm so fed up with liberals who make excuse after excuse for welfare recipients and show absolutely no compassion for this college kid.

Good lord, you all are living in the past. Don't you remember when welfare was overhauled in the 90s?! You clearly do not know anyone on welfare because there is no long term welfare anymore unless you are talking SSDI. SSDI is primarily welfare for white people. Many American white men who are opioid addicts get on SSDI because they are too lazy to learn a new trade or too high to care. They just live off my tax money doing nothing but getting high.

Liberals literally think that the only people who are willing and able to take advantage of the system are white people. Like somehow black people are innately more ethical and hard working.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are people blaming the Obama Admin if Americans are not allowed to travel there? Or are discouraged from going there.

People who don't understand a concept of personal responsibility always blame someone else.
If the boy was kidnaped by NK intelligence and taken to NK, that would be different.

I don't like obama at all, but what happened to this boy was self inflicted.
Still sorry for him and his family. Doctors said he has extensive brain tissue damage. Awful.

There are Americans all over the world in trouble zones. Many are missionaries (Philippines, Africa) or have dual nationality (Iran) or business interests. Some even may even be helping foment revolution or resistance to terrible regimes. I agree to travel to NK as a tourist was not a choice I would make, compounded by the poor choice in the hotel. However, this punishment was disproportionate to his actions and world wide our diplomats advocate for (and our Marines sometimes rescue) Americans being used as political pawns or unfairly treated. Thats what we do. For all of them.

?!

You are surprised he was treated poorly in North Korea?! He had no business being there. It costs us a lot of money to rescue people who make really bad decisions.

Yeah, kind of how expensive it was to bring Bergdahl home.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are people blaming the Obama Admin if Americans are not allowed to travel there? Or are discouraged from going there.

People who don't understand a concept of personal responsibility always blame someone else.
If the boy was kidnaped by NK intelligence and taken to NK, that would be different.

I don't like obama at all, but what happened to this boy was self inflicted.
Still sorry for him and his family. Doctors said he has extensive brain tissue damage. Awful.

Exactly

Are liberals blaming the black mother on welfare with six kids and no father(s) for her irresponsible life choices? Or are they talking about systemic racism, the history of slavery, etc., etc.?

This kid chose to be reckless. Those women didn't choose to grow up in poverty. Not pardoning their choices, but it's way more complicated than his case.

A college kid goes to NK (admittedly something most people would not do) for a handful of days and the consequences are his fault but a woman who grows up in poverty, has multiple children she cannot afford with no father around, thereby messing up those kids' lives and expecting the taxpayer to take of them, gets a free pass to make stupid decisions for the rest of her life? And then when her children make the same poor choices because they grew up in poverty and the cycle continues, they get a free pass too?

He went to NK without his parent's knowledge and against government warnings. THEN, he broke the law there. Pretty reckless and illegal.

The women you despise may have made some bad choices, but aren't doing anything quite so reckless or illegal. They really aren't relevant here at all.

Not the poster you're responding to, but first....that poster didn't say she despises welfare recipients,,,,and two, the taxpayers are paying for her bad choices. So even if she's not doing anything illegal, it's still costing us to house her and her children, feed her and her children, and provide medical care for her and her children, educate the children, give them free lunch and breakfast, etc., etc.

Also, growing up in poverty is not an excuse. Both my parents were dirt-poor, and they made responsible decisions. They are now middle-class. (Upper-middle, actually.)

I'm so fed up with liberals who make excuse after excuse for welfare recipients and show absolutely no compassion for this college kid.

Good lord, you all are living in the past. Don't you remember when welfare was overhauled in the 90s?! You clearly do not know anyone on welfare because there is no long term welfare anymore unless you are talking SSDI. SSDI is primarily welfare for white people. Many American white men who are opioid addicts get on SSDI because they are too lazy to learn a new trade or too high to care. They just live off my tax money doing nothing but getting high.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are people blaming the Obama Admin if Americans are not allowed to travel there? Or are discouraged from going there.

