Eminentoes
Clinton's Hard Labor
Perhaps filmmaker Kim Jong-il can join forces with Steven Bing's Shangri-La Productions.
"Bill Clinton: Master of the Universe?" appeared in a topic box on MSNBC below a babbling Chris Matthews on Wednesday. This is what passes for a substantive issue in a nothing political culture.
Clinton's "rescue" was about as real and moving as a Steven Bing movie -- or a Kim Jong-il movie for that matter. Did you know that the dictator is an aspiring filmmaker? Indeed, he played an important role in the production of the movie Diary of a Girl Student, according to Wikipedia and the Korean Central News Agency. The latter outlet declared that he "improved its script and guided its production."
Kim Jong-il's other contributions to the film industry include: authoring the book On the Art of Cinema and kidnapping director Shin Sang-ok and his actress wife in order to "build a North Korean film industry," according to Wikipedia.
Movie mogul Steven Bing, heretofore known more for mistreating women like actress Elizabeth Hurley than protecting them, helped choreograph Bill Clinton's rote retrieval of Al Gore's Internet journalists and paid for a chunk of his traveling expenses, say press accounts. The Hollywood phoniness of it all evidently appealed to Jong-il's moviemaker sensibilities. Perhaps the self-described film buff is a fan of Bing's Shangri-La Productions and sees in it a potential home for his future projects.
Clinton's trip was financed appropriately enough not just by Hollywood but by the plastics industry. According to the Washington Post, Dow Chemical "provided the plane that ferried the former president from his home in Westchester County, N.Y., to Burbank, Calif." Then Bing took care of the rest.
And not to be forgotten is that behind this successful man is a good wife who happens to be Secretary of State. Kim Jong-il had insulted Hillary the other day, having one of his flaks dismiss her as someone who looks like a "primary schoolgirl," apparently a topic still on his mind, and someone who at other times looks like a "pensioner going shopping."
The now-gallant Bill Clinton could have threatened, as he did with columnist Bill Safire after he called Hillary a "congenital liar" in the 1990s, to slug the dictator for that insult. But he didn't. He duly conformed to the script, though his friends in the media applauded him for his great restraint in not smiling during his meeting and photo-ops with Kim Jong-il and for glumly greeting a hack nuclear industry official who shook his hand repeatedly at the airport.
Al Gore was not sufficiently glamorous for the role, Kim Jong-Il felt, according to the Washington Post: "The administration had wanted to send former vice president Al Gore to North Korea instead of Clinton; Gore is a co-founder of Current TV, which employs the journalists who were detained. But North Korea officials hinted that they wanted an envoy of Clinton's stature, sources said."
It tells you a lot about the vapidity and irrationality of American politics that the highest honor bestowed on a politician by journalists is to call him a "rock star," a phrase they used incessantly over the last few days about Clinton.
The episode is one more reminder of the oppressive emptiness of world politics; it revolves around a democracy of, by, and for the elite. If you are planning to fool around abroad in some troubled hot spot, be sure to know someone famous. Meanwhile, back at home, the less glamorous and well-connected, whether in the womb or in some teetering hospice, receive no such rescue. They die alone.
About the Author
George Neumayr is a contributing editor to The American Spectator.
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Oldefarte| 8.7.09 @ 10:59AM
I suspect [though so far have not seen writings suggesting same] that there was more than meets the eye concerning this so-called rescue. Here we have two Oriental journalists [that work for/are employed by Gore] captured by NK; then Clinton and/or Gore being involved in this magical rescue to the beautification of all; while Secretary of State Hillary is buried [not involved] over in Africa/Nigeria? I smell a rat, big time, but can't put my finger on a possible motive/agenda that could be involved with this. It is not beyond the whole bunch of these dispicable, ruthless politicians to create some sort of giant photo-op for questionable purposes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tim| 8.7.09 @ 2:14PM
Big Bill done good, he got those two innocents out of that hell on Earth. You would have been better advised to wait for another opportunity to settle scores.
Appleby| 8.7.09 @ 3:07PM
When did every kid with a laptop, a camera phone and a perky personality become a journalist?
I have the feeling that Generation Y is going to produce millions more like these two hapless girls. Mr. Clinton better keep his bags packed.
Occam's Razor| 8.7.09 @ 5:42PM
Big Bill didn't do "good." The correct response to situations like this is to use tactical nukes on Pyongyang. Politics isn't rosewater. If they slap you, rip their heads off.
Paul| 8.7.09 @ 7:24PM
Dear Oldefarte,
They aren't "Oriental" journalists. They're Americans.
MKM| 8.7.09 @ 8:02PM
Current TV is a cable network with a presence on the web, so to call Laura Ling & Euna Lee "internet journalists" is incorrect.
They are also not "perky kids with laptops" had you looked into their backgrounds before you judged their credibility you would have seen that they are 2 women with extensive experience in journalism. Journalism, that for the most part, exposes injustices in every corner of this world. Their fearlessness is astounding and heroic. How dare you belittle these great women?!!?
