North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il reached his . . . expiration date. One of Obama’s pledges from the campaign reached its expiration date after his first year in office, but it’s a useful reminder of how candidate Obama believed in the power of his own personal diplomatic skills.

Of course, it’s another reminder of how Obama’s campaign rhetoric was designed simply to tell various groups what they wanted to hear, not as an actual plan for governing.

Many of us are pleased that this promise reached its expiration date . . . but one would like to think that any future presidents would not need to be disabused of the notion that their personal charisma and reasonableness could win over unhinged hostile dictators.