VP DEBATE SPECIAL: Bill Clinton Makes the Case For Joe Biden
Clinton says there’s no better VP choice to help repair our relationships around the world than Joe Biden. It’s hard to argue with Bill on that one.

Steve Bing Flew Bill Clinton To N. Korea
So the former prez could negotiate the release of those two detained U.S. journalists. According to AP, Clinton flew to North Korea on movie producer/director Bing's private jet. Since it's currently illegal for American planes to fly to North Korea, Bing had to iron out details with the U.S. government over several days.

Bill Clinton Frees US Reporters From Kim Jong-Il's Clutches [Reporters In Peril]
Bill Clinton went on over to North Korea, met the crazy dictator there, and won: North Korea has pardoned Current TV reporters Laura Ling and Euna Lee for their slanders and calumnies.

How Bill's Trip Came About
It is hard to imagine a stronger signal of Bill Clinton's celebrity status than North Korea's explicit demand that they would release the two jailed American journalists provided he come visit. Back-door dealings for their release began sometime in the spring, when the U.S. started pressing the North Koreans via the Swedish ambassador. Eventually, the prisoners' families were allowed to regularly speak with them on the phone. During a conversation in mid-July, the North Koreans conveyed their...

Commentary: Bill Clinton shows that diplomacy works
President Clinton did more than free two unjustly jailed journalists. He jump-started the successful diplomacy he had begun 15 years earlier.

Bill Clinton went to N. Korea and laid his mack down: VIDEO
Embedded video from CNN Video The second black President couldn’t get it done, so they had to call up the O.G. How gangsta is that? Yo, there is nobody else in the United States government (that isn’t military) that coulda got those journalists any smoother. It so reminds me of the Jaime Foxx stand up when he was jokin about Bill talkin to Osama:

The Wall Street Journal On Clinton's Successful Trip To North Korea: PHOTO
In the wake of Bill Clinton's successful trip to North Korea to secure the release of jailed journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee, some Republicans couldn't wait to express their hearty congratulations on a job well done: You get the idea. And perhaps realizing that their rightwing brethren were sounding a little harsh about the safe return of two American citizens who had been imprisoned by a branch of the "Axis of Evil," the Wall Street Journal editorial page decided to be a little more...

US journalists return home from North Korea with Bill Clinton
Euna Lee and Laura Ling, the two US journalists freed after 140 days in captivity in North Korea, have returned home with Bill Clinton to a tearful reunion with their families in Los Angeles.

Bill Clinton Used Vast Web of Business Contacts to Secure Journalists' Release
Former president Bill Clinton's central role in the return of two journalists detained by North Korea has once again cast a spotlight on his vast web of financial and political contacts, a network that troubled senators who weighed whether to confirm his wife as secretary of state.

BILL CLINTON TO BRING IMPRISONED JOURNALISTS HOME FROM NORTH KOREA
Former President Bill Clinton has won the release of Current TV journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee, who have been jailed in North Korea since March on charges of entering the country illegally. The state-run Korean Central News Agency announced that the two women had been pardoned by North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and would be allowed to leave the country with Clinton. No mention of Clinton's visit to the country was made by either the North Korean or U.S. governments until the former...

White House OK'd Clinton mission only with caution - Yahoo! News
WASHINGTON – The White House approved Bill Clinton 's high-stakes rescue mission only with caution, intent that North Korea not benefit on the world stage. Yet officials now suggest it could mark a fresh start with the volatile regime. The freeing of two Americans on the former president's trip came with no strings attached, the Obama administration insisted Wednesday, and any move to break a stalemate over the reclusive dictatorship's nuclear weapons will have to come from Pyongyang....

Man Offers 40 Goats And 20 Cows For Chelsea Clinton's Hand In Marriage, Hillary Responds
NAIROBI, Kenya — A Kenyan man's offer of 40 goats and 20 cows for Chelsea Clinton's hand in marriage may still be on the table – and Hillary Rodham Clinton has promised to convey the "very kind offer" to her daughter. To laughter at a town hall meeting Thursday in Kenya, CNN's Fareed Zakaria asked the U.S. Secretary of State if the Clintons had made a decision on the dowry offer. In 2000, a Kenyan man wrote to then-president Bill Clinton offering the animals in accordance with...

White House OK'd Clinton mission only with caution
WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House approved Bill Clinton's high-stakes rescue mission only with caution, intent that North Korea not benefit on the world stage. Yet officials now suggest it could mark a fresh start with the volatile regime. The freeing of two Americans on the former president's trip came with no strings attached, the Obama administration insisted Wednesday, and any move to break a stalemate over the reclusive dictatorship's nuclear weapons will have to come from Pyongyang....

Wealthy Hollywood producer paid for Clinton's North Korea flight
WASHINGTON) — A wealthy Hollywood producer paid for the flight that carried former President Bill Clinton and two American journalists home from North Korea, a California businessman confirmed today. Stephen Bing, a close Clinton friend and longtime Democratic fundraiser, is the plane's owner, said Marc Foulkrod of Burbank, Calif., chairman of Avjet Corp., the company that manages the aircraft. Foulkrod said the Federal Aviation Administration "at the highest levels" cleared the flight...