The only part of this article that that has any merit is that it points out that they were lucky to have been working for Vice President Gore when this happened to them. Having worked w/them at Current TV, I know them well enough to be sure that they also understand their luck and will dedicate themselves to focusing our attention to the plight of political prisoners who aren't as lucky. After all, they were abducted while filming a story about the trafficking of women. Not about the best place to buy a bikini for spring break.
MKM| 8.7.09 @ 8:03PM
Current TV is a cable network with a presence on the web, so to call Laura Ling & Euna Lee "internet journalists" is incorrect.
They are also not "perky kids with laptops" had you looked into their backgrounds before you judged their credibility you would have seen that they are 2 women with extensive experience in journalism. Journalism, that for the most part, exposes injustices in every corner of this world. Their fearlessness is astounding and heroic. How dare you belittle these great women?!!?
The only part of this article that that has any merit is that it points out that they were lucky to have been working for Vice President Gore when this happened to them. Having worked w/them at Current TV, I know them well enough to be sure that they also understand their luck and will dedicate themselves to focusing our attention to the plight of political prisoners who aren't as lucky. After all, they were abducted while filming a story about the trafficking of women. Not about the best place to buy a bikini for spring break.
MKM| 8.7.09 @ 8:04PM
Current TV is a cable network with a presence on the web, so to call Laura Ling & Euna Lee "internet journalists" is incorrect.
They are also not "perky kids with laptops" had you looked into their backgrounds before you judged their credibility you would have seen that they are 2 women with extensive experience in journalism. Journalism, that for the most part, exposes injustices in every corner of this world. Their fearlessness is astounding and heroic. How dare you belittle these great women?!!?
The only part of this article that that has any merit is that it points out that they were lucky to have been working for Vice President Gore when this happened to them. Having worked w/them at Current TV, I know them well enough to be sure that they also understand their luck and will dedicate themselves to focusing our attention to the plight of political prisoners who aren't as lucky. After all, they were abducted while filming a story about the trafficking of women. Not about the best place to buy a bikini for spring break.
MKM| 8.7.09 @ 8:27PM
Current TV is a cable network with a presence on the web, so to call Laura Ling & Euna Lee "internet journalists" is incorrect.
They are also not "perky kids with laptops" had you looked into their backgrounds before you judged their credibility you would have seen that they are 2 women with extensive experience in journalism. Journalism, that for the most part, exposes injustices in every corner of this world. Their fearlessness is astounding and heroic. How dare you belittle these great women?!!?
The only part of this article that that has any merit is that it points out that they were lucky to have been working for Vice President Gore when this happened to them. Having worked w/them at Current TV, I know them well enough to be sure that they also understand their luck and will dedicate themselves to focusing our attention to the plight of political prisoners who aren't as lucky. After all, they were abducted while filming a story about the trafficking of women. Not about the best place to buy a bikini for spring break.
quiet reader| 8.7.09 @ 8:55PM
Perhaps the word is out that anyone can spam this site with neo nazi, jew hating, liberalophilic, weak minded C**P, and no one does anything. If the admin can't get a handle on their own site, the enjoyment is gone... Moving on somewhere else...
MKM| 8.7.09 @ 10:16PM
I didn't mean to multi-post. I thought it wasn't working
Israel Distruction of USA| 8.8.09 @ 2:17PM
Zionist Jews crimes against USA!
The nation of Israel and Jews, friend or foe of America? Actions speak louder than words;
June 8, 1967; Israeli jets attack the USS Liberty, killing 34 American soldiers.
May of 1970; Perle passing secrets to Israel during Kissinger and Nixon term
1973-2001; according to the Christian science monitor, Since 1973, Israel has cost the United States about $1.6 trillion. Top Jewish senators and Jewish congressmen in the US are voting to take tax payer’s money to support Israel. If divided by today’s US Citizens, that is more than $5,700 per person. That is more than twice the cost of the Vietnam War. Israel receives over 2 billion per year as a peace accord agreement, yet still to this day violates that agreement.
1979-1981 During the US hostage crisis in Iran, Israel was specifically asked to stop supplying Iran with weapons while Iran was holding US hostages. Israel was selling 500 million dollars per year of weapons to Iran, even after America asked Israel to stop.
October 1983; Israel deliberately allows 241 American Marines to die
1984; Israel denies U.S. Justice Department demand to extradite Marc Rich, a convicted Israeli spy against America.
August 1985, Israeli American scientist arrested for stealing 800 nuclear weapons triggers from America and sending them to Israel
November 22, 1985; Jewish US Navy Employee Arrested as Israeli Spy
October 27, 1991; Israel enflames race tensions in America by supplying apartheid South Africa with weapons and forcing the Bush administration to waive sanctions against Israel.
March 1995; Israel Charged With Systematic Harassment of U.S. Marines
August 23 1996; CIA accuses Israeli spies of theft of U.S. corporate scientific and technological data as the type of espionage that poses the greatest threat to U.S. economic competitiveness.
September 1997; Israel, as a haven for Jewish American murderers to flee to and be holed up in, refuses to extradite the Jewish murderer of an American.
June 18, 1998; Israeli businessman convicted selling chemical and biological weapons components and know-how to Iran for $16 million.
