Rescue Mission

Former President Bill Clinton's success in getting Asian-American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee released from prison in North Korea with a full pardon from North Korean leader Kim Jong Il proved two important things to the world:

1) There's nothing Clinton can't do.

2) Kim Jong Il is still alive.

The Obama administration had been negotiating the release of Ling and Lee for weeks with the North Koreans, and Clinton intervened to close the sale. The White House sought to stay out of the final meetings between Clinton and the Communist government to avoid unnecessary interference on a sensitive matter. Dealing with Kim Jong Il under any circumstances is a tricky affair, so Obama, who makes the dough as President, is happy to let his Secretary of State's husband get the glory.

North Korea hopes to get good publicity with its act of good faith, but last time I checked, they still have a lot of nukes.

There's a bit of ironic symmetry to this story. It ended with Clinton's private diplomacy, but it began when Ling and Lee went to China on assignment for the cable channel run by Clinton's onetime second-in-command, Al Gore - before crossing into North Korea inadvertently. Crossing into unfriendly countries is a common habit of Americans these days.

Meanwhile, back in Washington, late word is that the cash-for-clunkers car program extension should make it through the Senate.