“Vanity of vanities” is how some translate the opening of King Solomon’s somber view of life in the book of Ecclesiastes. It has been observed that a more accurate translation would be “futility of futilities.”

The verse was written for North Korea.

And Iran.

But not, we fervently pray, for the opponents of the nuclear madness in both countries.

Secretary of State John Kerry is completely wasting his time demanding that North Korea end its nuclear program in return for all manner of bribes (“incentives”) from the West. It is perfectly obvious: North Korea gets a lot more free food and other items from the West precisely because it has a nuclear program. This program is the best instrument of blackmail that North Korea — or Iran — could devise.