Amazing as it seems to Americans, there is actual grief, with spontaneous tears flowing for Kim Jong-il, late dictator of North Korea. Absolute tyrannies which create a cult of personality around the leader are capable of brainwashing their populace to such a degree. Stalin, after all, is still recalled nostalgically by some elderly Russians, and his death caused an outpouring of genuine grief, too. With media and social control, mind control can follow, so that people sincerely mourn monsters. It is a sobering lesson for political realists who live in a media environment aligned with a "god-like" leader seeking additional sway over the fate of the nation. Kim's father, Kim Il-sung, initially was a Soviet pawn, who went into exile in the USSR before returning to lead part of the resistance against the Japanese. Following WW II, Kim launched an invasion of the South with Soviet and Chinese support, a war that almost succeeded, until General McArthur launched the brilliant Incheon...(Read Full Post)