January 28, 1999; Israel transfers laser technology to Communist China, despite American outrage
February 24, 1999; Another Jewish American murderer flees to Israel and is holed up there, after killing another American.
July 30, 1999 Israeli hackers attack Pentagon
February 24, 2000; Israel again sells donated US military technology to Communist China, in the face of US outrage.
September 11, 2001; Israeli spies caught by FBI and Police cheering and photographing the WTC as it fell. What was their excuse? They said they were making a Documentary of 9/11. WTF? If they knew we were going to be attacked then why did they not warn us?
On 9/11 a group of Israelis were arrested.
1) Celebrating the attacks on us.
2) Trying to blow up the George Washington Bridge.
3) Blowing up a Van on King St near 6th and 7th.
911 Missing Links documentary. Very Interesting Information!
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7877765982288566190
15 March 2002; Israel ignores US demand to leave Palestinian territories, damaging American credibility and making America look like a hypocrite for forcing Sadam out of Kuwait but not Sharon out of Palestine.
June 28, 2002; Israel Reports Weapons Development in Iraq, also prodded by 25 neo-conservatives, mostly Jewish, Bush went to war with Iraq, costing nearly a thousand American soldiers their lives, no weapons found.
August 28.2002; Israel Supplying Iran again: Germany holds up Israeli military shipment said headed for Iran
October 4, 2002; 9/11: WHAT DID ISRAEL KNOW? – and when did they tell us?
November 17, 2003; Israel blatantly uses American weapons in violation of AECA agreements between both countries which stipulate that Israel not use such weapons in civilian territories, enraging and inflaming the animosity in the Middle East against America, even though Israel can use Israeli weapons since Israel is the 6th largest weapons producer, it consistently showcases American weapons against civilians, spreading the guilt onto America by association.
25 Apr 2009 A Delta Airlines passenger jet en route to Tel Aviv from New York had to make an emergency stop when an Israeli man attempted to hijack the plane.
Today; Israel forces America to keep silent about Israel’s nuclear weapons, again destroying America’s credibility world wide and leaving America looking like a hypocrite on it’s goal to end weapons of mass destruction world wide, also allowing the “unsecure” Israel to attempt to guard that nuclear stockpile from the Middle Eastern black market.
In conclusion, since the founding of Israel in 1950, no other country has cost America more lives, money, and damage to credibility than Israel.
Richard Baker| 8.8.09 @ 3:36PM
Bill met someone even more narcissistic than himself. Is he in therapy at this point?
Roy| 8.8.09 @ 9:33PM
I think the agenda is obvious enough; Kim gets a photo-op, he looks good, and he makes pro-appeasement Americans look good.
Kim has not lost a darn thing; he is better off than he was before, which means we can expect to see this type of thing again.
Billyboy my main attitude is whatever. The women were released entirely, in every respect, because Kim Jong Il freely chose to do so. At best, Billyboy played along like a good sport in order to get them back. Great. There is no "heroism" here.
Jim Tecson| 8.9.09 @ 2:41PM
I was not a real big fan of President William Jefferson Clinton. However in view of the events in the last 8 years and approximately 200 days of his departure from office I am reviewing my opinion of President Clinton. Whatever you may say about him, he knew how to be president, and he knew how to "work the room". When his health care intiative was met with the same opposition as the current Presidents, he backed out somewhat gracefully. Regardless of what anyone says, he listened to the people. Same with that mess in Somalia (though very disgraceful) and same with dealing with Sadaam. The "feel" was the people didn't want it, so he didn't do it. If a politician says he "doesn't govern to the poles" does that mean he doesn't listen to the people? Don't get me wrong, if I brought a Bill Clinton like person around my house, I'm sure I wouldn't be allowed to hang around with him. But, upon further review of his time since he left office and of the way he ran things, I'm thinking his two successors have not been good presidents. And, President Clinton was probably better than I gave him credit for.
All that being said, I think the negative coverage of his actions in freeing the two journalists is unwarranted.
Yea, he's a showboat/hotdog. But so what? He got those two AMERICANS cut loose and his involvement probably is going to open the door to get those nuts in N. Korea to the table.
So what if Hollywood paid the bill and orchestrated the triumphant return?
The taxpayers didn't have to foot the bill.
(Well they did, for his security detail, but they are there anyway.)
And what's so bad about a "rockstar" president my fellow Republicans and Conservatives?
Ol' Dutch Reagan did all right by U.S.
Jim Tecson
Virginia Beach
Marc Jeric| 8.9.09 @ 7:43PM
The proper response was to send a fleet of war planes with nuclear bombs and give that sick creep in North Korea an ultimatum to release those two stooges of Al Gore immrediately or Pyonhyand will be pulverized.
Instead Obama sent that disbarred felon Clinton, with promises of food and fuel gifts for the NK Army. Well, one communist must help another.
Tony in Central PA| 8.10.09 @ 5:19PM
This is the first time Bill Clinton ever got two girls out of trouble.
Poptropica | 4.8.10 @ 8:11PM
Poptropica
Poptropica
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