Ted Turner: We owe North Korea 489 more chances

Radio Blogger has the astonishing and disturbing transcript of an interview by Wolf Blitzer with his ultimate boss, Ted Turner, founder of CNN. I've always liked Turner. He's a survivor, has gone through some real hard times (how would you handle your father's suicide?) and was earthy enough to get publicly soused to the gills after winning the Americas Cup. But this is too much to bear. This is irresponsible to the max.

In describing the conditions in North Korea as not as bad as the entire rest of the world knows they are, the exchange with Blitzer went like this:

Blitzer; "But look at the way he's treating his own people."

Turner: "Well, hey. Listen, I saw a lot of people over there. They were thin, and they were riding bicycles instead of driving in cars."

Oh, well, hey. Listen, if they're just a little thin, then what could be so bad in North Korea, right? He didn't see any bodies lying in the streets. He didn't see any babies being buried, right? He didn't see any prison camps. He didn't see any kidnapped Japanese citizens begging for their release. They are "thin" because they don't have enough food to eat, you jerk.

And as far as North Korea's propensity for cheating on agreements?

Blitzer: "I think the bottom line, though, Ted, and I think you'd agree. They had this opportunity in the nineties, when they signed this first agreement, and they cheated. They didn't live up to it. Now they have a second chance. I hope you're right. I certainly do."

Turner: "Well, I hope I'm right, too. But, you know, in the Bible, it says you're supposed to forgive seven times seventy, or something like that."

TAGS: CNN, Wolf Blitzer, North Korea, Ted Turner, jerk