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EL SEGUNDO HERALD March 15, 2018 Page 15
Politically Speaking
Trump Meeting with Kim Sounds
Good, but Unlikely to Happen
By Cristian Vasquez
In the area of things that sound great
on paper but are more difficult to pull off,
President Trump announced that he’d agree to
speak with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. The
statement is surprising, due in part to Trump’s
ongoing criticisms and insults launched at the
North Korean leader -- and even though the
idea that both leaders meet is exciting, to say
the least, it is unlikely that such a meeting
would ever happen. The fact remains that for
more than 20 years, no U.S. president has
met with the North Korean leader. President
Bill Clinton went as far as sending Secretary
of State Madeleine Albright, while President
George W. Bush took a more aggressive
stance, accusing the country of being part of
an “axis of evil.” President Obama expressed
willingness to speak with the leader, but never
believed the regime would commit to the
conditions imposed.
So why is President Trump’s statement,
although enticing, no more than just talk?
Among the many issues between both nations,
one core difference is the U.S. has been asking
for North Korea to begin its nuclear disarmament
-- a request that the Asian country has
refused. Even with South Korean National
Security Advisor Chung Eui-Yong “revealing”
outside the White House that Trump
would potentially meet Kim by May in order
to achieve “permanent denuclearization,” the
odds seem slim. Agreeing to disarm would
be a defeat for the North Korean leader, and
our leaders have historically refused to be
diplomatic with leaders that do not cater to
their interests.
Another obstacle is location. Where would
these two leaders meet? Kim isn’t known
for his affinity for travel, and in all honesty
President Trump going to North Korea would
give the host way too much of an upper hand.
Plus, I doubt any of our intelligence agencies
would recommend such a meeting should
take place in North Korea. That leaves very
few options for a location to meet. China?
Seems like a common ally, but how safe of
an option is that? If the meeting is to take
place in May, as announced by Eui-Yong,
then both sides need to hurry and decide
on a location that is not only strategically
convenient for both but also gives both sides
a sense of safety and that can demonstrate
good will by all involved.
Lastly, the death of American college student
Otto Warmbier is still a dark reminder of the
unpredictability of the North Korean regime.
Furthermore, three other Americans remain
captive in North Korea and CIA Director Mike
Pompeo told CBS’ Face the Nation that the
country does have “as a priority getting the
return of those three American citizens” as
quickly as possible. Maybe it is skepticism or
simply that I’m going off on past behaviors
and patterns demonstrated by North Korea,
but this could be a big obstacle to a possible
meeting. It would be great for both leaders to
sit and resolve differences, but neither man has
shown anything other than child-like, reckless
behavior when not getting their way. •
President Trump Breaks Down,
Heads to Golden Sanctuary State
By Duane Plank
After nearly 14 months in office, shunning
the state that completely turned its back on
his aspirations in the 2016 election, President
Donald J. Trump, on the heels of a very busy
week in the West Wing, was scheduled to visit
our Golden Sanctuary State earlier this week.
The Prez had plans to check out the border
wall festivities down San Diego way and try to
collect some Benjamins from well-heeled locals
in the El Lay area as he and his ever-changing
posse try to stock his reelection campaign coffers.
Shockingly, Trump and his Secret Service
detail were planning to steer clear of the
mosh-pit sewer of failed policies and liberalism
-- San Francisco -- during his brief stay in Cali.
I wonder if iconic crooner Tony Bennett, chugging
along as he approaches his 92nd birthday,
still thinks he “left his heart in San Francisco?”
No trips to the cultural cesspool of Oakland
were planned either. Or photo ops with Bump
City’s brazen mayor, Libby Schaaf, who recently
burnished her leftist, open-borders credentials
by warning illegal immigrant criminals of an
impending raid by Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) officials.
According to ICE head honcho Thomas
Homan, Ms. Schaaf’s blatant disregard for
federal law, tipping off criminals in this country
illegally, resulted in the ICE raids missing out,
according to Homan, on the hoose-gowing of
up to 800 criminals in the country illegally.
It’s the same proud area of our state circling
the drain, with more leftist policies sanctioned
every day. It allowed the monster who murdered
Kate Steinle in 2015 to take advantage of the
absurd “catch and release policy.” Maybe I
missed something, but I thought “catch and
release” was a fishing credo where you caught
the fish… and if you were adept enough at
removing the hook and didn’t gut the fish,
you let the fish go. Didn’t think it meant nab
an illegal criminal, obstruct ICE from doing
their job, and then release him into the general
population to perpetrate more crimes.
So Trump and his hard-working team,
when they are not apparently glued to the TV
watching the FOX News Channel, seemingly
accomplished a good deal last week. The
president, apparently much to the consternation
of Chief Economic Advisor Gary Cohn
(who resigned), levied tariffs on outsiders who
flood the American market with cheap steel or
aluminum. Trump then dialed down the tariff,
exempting at this time our friends from the
Great White North and Mexico. It appears
Trump is considering exempting other countries.
