Bill Clinton Goes to North Korea

No, the former president isn't emigrating to avoid higher taxes on the wealthy. He's doing what I criticized Al Gore for not doing a few weeks ago: trying to secure the release of the two female american journalists who accidentally strayed across the border into North Korea, and ended up with a twelve year sentence to a labor camp.

CNN reports that while the visit is a private trip on Clinton's part, it has the blessing of the White House, because Clinton is also carrying a letter from President Obama to give to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. We can only speculate about the contents of the letter, but I think there are only two likely topics, either a request for clemency for the two journalists, or it's a request for North Korea to resume talks on ceasing its nuclear weapons program.

Lets hope that the former Prez is successful in bringing these two journalists home. But it does beg the question, why didn't the Secretary of State go? Remember back in the '90s when Bill and Hillary were running for the presidency? They said that if elected, America would actually get to-for-one, implying that Hillary would be a politically active First Lady.

How ironic that, now Hillary is Secretary of State, it's her spouse who is the other haf of the Secretary of State team.