People who don't understand a concept of personal responsibility always blame someone else.
If the boy was kidnaped by NK intelligence and taken to NK, that would be different.

I don't like obama at all, but what happened to this boy was self inflicted.
Still sorry for him and his family. Doctors said he has extensive brain tissue damage. Awful.

Exactly

Are liberals blaming the black mother on welfare with six kids and no father(s) for her irresponsible life choices? Or are they talking about systemic racism, the history of slavery, etc., etc.?

This kid chose to be reckless. Those women didn't choose to grow up in poverty. Not pardoning their choices, but it's way more complicated than his case.

A college kid goes to NK (admittedly something most people would not do) for a handful of days and the consequences are his fault but a woman who grows up in poverty, has multiple children she cannot afford with no father around, thereby messing up those kids' lives and expecting the taxpayer to take of them, gets a free pass to make stupid decisions for the rest of her life? And then when her children make the same poor choices because they grew up in poverty and the cycle continues, they get a free pass too?

He went to NK without his parent's knowledge and against government warnings. THEN, he broke the law there. Pretty reckless and illegal.

The women you despise may have made some bad choices, but aren't doing anything quite so reckless or illegal. They really aren't relevant here at all.

Not the poster you're responding to, but first....that poster didn't say she despises welfare recipients,,,,and two, the taxpayers are paying for her bad choices. So even if she's not doing anything illegal, it's still costing us to house her and her children, feed her and her children, and provide medical care for her and her children, educate the children, give them free lunch and breakfast, etc., etc.

Also, growing up in poverty is not an excuse. Both my parents were dirt-poor, and they made responsible decisions. They are now middle-class. (Upper-middle, actually.)

I'm so fed up with liberals who make excuse after excuse for welfare recipients and show absolutely no compassion for this college kid.

Good lord, you all are living in the past. Don't you remember when welfare was overhauled in the 90s?! You clearly do not know anyone on welfare because there is no long term welfare anymore unless you are talking SSDI. SSDI is primarily welfare for white people. Many American white men who are opioid addicts get on SSDI because they are too lazy to learn a new trade or too high to care. They just live off my tax money doing nothing but getting high.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are people blaming the Obama Admin if Americans are not allowed to travel there? Or are discouraged from going there.

People who don't understand a concept of personal responsibility always blame someone else.
If the boy was kidnaped by NK intelligence and taken to NK, that would be different.

I don't like obama at all, but what happened to this boy was self inflicted.
Still sorry for him and his family. Doctors said he has extensive brain tissue damage. Awful.

Exactly

Are liberals blaming the black mother on welfare with six kids and no father(s) for her irresponsible life choices? Or are they talking about systemic racism, the history of slavery, etc., etc.?

This kid chose to be reckless. Those women didn't choose to grow up in poverty. Not pardoning their choices, but it's way more complicated than his case.

A college kid goes to NK (admittedly something most people would not do) for a handful of days and the consequences are his fault but a woman who grows up in poverty, has multiple children she cannot afford with no father around, thereby messing up those kids' lives and expecting the taxpayer to take of them, gets a free pass to make stupid decisions for the rest of her life? And then when her children make the same poor choices because they grew up in poverty and the cycle continues, they get a free pass too?

He went to NK without his parent's knowledge and against government warnings. THEN, he broke the law there. Pretty reckless and illegal.

The women you despise may have made some bad choices, but aren't doing anything quite so reckless or illegal. They really aren't relevant here at all.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are people blaming the Obama Admin if Americans are not allowed to travel there? Or are discouraged from going there.

People who don't understand a concept of personal responsibility always blame someone else.
If the boy was kidnaped by NK intelligence and taken to NK, that would be different.

I don't like obama at all, but what happened to this boy was self inflicted.
Still sorry for him and his family. Doctors said he has extensive brain tissue damage. Awful.

There are Americans all over the world in trouble zones. Many are missionaries (Philippines, Africa) or have dual nationality (Iran) or business interests. Some even may even be helping foment revolution or resistance to terrible regimes. I agree to travel to NK as a tourist was not a choice I would make, compounded by the poor choice in the hotel. However, this punishment was disproportionate to his actions and world wide our diplomats advocate for (and our Marines sometimes rescue) Americans being used as political pawns or unfairly treated. Thats what we do. For all of them.

