For the last several months, American journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling have been confined by North Korea. They were detained while reporting on North Korean refugees along the Chinese-North Korean border. They were recently sentenced to 12 years hard labor by a North Korean court for illegal entry into the country and unspecified “hostile acts,” but yesterday, North Korean state media announced their pardons. Their release was secured after months of negotiations by members of the Obama Administration, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, journalism groups such as Reporters Without Borders, and former Vice President Al Gore, founder of Current TV - Lee’s and Ling’s employer. President Bill Clinton’s unannounced visit to North Korea yesterday sealed the deal.

For Lee’s and Ling’s family and friends, their colleagues in the free press, and us here at Asian Americans for Obama, this wonderful news has been long awaited. With tense and unprecedented events unfolding all over the world from Iran to Xinjiang, China to Honduras, we are reminded of the importance of the press to advancing the truth. Lee’s and Ling’s ordeal is a powerful example of why the Founding Fathers believed that little is more threatening to tyranny than a free press. As Justice Brandeis once wrote, “Sunlight is the best disinfectant,” and these two courageous reporters were anathema to the oppressive regime in North Korea. Our thoughts will continue to be with them until they are safely back in the arms of their loved ones in the United States.

Laura’s sister Lisa has been a tremendous inspiration to us here at AAFO, and we still remember fondly our time with her here in Austin last March. We’re thrilled that she could share in yesterday’s welcome news.

Go below the fold for a statement from President Obama on the release of Laura Ling and Euna Lee.

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UPDATE 2: Good news - Twitter will postpone maintenance.

UPDATE: Use the Twitter hashtags #TwitterStayUp #NoMaintenance to tell Twitter to keep running!

As millions of Iranians in Iran and around the world stand up and make their voices heard, we are witnessing history being made in Iran. Depending on how these unprecedented events unfold, Iran may be on the cusp of a new era of freedom and democracy.

We’re also seeing yet another amazing change in how movements are made and news is reported through the use of Twitter as the Iranian regime has attempted to shut down most other sources of communication used to great effect by the reform movement, including websites, Facebook, and text messaging. It’s astonishing to see the on-the-ground reports coming in through Twitter - watch history unfold at #iranelection. The technological revolution has enabled people to coordinate their efforts and keep in touch with the outside world in ways that were not possible during the 1999 student demonstrations or in similar situations such as Tiananmen Square in 1999.

Unfortunately, Twitter has scheduled 90 minutes of maintenance tonight, during which time it will be temporarily offline. Tell Twitter to find a way to keep the site up - it remains one of the most important tools, and the possibility of real change is still very fragile. Without it, millions of Iranians may be left in the dark, cut off from the world and each other at this critical time.

For the latest updates, see the excellent liveblogging at Andrew Sullivan, Huffington Post, and the National Iranian American Council.

Senator Daniel Inouye (one of the key negotiators) has this to say:

“We do not have the luxury of time,” said Sen. Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii), another key negotiator. “We must expeditiously face the facts and pass this measure. To delay this any further would lead to consequences that could be horrendous.”

Inouye said more delay “could lead to a crisis worse than the Great Depression.” And, since the United States is now the world’s only superpower, “if we go down, there’ll be chaos on this globe,” he said.

Read more at The Washington Post. 

This story has been making the rounds - it’s been reported that President-Elect Barack Obama kicked off his vacation in Hawai’i on Sunday with a game of golf, accompanied by political aide, Eugene Kang. According to the President-Elect, Eugene’s got game! Read more here and here from The Washington Post! (And find out what Eugene’s nickname is here. )

More details continue to trickle out about this morning’s arrest of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff.

According to statements from the US Attorney’s office, Gov. Blagojevich was apparently upset with Obama for being unwilling to offer any incentive for appointment of his preferred candidate, presumed by many in the press to be Valerie Jarrett. Ben Smith of Politico further speculates that Blagojevich’s demands may have led to Jarrett’s abrupt withdrawal of her name from consideration and appointment instead to her special adviser position.

