Prayers go out to the two American journalists, Euna Lee and Laura Ling, whose headline has already become difficult to find in a maze of “news” stories about celebrities, late-night talk show hosts, and reality TV.

The two are being held in North Korea, sentenced to 12 years hard labor for crime they were convicted of in a secretive court.

Prayers also go out to their families.

And a hard, hard prayer goes out to the politicians, state heads, the White House, and anyone else involved in securing the release of these women. May they not trip over themselves trying to figure out the most politically correct, diplomatic, non partisan way of securing the release of American citizens held in another country under suspicious circumstances.