?!

You are surprised he was treated poorly in North Korea?! He had no business being there. It costs us a lot of money to rescue people who make really bad decisions.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are people blaming the Obama Admin if Americans are not allowed to travel there? Or are discouraged from going there.

People who don't understand a concept of personal responsibility always blame someone else.
If the boy was kidnaped by NK intelligence and taken to NK, that would be different.

I don't like obama at all, but what happened to this boy was self inflicted.
Still sorry for him and his family. Doctors said he has extensive brain tissue damage. Awful.

Exactly

Are liberals blaming the black mother on welfare with six kids and no father(s) for her irresponsible life choices? Or are they talking about systemic racism, the history of slavery, etc., etc.?

This kid chose to be reckless. Those women didn't choose to grow up in poverty. Not pardoning their choices, but it's way more complicated than his case.

A college kid goes to NK (admittedly something most people would not do) for a handful of days and the consequences are his fault but a woman who grows up in poverty, has multiple children she cannot afford with no father around, thereby messing up those kids' lives and expecting the taxpayer to take of them, gets a free pass to make stupid decisions for the rest of her life? And then when her children make the same poor choices because they grew up in poverty and the cycle continues, they get a free pass too?

He went to NK without his parent's knowledge and against government warnings. THEN, he broke the law there. Pretty reckless and illegal.

The women you despise may have made some bad choices, but aren't doing anything quite so reckless or illegal. They really aren't relevant here at all.

Not the poster you're responding to, but first....that poster didn't say she despises welfare recipients,,,,and two, the taxpayers are paying for her bad choices. So even if she's not doing anything illegal, it's still costing us to house her and her children, feed her and her children, and provide medical care for her and her children, educate the children, give them free lunch and breakfast, etc., etc.

Also, growing up in poverty is not an excuse. Both my parents were dirt-poor, and they made responsible decisions. They are now middle-class. (Upper-middle, actually.)

I'm so fed up with liberals who make excuse after excuse for welfare recipients and show absolutely no compassion for this college kid.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are people blaming the Obama Admin if Americans are not allowed to travel there? Or are discouraged from going there.

People who don't understand a concept of personal responsibility always blame someone else.
If the boy was kidnaped by NK intelligence and taken to NK, that would be different.

I don't like obama at all, but what happened to this boy was self inflicted.
Still sorry for him and his family. Doctors said he has extensive brain tissue damage. Awful.

Exactly

Are liberals blaming the black mother on welfare with six kids and no father(s) for her irresponsible life choices? Or are they talking about systemic racism, the history of slavery, etc., etc.?

This kid chose to be reckless. Those women didn't choose to grow up in poverty. Not pardoning their choices, but it's way more complicated than his case.

A college kid goes to NK (admittedly something most people would not do) for a handful of days and the consequences are his fault but a woman who grows up in poverty, has multiple children she cannot afford with no father around, thereby messing up those kids' lives and expecting the taxpayer to take of them, gets a free pass to make stupid decisions for the rest of her life? And then when her children make the same poor choices because they grew up in poverty and the cycle continues, they get a free pass too?

He went to NK without his parent's knowledge and against government warnings. THEN, he broke the law there. Pretty reckless and illegal.

The women you despise may have made some bad choices, but aren't doing anything quite so reckless or illegal. They really aren't relevant here at all.

Not the poster you're responding to, but first....that poster didn't say she despises welfare recipients,,,,and two, the taxpayers are paying for her bad choices. So even if she's not doing anything illegal, it's still costing us to house her and her children, feed her and her children, and provide medical care for her and her children, educate the children, give them free lunch and breakfast, etc., etc.

Also, growing up in poverty is not an excuse. Both my parents were dirt-poor, and they made responsible decisions. They are now middle-class. (Upper-middle, actually.)

