Yada Yada

The interesting thing to me about that whole Euna Lee-Laura Ling situation is that I'm sure there are pundits out there right now ranting about why it's bad that they've been brought home....
I can hear Limbaugh barking on about how Bill Clinton has one again disgraced the country, etc etc, without even listening to his show.


I engaged in a discussion on related topics this morning with some associates. "The national discourse, in general," one of them observed, "has collapsed to the point of mindless shouting. The rabble needs everything to be boiled down into a simple yes-or-no conflict, and intelligent discussion is virtually non-existent."

So true. I first noticed this phenomenon reaching frightening levels back when the Iraq war was starting up. Anti-war protesters embarrassed their cause by showing up anywhere a pro-war leader was to be appearing, shouting the speaker down with slogans like, "NO BLOOD FOR OIL" and other nonsense. Meanwhile, pro-war types discredited themselves with the idiotic claim that questioning the president's motives equated to a lack of patriotism.

In the ensuing years, things have gotten worse. I have no doubt that efforts to bring about substantive, REAL healthcare reform will fail, because a reasonable discussion of the issue is impossible. Olberman and O'Reilley will continue setting the tone. Is there any light in this tunnel?


Anyway, back to the Ling-Lee thing....I do have to admit that what happened was largely their own fault. You can't just go wandering around North Korea and expect everything to be OK. If I were told to go anywhere NEAR that country's border for any reason, I would refuse. Regardless, I am impressed with old Billy's diplomatic skills (I wonder if Al gore offered to go first, but Kim Jong Il held out for someone more high profile), and it's nice to see those tarmac pictures of the two women greeting their families. Welcome home, ladies...and DON'T DO ANYTHING THAT STUPID AGAIN!!!

b.