China, North Korea and that election we had.

During the election, Kerry criticized Bush for not opening up direct talks between the US and North Korea. Bush replied that opening direct talks would make for bad diplomacy as it would push China out of the process. Both men were in a bit of a quandary on this issue since Kerry, who had criticized Bush for running a unilateral foreign policy, now seemed to want to go it alone in Korea and Bush, who had, well, pursued a unilateral foreign policy everywhere else, seemed content to let China figure things out with Kim Jong Il. So, it being one of those complicated moments, in the campaign, it didn't get a lot of attention.

But, it should now. Bush got his way. We let China take the lead on dealing with North Korea. And now they have nukes.