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This morning, embattled Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff were apparently taken into custody by the FBI. According to the Chicago Tribune:

A three-year federal corruption investigation of pay-to-play politics in Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s administration has expanded to include his impending selection of a new U.S. senator to succeed President-elect Barack Obama, the Tribune has learned.

Blagojevich has been quite unpopular and has long faced rumors of corruption. He’s pretty disliked in the Illinois Democratic Party, and virtually every major Democrat in Illinois has been openly hostile to his administration. The details of the investigation should be interesting. Personally, I think this could turn out to be for the best. If Blagojevich is at least savvy enough to resign, having the Lieutenant Governor handle the appointment would remove some of the taint that Blagojevich’s choice, no matter who it was, would inevitably had to confront. This should also ensure that the worst candidates - those who engaged in any pay-for-play with Blagojevich, will be barred from serving.

The Vietnam Veterans of America today described President-elect Obama’s selection of Gen. Eric Shinseki as Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs a “promising choice” citing Shinseki’s “integrity and personal fortitude to usher in the real changes needed to make the VA a true steward of our nation’s veterans and their families.”

“Veterans of all political persuasions should take heart and applaud this choice,” said John Rowan, the organization’s national president.

Shinseki would be only the third Asian American appointed to a Cabinet position, following Norman Mineta’s tenure at both Commerce and Transportation and Elaine Chao’s stint at Labor.

Veterans Affairs is the second largest department in the federal government, established 20 years ago this coming March by President Reagan.

The Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder mistakenly noted that Shinseki’s name was absent from any speculation of potential nominees. Dale Minami and Maeley Tom both mentioned Shinseki as a superbly qualified Cabinet member.

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From Change.gov:

Pete Rouse, Senior Advisor

Peter M. Rouse, Chief of Staff to Senator Barack Obama (D-IL), has served as chief of staff to members of the United States Congress for more than thirty years. Before joining Senator Obama in December 2004, he was chief of staff to former Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) for nineteen years. He also served as chief of staff to Rep. Dick Durbin (1984/85) and Lt. Governor Terry Miller of Alaska (1979-83).

Mr. Rouse, as Sen. Obama’s chief of staff, was part of a small group of advisors who helped Sen. Obama through the process that led to his decision to run for president in 2008. Mr. Rouse received a BA from Colby College, a MA from the London School of Economics, and a MPA from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

 

Here’s a nice piece in The Daily Princetonian on the most searched-for person at our site - the Executive Director of Obama’s transition team, Chris Lu, who’s an ‘88 alum. :)

Chris Lu ‘88 will serve as executive director of President-Elect Barack Obama’s transition team, the campaign announced Wednesday.

A Wilson School major and former senior news editor of The Daily Princetonian, Lu has been working for Obama since he took office as a U.S. Senator in 2005.

…

“I ended up on Capitol Hill, where I’ve always wanted to be,” Lu said in an interview Thursday.

Read more about Chris’s day-to-day responsibilities as a legislative director for Obama in the Senate as well as some words of praise from Chris’s former roommate and former senior thesis advisor.

As some of you may know, Transition Board member for President-Elect Barack Obama Sonal Shah has faced criticism in recent days for alleged ties to Hindu extremist political parties. Here is a statement from Shah, as sent by Obama for America National AAPI Vote Director Charmaine Manansala, that refutes these claims:

The following is a statement by Sonal Shah, Transition Board Member, for President-elect Barack Obama.

“As an Indian-American who has lived in this country since the age of four, serving on the Obama-Biden transition team is a unique privilege for me. A presidential transition is always a time of excitement and, in some cases, of rumors and unfounded gossip. I’d like to set to rest a few baseless and silly reports that have been circulating on the Internet. First, my personal politics have nothing in common with the views espoused by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), or any such organization. I’ve never been involved in Indian politics, and never intend to do so.

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