Bill Clinton visits Pyongyang

The media coverage associated with former President Bill Clinton's trip to Pyongyang has been impressive. In North Korea, the president reportedly is working toward finalizing the release of two American journalists, who have convicted by the North Korean government of spying.

Whatever political niceties the North Koreans were looking for appear to have been delivered -- both the U.S. government and the families of the journalists have admitted remorse for what took place, although there remains no substantive evidence that the women actually did anything wrong. (Oops, I forgot -- stepping foot into North Korea is a crime worthy of being thrown in the slammer.)

Mr. Clinton's visit is sure to generate substantial media coverage, for at least three reasons:

1. There is a lull in the national media focus on Congress, health care, the deficit and other such issues because of the Congressional recess in August
2. High-profile visits such as this one are rare by former presidents, and as a result they are newsworthy
3. There is an expectation that Mr. Clinton will succeed.

Continue to examine the images that come from this visit; it is apparent that the North Koreans are looking to score international points. You can see this through the various video that is allowed to be disseminated around the world.