Heather Wilhelm documents for National Review Online what she describes as the political left’s “dictator envy.”

The more you learn about Kim Jong-un, and North Korea in general, the scarier things get. Don’t tell that to comedian and talk-show host Chelsea Handler, however. Last week, the Netflix star broadcast her desire to “trade” Donald Trump for the notorious Kim. This declaration was voiced on Twitter, of course, which does not exist in North Korea. As it turns out, there are many things that do not exist in North Korea, including a functioning Internet, the rule of law, and goofy unhinged Netflix stars blessed with the right of free speech. …

… Now, look: Many people are understandably displeased with today’s brand of American politics, which sometimes appears to have been imported directly from the shadier corners of the most questionable saloon in the worst neighborhood of Dysfunction Junction. However, when it comes to the absurd narrative that North Korea is not the problem, I’ll borrow the delightful phrasing used by the North Korean state news agency when it responded to rumors that Kim Jong-un underwent plastic surgery to look more like his beloved grandfather Kim Il-sung. This is — and I may use this phrase regularly from here on out, when the occasion arises — “sordid hackwork by rubbish media.”

But when it comes to the Left’s dictator envy, North Korea isn’t the only unsavory proverbial foodstuff on this sad international Lazy Susan. With its “Red Century” series — dedicated to exploring the history of Communism — the New York Times has truly outdone itself. “For all its flaws, the Communist revolution taught Chinese women to dream big,” declares the latest entry, after devoting several paragraphs to tiptoeing around the humanitarian horrors, mass catastrophes, and brutal death marches of Mao’s China.