Serenade For A Madman

clipped from www.powerlineblog.com Soon thereafter signs began to appear that the Bush administration was dedicating diplomatic efforts to send the New York Philharmonic to North Korea. Reading the tea leaves, Terry Teachout wondered: What would you have thought if Franklin Roosevelt had encouraged the Philharmonic to accept an official invitation to play in Berlin in the spring of 1939? Do you think such a concert would have softened the hearts of the Nazis, any more than Jesse Owens's victories in the 1936 Olympics changed their minds about racial equality? Having failed to rein in North Korea's nuclear program, Bush administration diplomats now work to serenade a madman. Reflecting the deep thought underlying American diplomacy, Donald Kirk pronounces it a triumph. Perhaps the Philharmonic string section can take a shot at getting us word on the North Korean contribution to the Syrian installation that the Israelis destroyed in September.