Laura & Euna Are Free! Is This A Rise From the Ashes Moment For the Clintons?

Kim Jong II has pardoned journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee. Former President Clinton flew to North Korea to negotiate visit with the North Korean leader. I am certain their families are very relieved - and grateful. What I am even more curious about is what was promised to secure their release and why it was Billy Jeff who went and not another dignitary, politician or high-profile emissary like President Carter...or even Jesse Jackson, Sr. 

"Clinton expressed words of sincere apology to Kim Jong Il for the hostile acts committed by the two American journalists against the DPRK after illegally intruding into it," the news agency reported. "Clinton courteously conveyed to Kim Jong Il an earnest request of the U.S. government to leniently pardon them and send them back home from a humanitarian point of view.  - - CNN

I think the women have learned a valuable lesson about not playing with knives so to speak and how willing they were to risk their lives over chasing a story. Everyone always thinks they'll be the exception and someone else will be the "unlucky" one who never has to pay a penalty. There's still speculation that they may have knowingly entered North Korea illegally. Of course that hasn't been proven. They're lucky to be alive quite frankly. 

Does this help elevate the status of the Clintons and separate them from President Obama? Does this diminish Obama's stature? Did he need to seem distant from this situation to facilitate a quick remedy? I suspect whatever is going on behind the scenes, the political fall-out has yet to hit the fan. A "victory" might have long lasting repercussions that have yet to be revealed.

I Had No Idea It Was Lisa Ling's Sister Being Held in N. Korea

With so much attention being given to Roxana Saberi who had been held - and thankfully released in Iran - I'd glanced over reports of the two Asian-American journalists arrested in North Korea. The US media has dominated its airwaves with one load of crap after another it's hard to distinguish what's real anymore. So imagine my surprise when I flipped over to CNN to see Lisa Ling and her family sitting on the interviewee side of the table on Larry King. Laura Ling and Euna Lee are journalists who both work for Current TV and have been held for nearly three months. 

It seems surreal due to the delicate political situation between NK and the US - like the one between Iran and the US. These situations cannot be a coincidence and it's unfortunate that women are the ones being caught in the crossfire while powerful men battle each other indirectly through them. It's also a flash of deja vu because Lisa Ling went to NK as seen on Oprah a little more than two years ago! That's why this cannot be an accident, but a reckoning. The legacy of negativity the last administration left behind is still being felt today and must be accounted for.

This is also an opportunity for these nations to enter into a new era of diplomacy and have more amenable relations. I don't know that I could ignore the undercurrent of hostility as a journalist and be sent into potentially dangerous situations for this very reason. Let's hope that Ling and Lee are released soon. **Update: Both women have been sentenced to 12 years in a labor camp!