I will fisk this Los Angeles Times op-ed piece of Laura Ling and Euna Lee line by line later (because that's what Kushibo does), but in the meantime, go and read their account of what happened, or at least what they can tell you that isn't too painful as their psychological wounds heal.
I'll say right off the bat that I think it's a self-serving ass-covering, and possibly untruthful in parts. I will fisk it, just as soon as I finish a work assignment (because I don't yet make enough money off blogging to quit my day job).
This story is already losing my interest (I mean the whole Ling/Lee event). I hope other people see it that way too. By the time their book comes out...I hope it's OLD OLD news that nobody cares to read.
ReplyDeleteThat may be the case, although incestuous media relations mean that the 24-hour news channels will be happy to publicize the book ad nauseum. And almost certainly there will be an Oprah appearance, being as how Lisa Ling is already a mainstay on that program.
ReplyDeleteI had the same thoughts while reading it. In fact, I think my brain's exact phrasing was "what a bunch of made-up crap." Or possibly something more profane.
ReplyDeleteI would love to see a reverse scenario, where two North Koreans with recording equipment illegally cross the US border (but only for, like, a second!) and wind up staying in a guesthouse, being served better meals than the people they were supposedly there to help.
Space, I also made that analogy about North Koreans popping over the border into the US, though I think the much sparser and less patrolled US-Canadian border out in the Rockies and the northern plains would be a more likely entry point.
ReplyDeleteBTW, Space, you're not Space Nakji, are you?
Funny. The northern plains were what I pictured too.
ReplyDeleteAs for your question, heck no! I'm Space Jjukkumi, Nakji's shorter, more consonant cousin.