I'm so fed up with liberals who make excuse after excuse for welfare recipients and show absolutely no compassion for this college kid.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are people blaming the Obama Admin if Americans are not allowed to travel there? Or are discouraged from going there.

People who don't understand a concept of personal responsibility always blame someone else.
If the boy was kidnaped by NK intelligence and taken to NK, that would be different.

I don't like obama at all, but what happened to this boy was self inflicted.
Still sorry for him and his family. Doctors said he has extensive brain tissue damage. Awful.

Exactly

Are liberals blaming the black mother on welfare with six kids and no father(s) for her irresponsible life choices? Or are they talking about systemic racism, the history of slavery, etc., etc.?

This kid chose to be reckless. Those women didn't choose to grow up in poverty. Not pardoning their choices, but it's way more complicated than his case.

A college kid goes to NK (admittedly something most people would not do) for a handful of days and the consequences are his fault but a woman who grows up in poverty, has multiple children she cannot afford with no father around, thereby messing up those kids' lives and expecting the taxpayer to take of them, gets a free pass to make stupid decisions for the rest of her life? And then when her children make the same poor choices because they grew up in poverty and the cycle continues, they get a free pass too?

He went to NK without his parent's knowledge and against government warnings. THEN, he broke the law there. Pretty reckless and illegal.

The women you despise may have made some bad choices, but aren't doing anything quite so reckless or illegal. They really aren't relevant here at all.

North Korean talking point. How do you know he broke their laws for sure? Because they said so and some fuzzy video anyone could fake?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a lefty liberal and I have the utmost compassion and sorrow for the young man and his family. I don't blame them for anything they say, because they are obviously grief stricken and anyone in their circumstance would be. Did he do something idiotic? Yes. Did many of us do idiotic things as 20 year olds? Yes. It's always tragic when a young person dies or is tragically injured when they do something really dumb (get in a car with a drunk driver, pass out in the middle of a road, jump off a cliff into the water and hit their head on a rock, etc., etc.). Young people think they are bullet proof, and they are not. Its why parents go around with their heart in their mouth.

Do I blame the Obama administration? No. Could they have done more? Maybe, I don't know. North Korea is bat-shit crazy in a way that is very difficult to deal with and very unpredictable. I'm not really in a position of second-guessing how professionals deal with an insane man with nuclear weapons. But I don't blame Otto's parents for second-guessing the politicians.

A new administration often has some leeway to negotiate where the other country is looking for an "out" (think the Iranian hostage crisis, also resolved during an administration change).

+1 to everything. Obviously I don't hold Otto's parents' statements against them. From an objective viewpoint, I don't think the Obama administration should have picked a possibly nuclear fight with NK over this, but these are his parents. They'd move heaven and earth for their kid, and of course they'd be mad at the government for not doing the same. Yes, he shouldn't have been in NK in the first place, but that's irrelevant to this discussion. The consequences are totally disproportionate, and I feel awful for him and his family. I'm no Trump supporter, but I'm glad he got Otto home. Although I agree that this is probably more related to NK not wanting an American to die in their custody (self-interest) than Trump's "negotiating skills."

Anonymous wrote:I'm a lefty liberal and I have the utmost compassion and sorrow for the young man and his family. I don't blame them for anything they say, because they are obviously grief stricken and anyone in their circumstance would be. Did he do something idiotic? Yes. Did many of us do idiotic things as 20 year olds? Yes. It's always tragic when a young person dies or is tragically injured when they do something really dumb (get in a car with a drunk driver, pass out in the middle of a road, jump off a cliff into the water and hit their head on a rock, etc., etc.). Young people think they are bullet proof, and they are not. Its why parents go around with their heart in their mouth.

Do I blame the Obama administration? No. Could they have done more? Maybe, I don't know. North Korea is bat-shit crazy in a way that is very difficult to deal with and very unpredictable. I'm not really in a position of second-guessing how professionals deal with an insane man with nuclear weapons. But I don't blame Otto's parents for second-guessing the politicians.

A new administration often has some leeway to negotiate where the other country is looking for an "out" (think the Iranian hostage crisis, also resolved during an administration change).