Over-Rated: North Korea

Kim Jong-il's government practices the Asian version of neo-conservative buffoonery. Far more attracted to theatrical belligerence, in-your-face gestures, and the politics of brinksmanship than the boring details of managing their affairs, the North Koreans have turned their whole country into post-Katrina New Orleans and can barely keep their huge army fed. Just as American conservatives are more interested in "outraging" liberals than anything else in political life, the North Koreans devote themselves to thinking of new ways to "thumb their noses" at South Korea, Japan, and the U. S. If North Korea is a threat at all, they're a threat to do something incredibly stupid just to show their audacity. That makes the North Koreans more over-rated than Journey, the LA Lakers, and John Wayne combined.