Predictably, the sky-is-falling folks lost their
collective minds. And the stock market tanked,
with jittery investors leading the way. No clue
if this tariff is good or bad, but if it increases
the price of a beer can a penny, I think that I
can deal with that.
Oh, and apparently the president, due to his
aggressive negotiating policy with the corpulent
midget running NOKO, is going to meet with
Kim Jong-Un sometime before May. Who would
have thought that a reality TV star would have
been able to accomplish more with NOKO
than our swampy career pols? •
Eagles from page 5
victory’s door, Elijah Espinosa gave Hesperia
life with a free kick he knocked in from 25
yards away in the 78th minute. That score
forced the 15-minute overtime that yielded no
goals and forced the game to be determined
on penalty kicks.
In the penalty kick phase Tyler Villalobos’
attempt was saved/blocked, Logan Pismopulos
scored on a shot to the right corner, Malcolm
Holtzmann-Cisse’s blast to the left corner was
good, and Finders’ finesse made it 3-3. When
Hesperia’s Roque’s attempt went wide left, it
all came down to Lund to deliver the gamewinner.
After what seemed like an extended
period time when he was strategizing where
to kick the ball, Lund blasted it by the goalie
to cap the historic win for the ages.
The next deluge was actually a throng of
student supporters in the pouring rain celebrating
the school’s first Southern California
Regional championship. Unlike in football and
basketball, there are no Southern California/
Northern California championship matchups.
Coach Kelley’s faith never wavered, even
after losing the late lead. He knew his team
would not buckle under adversity. “This is a
team of winners led by winners and they find
a way to create opportunities,” he said.
When asked about the significance of this
season Kelly added, “This season was surreal,
and it’s crazy to think about -- that I’m back
in [a coaching] position. Being able to coach
these boys and achieving all this with them is
awesome. To have these boys do something that
has never been done [at El Segundo High}, it
will go down in history.” With that, he joined
his team in celebration.
The march towards greatness of being the
top team started with a 7-3 win over Robert F.
Kennedy Community, the City Section Division
3 champions. The Eagles ran into a major challenge
with good goalie play and they couldn’t
find a score at first. After recording eight shots
on goal in the first 15 minutes, Finders helped
get the Eagles on the scoreboard midway
through the first half. He found Holtzmann-
Cisse sprinting up the sideline and the latter
connected with Villalobos, who pounded the
net to make it 1-0 in the 23rd minute.
Finders, who finished with two goals, scored
Matt Sautter goes high for a header.
his first two minutes into the second half to
give the Eagles a 2-0 lead. RFK answered in
the next minute as Jefferson Perez’s shot sailed
over Amerault’s outstretched arms to make
it 2-1. Shortly after RFK made it a one-goal
game, El Segundo’s assault on the scoreboard
began. Holtzmann-Cisse made it 3-1 in the
48th minute and Finders’ second goal in the
50th minute opened up a three-goal lead to
make it 4-1.
Lund scored in the 53rd minute. Three
minutes later, Holtzmann-Cisse’s second goal
of the half gave El Segundo a 6-1 lead. The
Eagles would score one more goal before
allowing two goals by the Bobcats for a 7-3
final. The win propelled the Eagles into more
unchartered territory -- the semifinals of the
Southern California Division IV Regional.
With the win, the Eagles made the long trek
to Thermal to play top-seeded Desert Mirage.
The team had to endure a 158-mile trip to face
a squad that had won 17 straight, including
capturing the CIF Southern Section Division
IV title. The Rams, ranked 36th nationally
and 10th in California, were a formidable
opponent. El Segundo allowed the first goal,
rallied to take a two-goal lead and lost that
lead, but regrouped to eliminate the top-seeded
Rams 5-4 on penalty kicks. All this after the
game ended tied 3-3 after regulation and the
15-minute golden goal overtime period.
El Segundo trailed 1-0 when it tied the game
1-1 in the second half. Holtzmann-Cisse scored
on a header off of a cross by Sam Twigg. Five
minutes later, Ciaran Feeney pounded one from
approximately 25-yards out that hit the crossbar
and staggered by the Desert Mirage goalie.
Finders continued his scoring ways – this time
from inside -- to give the Eagles a 3-1 lead.
Desert Mirage demonstrated its offensive
prowess when the Rams’ leading scorer, Alejandro
Pimentel, chipped in two goals in the
second half to tie the game. After the scoreless
overtime period, the game went to penalty
kicks. Villalobos, Pismopulos, Holtzmann-Cisse,
Finders and Lund all buried their attempts with
goals. Amerault’s save on the Rams’ third
attempt meant victory for the Eagles and a
date with Hesperia in the finals. And the rest,
as they James Amerault makes one of his six saves in the CIF Southern California Regional championship game. say, was history… •