Clinton Comes Through! N. Korean leader reportedly pardons U.S. journalists

[dismayed]

§ 953. Private correspondence with foreign governments Any citizen of the United States, wherever he may be, who, without authority of the United States, directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof

Are you saying that Bill Clinton had intercourse with North Korea?

[evh5150]

Are you saying that Bill Clinton had intercourse with North Korea?

Bill Clinton would have intercourse anywhere he can get it. Who knows what happened on that plane ride back to the states.

[gmwise]

Actually, it is due to the legal representation of the United States of America ,through the State Department,who through negotiations with a loon aka Kim Jong.
I am just glad they're home.
I been wondering if NK troops crossed the Chinese/NK border and snatched them.
And most recently the 3 Americans who while on "vacation in Iraq" "wondered" into Iran.

[PennyQuilts]

And you know this how, exactly?

Or is this, most likely, simply the pre-planned parroting from the right?

Yeah, we all get together and pre plan stuff. Just ask the left. They always claim that.

[PennyQuilts]

coming soon: a cheezy porno starring a Bill Clinton-esque impersonator who bargains with a dictating stern asian man for the release of two hostage asian females.

Hahaha!

[HVAC Instructor]

Yeah, we all get together and pre plan stuff. Just ask the left. They always claim that.

Come on ECO. Are you saying there are no activists who push the party position and talking points to the public from the RNC...just like the left and the DNC?

[gmwise]

If you want to see if what she says is word for word, just listen to the Reps they have talking points ,Reps say almost word for word the talking points on healthcare reform for instance, Its almost like they are brainless zombies aka Rush's dittoheads.

[DaveSkater]

coming soon: a cheezy porno starring a Bill Clinton-esque impersonator who bargains with a dictating stern asian man for the release of two hostage asian females.

That would be an excellent plot! You could have ******man* (the guy's actual screen name) play clinton!

[mugofbeer]

If you want to see if what she says is word for word, just listen to the Reps they have talking points ,Reps say almost word for word the talking points on healthcare reform for instance, Its almost like they are brainless zombies aka Rush's dittoheads.

gmwise - both sides do the same thing but don't insult our intelligence by trying to say Rush runs the Republican party - far from it though he does influence it. Mainly, he is the main voice of the conservative end of the party. There are many, many Republican's who don't toe this line.

I don't know how many times I have heard the exact same thing you accuse the Republicans of done by the Democrats. The same buzzwords, the same phrases - obviously from talking points faxed around to party leadership and top level supporters from the DNC.

Don't try to sit there and say its the Dittoheads only. It's the Obamaheads, the Clintonistas and the goose-stepping marxist MoveOn.orgies doing the EXACT same thing.

[gmwise]

MUGGSY,

1. I dont waste time talking to those who have never served in the military.
2. I dont talk to alcoholics, to be honest they worthless creatures.
3. Republicans have shown more often to be the loony religious right wingers, and if you dare to check and verified the goose steppers were German Nazis/Fascists ,the extreme right wing of that nation.
4. Please try to be just a bit more educated, then the next high school dropout who lives in a trailer park, beer guzzling, bible thumping moron.
Now finally I hope you use the Internet to learn instead of blogging your ..uh thoughts.
Good luck to you..
Now go sleep it off.

[USG '60]

MUGGSY,

1. I dont waste time talking to those who have never served in the military.

Wow, I bet you have one bevy of macho friends. Why do you waste your time here. Many of us have never been in the big bad military.

[SoonerDave]

Guess I don't get the gracious blessing of a discussion from GMWISE, either...no military here...but given the choice between being graced in such a way or being called a "bible thumping moron," I'll take the latter. The person hurling the insults is the one with the issue.

As for the original topic, is there anyone here who honestly believes Clinton brokered this deal? This isn't a left-right issue, its a politics and protocol issue. You never send anyone of that magnitude (eg, an ex-President) on a matter like this unless the particulars were in place beforehand. The high-profile leader is sent to formalize the issue and lend credibility to it, while maintaining a formal diplomatic distance.

Unless I'm mistaken, we do not have formal diplomatic relations with North Korea, thus we're not going to send a "formal" representative to engage in ANY sort of negotiations. Everything is accomplished behind the scenes, through intermediaries. Clinton was sent to create the illusion of formality to allow Kim Jong Il some measure of credibility in a situation that wasn't helping N. Korea's perception by the rest of the world in the midst of their sabre rattling.

North Korea, for its own purposes, needed a PR moment. Obama, unofficially, sent Clinton to give them one. The real issue here is that no one, not even China, really knows how to deal with North Korea these days. I read an article in, I believe Newsweek or Time just a few weeks ago that indicated not even the Chinese government knows quite how to deal with North Korea right now, and they aren't particularly pleased with their threatening talk. There's also great volatility within North Korean leadership right now, given Kim Jong Il's health, and it is possible their rhetoric is to ward off what they percieve to be a vulnerability as they transition leadership to Il's inevitable successor.

All this relates to these reporters in that perhaps, finally, North Korea needed to look as if it had some semblance of sanity in its government, and unofficial contacts gave the US the idea that there was an opportunity to broker their release, and Clinton was sent to give an implicit US imprimatur to it. I find it highly unlikely this is the end of the diplomatic story between us and them.

But then again, that's just my opinion, and that means its comes from a "moron Bible thumper," so take it for what its worth. I'm sure gmwise will take no small effort to point out to everyone else what a stupid, drunken moron I am.

-soonerdave

[HVAC Instructor]

As for the original topic, is there anyone here who honestly believes Clinton brokered this deal? This isn't a left-right issue, its a politics and protocol issue. You never send anyone of that magnitude (eg, an ex-President) on a matter like this unless the particulars were in place beforehand. The high-profile leader is sent to formalize the issue and lend credibility to it, while maintaining a formal diplomatic distance.

Certainly the Obama administration approved it and set the stage, but Clinton got the job done and accolades are in order. Two Americans were returned home as a result of good planning and good diplomacy.

Why not just celebrate, give credit where credit is due, and leave the political sniping out of it?

[drumsncode]

Bill Clinton would have intercourse anywhere he can get it. Who knows what happened on that plane ride back to the states.

I think in this case, whatever "thanks" he got on that plane were fully justified! If someone rescued me from a lifetime of misery and possible death, well, you can be sure I'd thank them in most any way they wanted! ;-) I look forward to Ling and Lee going on Oprah or something like that and telling their story.

[mugofbeer]

I think it's interesting that no mention has been made of the reason Ling and Lee were caught in North Korea. Lets spotlight that they were caught in North Korea illegally after having snuck into the country from China with the help of their version of a "coyote." What happened to the poor Chinese "Coyote?" Second, they were there on an undercover reporting assignment for the CURRENT Cable TV Network owned and headed by Al Gore. You can be certain that Ling and Lee were not there to do a project to glorify the Dear Leader. Essentially, Mr. Gore's network set the two up for this. I am quite happy they got out because they are, in reality, two very fine journalists. But, with Gore's blessing, they were clearly there illegally and in reality, could have severely damaged US foreign policy efforts with NK.