The current situation with North Korea brings to mind a quite good 1970 book by Edwin Corley, The Jesus Factor. It posits that when a new president returns to the oval office from his inauguration, in the middle of his desk is a wax sealed envelope with his name written. The letter has a simple sentence, boldly placed in the middle of the page, in the handwriting of the previous president. It reads: THE ATOMIC BOMB DOESN'T WORK. Perhaps as our Meatball President ( as Henry Kissinger described Nixon in the weird, waning days of Watergate) had someone read him this book and he has taken it seriously. It would let him threaten the destruction of the planet earth with gay abandon, not to mention straight abandon. Or perhaps when he sat at desk for the first time, he noticed an envelope with his name on it. After having someone read him the contents of the letter, he exhaled a sigh of relief. He always thought the guy carrying the nuclear codes was a distraction from the president's presence. Now he would have the stage all to himself, which is really all that matters.