Wednesday, August 05, 2009
Laura, Euna, & Bill
Freed US reporters welcomed home.
A great piece of scripted, positive political theater of the kind we never saw during the previous administration. Everyone came away with something good. There was Bill Clinton getting to play the elder statesman* / knight, a role he obviously loves, he's back on the world stage - & rescuing two attractive young female journalists. The journalists themselves, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, symbols of our free press. Al Gore playing huggy bear. North Korean leader Kim Jong-il playing Lil Mao (that's sure getting old); he's not fooling anyone outside North Korea, so he played it mainly for home consumption, where he's having problems arranging for his inexperienced son to take over the country. In the background, Hillary, who we figure was pulling the strings & using her husband's good global reputation, which was a big part of her resume for her job. & President Barack Obama, health care reform on his mind right now, a fine stage manager & generous actor, able to let others take the short term credit for a diplomatic success while he keeps an eye on the long term possibilities. Obama has to move our difficult relationship with North Korea somewhere in the vicinity of where it was when Bill Clinton left office before he can deal constructively with the supremely important matter of nuclear weapons. So why not let Bill Clinton help out? It just won't do to call North Korea part of the "axis of evil" & shun the nation & let the two journalists be martyrs for Truth, Justice, & the American Way. This is an example of what those of us who voted for Barack Obama wanted from his administration.
* One of our four living former presidents doesn't, & may never, have this stature.
"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." Thomas Jefferson
A great piece of scripted, positive political theater of the kind we never saw during the previous administration. Everyone came away with something good. There was Bill Clinton getting to play the elder statesman* / knight, a role he obviously loves, he's back on the world stage - & rescuing two attractive young female journalists. The journalists themselves, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, symbols of our free press. Al Gore playing huggy bear. North Korean leader Kim Jong-il playing Lil Mao (that's sure getting old); he's not fooling anyone outside North Korea, so he played it mainly for home consumption, where he's having problems arranging for his inexperienced son to take over the country. In the background, Hillary, who we figure was pulling the strings & using her husband's good global reputation, which was a big part of her resume for her job. & President Barack Obama, health care reform on his mind right now, a fine stage manager & generous actor, able to let others take the short term credit for a diplomatic success while he keeps an eye on the long term possibilities. Obama has to move our difficult relationship with North Korea somewhere in the vicinity of where it was when Bill Clinton left office before he can deal constructively with the supremely important matter of nuclear weapons. So why not let Bill Clinton help out? It just won't do to call North Korea part of the "axis of evil" & shun the nation & let the two journalists be martyrs for Truth, Justice, & the American Way. This is an example of what those of us who voted for Barack Obama wanted from his administration.
* One of our four living former presidents doesn't, & may never, have this stature.
Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, in the news