Art For Life Brings You Vegan Dinner With Bill Clinton
Russell Simmons has launched an online auction for the 10th annual Art For Life Garden Party Benefit on July 18 in East Hampton. Art For Life Benefits Simmons’ charity, Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation , that allows kids from disadvantaged backgrounds to connect with the arts. The online auction features the chance to attend a private dinner at Simmons’ place in East Hampton on July 20, where several guests will be present, including former president of the United States, Bill...

Your Grievance For the Next Four Years: "Voter Fraud" [Predictions]
If the Democrats pull this off and win the presidential election, the Republican "noise machine" will not simply give up and devote themselves to charity. They will need to undermine and delegitimize President Obama as much and as loudly as possible, non-stop, for the entirety of his term. Early predecessors of this strategy include claims that John Kennedy stole the 1960 election with Chicago Mayor Richard Daley's corrupt machine and reminding everyone that Bill Clinton didn't win a majority of the vote i

The Sarah Palin Show - Highest Rated Debate Since 1992
Thursday’s highly anticipated face-off between Alaska governor Sarah Palin and Delaware senator Joe Biden may be the most-watched debate in 16 years. Last night’s event totaled a 45.0 overnight meter-market household rating, according to Nielsen Media Research. That’s 42% higher than Friday’s presidential debate between top-of-the-ticket contenders John McCain and Barack Obama, which scored a collective 31.6 rating among broadcast and cable networks. It’s also a stunning 60%

Who Will Write This Year's 'Making of the President'? [Books]
Honestly? We'd rather read a book-length history of the Hillary Clinton campaign written by Josh Green than read another word about McCain and Obama. But let's take a look at the people currently working on their own novelistic takes on the waking nightmare that has been 2008 thus far! The Observer reports on the contenders: Michael Takiff, on oral historian. He's writing a Bill Clinton biography (though maybe it's been shelved). He's a Nation-contributing lefty, who once also tried to write a book about

Wealthy Hollywood producer paid for NKorea flight
WASHINGTON (AP) - A wealthy Hollywood producer paid for the flight that carried former President Bill Clinton and two American journalists home from North Korea, a California businessman confirmed Wednesday. Stephen Bing, a close Clinton friend and longtime Democratic fundraiser, is the plane's owner, said Marc Foulkrod of Burbank, Calif., chairman of Avjet Corp., the company that manages the aircraft. Foulkrod said the Federal Aviation Administration "at the highest levels" cleared the flight...

Steve Bing Paid For NKorea Flight: PHOTO
WASHINGTON - A businessman says a wealthy Hollywood producer paid for the flight that carried former President Bill Clinton and two American journalists home from North Korea. Marc Foulkrod, chairman of Avjet Corp., the company that manages the plane, said the aircraft is owned by Stephen Bing, a longtime Democratic donor and fundraiser. Bing raised at least $100,000 for Hillary Rodham Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign, in addition to giving the personal maximum $2,300. The Clinton...

Debate Liveblog III: Townhall Without Pity
Karen Tumulty, Michael Grunwald and I will be liveblogging tonight's debate again at the usual address. Learn it, bookmark it, live it. As you know, tonight's debate will be a townhall, a format that allows for back-and-forth with voters, intermingling among candidates and questioners, and freewheeling exchanges. Oh, actually: it will allow for none of those! By agreement of the two campaigns, there are to be no followups. No reaction shots of audience questioners. (This last, presumably, is to avoid

Robbed at Dawn
One of the perks of attending college in London are the cheap travel options offered by Ryan Air. So it fits the paradigm that Jett, currently enrolled at Syracuse University's London annex for the fall semester, and his roommate Kyle Burda are off to Prague and Budapest next weekend. I've been to Prague three times -- in '87, '92 and '00 -- so I sent Jett some photos this weekend and suggested some places he might want to visit. Anyway, this all reminded me of a wild train-trip drama that occur

Obama Bores His Way to Victory
Disagreements over Tuesday night's debate winner seem to be of degree, not of kind, with Obama crowned the victor. The debate was mostly a snooze, but Obama delivered another cool performance, while McCain’s cornpone humor mostly fell flat. Blogger Alex Massie calls it "a no-score draw … And so, because of that, Obama, leading in the polls, won." The New Republic’s Jonathan Chait raves, "I have never seen a stronger performance than the one Obama gave tonight." After being criticized in p

Laura - Ling 'Thrilled Beyond Words' By Sister's Release: PHOTO
Revered U.S. newswoman Lisa Ling is "thrilled beyond words" following the release of her journalist sister Laura from a detention facility in North Korea. Former U.S. President Bill Clinton persuaded North Korean leader Kim Jong Il to grant Ling and her colleague Euna Lee a special pardon during a trip to North Korea on Tuesday (04Aug09). Ling and Lee spent five months in captivity after reportedly illegally crossing the Chinese border with North Korea, where they were preparing a report about...

Kim Jong Platform Shoes (Photo!)
Kim Jong Platform Shoes - Now that Bill Clinton has met with North Korean ruler Kim Jong Il, successfully convincing him to release US reporters Laura Ling and Euna Lee, we can all talk about Kim Jong's platform shoes. Kim Jong Il, an insecure leader who feels the need to puff his hair up in order to appear taller and less unintimidating, wears platform shoes. In case you didn't know it already (We've known this for a while, folks), Kim Jong is insecure and needs to wear shoes that add up to 6...