[geezerwheezer]

I don't know about you, but I am very impressed with the job Gov. Richardson did with North Korea when he worked for Slick Willie. Just look how good our relationship with North Korea is today because of his and Jimmy Carter's help in securing a promise of no nuclear weapons being made by N. Korea.....what?....you say North Korea lied about all that?....but..but Mr. Bill said they wouldn't....oh, now I understand, that was then and this is now! IT'S BUSH'S FAULT THEY LIED... (please note subtle sarcasm aimed at Billy Bob Richardson!) Question of the day: What baseball team supposedly drafted Richardson from college? Answer: None!

[CedarDave]

Interesting that you should mention North Korea. Here is an ABQ Journal story on Richardson and that subject from a few days ago. (It's a long story, but can't paste it all because of copyright):

Sunday, December 4, 2005

Richardson's Trip to North Korea Underscores the Long and Strange Relationship It Has N.M.

By Leslie Linthicum Of the Journal

North Korea has been called the "Hermit Kingdom," a place so cut off from the rest of the world that only a handful of foreigners has ever been allowed to travel there. Its borders are closed and patrolled by armed soldiers. Visas to visit are rare and doled out erratically. And once inside the country, foreigners are kept in the capital city of Pyongyang and in the constant company of government handlers.

Locked away from the rest of the world, North Korea is a place to wonder about and, as it flexes its nuclear muscles, to worry about. Curiously, though, some of the most frequent travelers behind the Kimchi Curtain are from New Mexico or have ties here.

Gov. Bill Richardson has been to North Korea five times. Former Gov. Dave Cargo counts two trips. Siegfried Hecker, the former director of Los Alamos National Laboratory, also has been there twice. And Tony Namkung, a senior adviser to Richardson and the state Economic Development Department's Asia consultant, has traveled to North Korea more than two dozen times.

"It's amazing, really," said Cargo.

Like the Kevin Bacon game, there are a few degrees of separation between New Mexico's frequent fliers to North Korea— but mostly just coincidences. And New Mexicans have played very different roles on their ventures into the secretive nation.