I don't understand how so many Americans buy the "North Korea is a cartoonish dictatorship" line so easily. It's obvious that you can make up any story about it, no matter how outlandish, and the media will just print it uncritically.

It's like a kid making up crazy stories about their cousin. The kid is full of shit half the time -- you don't believe the other half, you conclude that nothing that kid has to say about his cousin is reliable.