Devotees of the President's foray into neoconservative flavored <i>realpolitik</i> must be scratching their heads at North Korea's recent pronouncements that a) they have nuclear weapons, and b) screw you, America.

The United States, simultaneously the owner of the world's largest nuclear arsenal and leading proponent of nuclear disarmament, has demanded an end to nuclear programs in both Iran and North Korea, the remaining two stops on our "Axis of Evil" world tour. Not that we're really in a position to do anything about it; we've stretched ourselves quite thin at the moment.

Because of our little adventures in Asia, we are now unable to prepare adequately for an actual military threat, and everybody knows it. The cornerstone of our foreign policy, the fact that we can crush you (enemy government) at will, is crumbling in the face of our overambition.

The title of this post refers to how we've turned the conventional wisdom on its head in the past four years. For example, everyone knows that the <b>threat</b> of military force is much more effective than actually deploying it. Bush seems to be in the business of calling his own bluffs.

The international fallout of our invasion of Iraq continues–