Glenn's ruminating about the now-established precedent of the sitting president using the last two former presidents as fund-raising non-partisan figureheads for big relief efforts. I'd offer Herbert Hoover as a further precedent, except that was how he made his name *before* becoming Commerce Secretary and then president.

I don't know, I don't like this, and I *really* don't like how the UN gave Clinton status as "UN Special Envoy for Haiti" prior to the earthquake. Admittedly, Clinton doesn't seem to have made any effort to actually do anything in the role, but if he had...

The whole thing reeks of the Roman Republican constitutional practice of sending out ex-consuls after their year of service as "proconsuls" to govern provinces of the Republic's empire. It didn't end particularly well, if you remember your Roman history.