BEVERLY HILLS, California — Some things you just don't joke about. Certain developments in the course of human affairs are decidedly not funny. What's a perfect example, right off the top of my head? Oh, how about North Korea's missile launch over the weekend?
Unless you have some kind of sick sense of humor, that's obviously no laughing matter. Look at the reaction! U.S. President Barack Obama has decried it. The Japanese have cursed it. Even the Chinese have not tried to justify it. There's nothing funny about it at all. Or is there?
Let us rail against common sense and prudent citizenship and have a go at explaining why the missile launch by the North Koreans is an absolute howler. OK? For starters, do you know what they formally call themselves? North Korea prefers to be known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Now, if you're not immediately in absolute stitches over this, you don't know what "democratic" means, not to mention "republic" and you may have mislaid your sense of humor.