The impossible dream, of course, is that Barack Obama might someday appear opposite Stephen Colbert, who, via his know-it-all know-nothing character, engages in true, niche-market satire -- an act so irresistible that the debut of Not Just Another Cable News Show ultimately threw its hands up and just played clips from The Colbert Report's "Better Know a District." Obama has already engaged Colbert on his own terms, publicly sending the host a letter on the eve of his delivering a commencement address at Illinois' Knox College. "Don't forget to bring the Truth," Obama wrote. "I'd recommend putting it in your carry-on bag rather than in your checked luggage. O'Hare Airport is notoriously unreliable." The letter is droll, the tone poker-faced. At one point, Obama refers to his constituents as germy ("a few words of advice ... use hand sanitizer") in a way that subtly acknowledges the disgust that all politicians must feel, at some level, for the public. It's very funny, and you can't do that on television. 

Today, Beijing can reduce the chances for a crisis that could destabilize the regime’s dream of continued economic growth and peace on its borders. Moreover, China can improve the prospects for long-term stability by rewarding the Taiwan people with some accommodation of their goals.

For example, China can move preemptively and largely symbolically to grant Taiwan international space by allowing its representative to observe the World Health Assembly in May. Beijing can implement a ceasefire in their contest for the allegiance of small states in the Pacific, Africa and Latin America. The Chinese army can halt new deployments opposite Taiwan and reduce the scale and tempo of military exercises. The list of options runs long.