As a nuclear North Korea proves once again that it's improving its technology and moving close to marrying a small nuclear device with a more powerful rocket, the United States' initial reaction Tuesday might have seemed unusual.
Asked Tuesday morning whether she expects a strong condemnation from the United Nations, U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice said: "We'll do the usual drill."
It was a surprising response to an international incident that was largely seen as a threat to the U.S. and one that prompted the U.N. Security Council to call an emergency meeting of world representatives.
"Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add 'within the limits of the law' because law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual." Thomas Jefferson