He's no Schwarzenegger ...

Image of Presidents Clinton and Kim via BoingBoing and Daylife.

Yesterday's news about President William Jefferson Clinton traveling to North Korea to seek the release of two imprisoned, Current TV staffers reminded me of Rita J. King's post a few weeks back in which she offers that we take seriously Liberate Laura publisher Horgan's suggestion that California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger be sent as an envoy to North Korea. President Clinton's no Schwarzenegger, but he is routinely characterized as a "rockstar." We'll find out if a rockstar politician is an adequate substitute for a movie star politician in the eyes of Kim Jong-Il. From the original post:

True, the Governor of California does not have extensive foreign relations or diplomacy experience. Nor am I trying to suggest capitalizing on any echo of the fictitious scenarios he once made $20 million enacting (though how I wish he could travel back in time to March 16th and counsel Lee, Ling and their cameraman Mitch Koss to abort their next-day trip to the border).

No, the reasons @schwarzenegger might prove a uniquely valuable choice are three-fold:

1) As sitting Governor of one of the world’s top economies, he has the requisite stature;

2) Because he is a “fresh face” choice, he also represents possibly in the eyes of the North Koreans a more emblematic reflection of the seriousness of the U.S. government;

Kim Jong-il is (still, presumably) crazy for Hollywood movies.