Breaking News
So, former President Clinton heads to North Korea, has a sit-down with Kim Jong Il, and then it’s announced that Kim will pardon a pair of Current TV journalists who were arrested and sentenced to 12 years in prison.
That’s certainly good news for Laura Ling and Euna Lee, and their families. It’ll also probably mean people will actually want to watch Current to see what they have to say about their experiences (of course, they’ll actually have to find the channel on their cable systems… good luck with that!).
Bill & Hill
Ling and Lee were arrested in March after crossing the border into North Korea. They were sentenced in June. Officially, there wasn’t much the U.S. could do since there are no diplomatic relations between the two countries. It has to make you wonder though… don’t we have a Secretary of State who should be handling this kind of stuff? Oh wait, we do, and her name is Clinton too! I wonder how she’s feeling after her out-of-office hubby hops a quick flight to Pyongyang to ask for the release of the two. (Edit) It seems that the Secretary has been involved, according to the New York Times. suggesting that Bill make the trip. Nice way to get him out of the house for awhile, Hill.
Good News, Al!
And another thing — the two worked for a channel started by Al Gore — so why didn’t the former Vice President hop a flight and appeal for their release? I mean, this guy has a Nobel Peace Prize — isn’t that kind of a pre-requisite for negotiating and stuff like that…? So, it seems he asked Bill to go instead. Hmmm.
And this — how long is it going to take for critics to start bashing the former president for dealing with an “outlaw” nation? The same people who didn’t like Jesse Jackson getting people released… or Jimmy Carter talking to rogue nations will find some kind of problem with this action, even though it brings a couple of young women home.
Will the former president head to Iran now to see if he can spring those three U.S. hikers being detained there? Especially since Secretary of State Clinton is trying to get information on them too…
Tomorrow: Paula Abdul, the top cops in Memphis & LA, and getting back to work! See you then!
Doug Johnson at Large 
Good for Bill! I, too, wonder what Hillary’s role is, was or should have been in all this….