Bill Clinton just negotiated the release of two American journalists being held by Lil Kim and his wacky regime.  Caught “trespassing” while on a journalistic mission, Laura Ling and Euna Lee had been sentenced to twelve years hard labor for their transgression.  Sitting in jail for roughly four months and totally cut off from each other and the world, they had likely given up all hope.  Then, out of the clear blue sky, they are hurried into a meeting and, as Ling relayed upon her arrival in L.A. (a recounting that damn near brought a tear to my eye), who do they find standing there but one Bill Clinton.  Can you imagine for a second the emotion that must’ve come over them at the sight of the former president?  Seriously, folks, that’s some heavy shit.

Now, I’m sure Kim angled for something with this handover.  Let’s face it – he’s not a good guy eager to do things out of the kindness of his heart.  He’s no doubt going to use this as propaganda at home and probably to soften the battlefield as he goes through another round of gamesmanship in extricating bribes to “stop” him from developing nukes.  And there’s probably something unfair about the notion that we suspend all concerns about the nukes for the sake of two Americans while we insist that Japan remain quiet about its abductees.

That said, I think this was a great moment.  It was just cool to see Bill deliver the way he did when called upon.  And I love the fact that we are so willing to rally when our citizens encounter trouble abroad.  I’m reminded of the summoning of naval vessels to aid in the rescue of the Maersk Alabama from Somali pirates.  Just cool stuff that reminds you of how great America can be.  Makes me all the more willing to take that vacation to Pakistan…

By the way, seeing Bill work his magic reminded me of his special talents as a statesman.  For all his faults, the guy did diplomacy very well.  There was a report that Kim wanted to repay Clinton for a note he wrote the little guy back in 1994 when his father, Kim il-Sung, passed away.  If that’s true, you gotta give it up for our man Bill.  This type of goodwill is in small supply.  And its accumulation is most certainly the result of shrewd calculation.  Can’t imagine W will ever be called upon for similar missions in the future.  That to me answers any question relating to the former presidents’ respective legacies.

Apropos the spending spree our government has embarked on, let’s recall that in Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville wrote almost 200 years ago:

The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public’s money.

h/t JJ for the reminder.