Where is Karen Hughes? In la-la land evidently.

[ProSense]

John Brown| BIO

Sinking in the Polls: Karen Hughes' Public Diplomacy Moment

Posted September 23, 2007 | 04:50 PM (EST)

"Osama dyes his hair and nobody likes him -- what is this, grade six?"
--Blogger byoolin

Karen Hughes, George W. Bush's longtime confidante and spin-stress, is one of his few loyal creatures left on the sinking USS Dubya. Unlike other White House cronies, Ms. Hughes refuses to fade away -- at least for now -- into the private-sector sunset, trying as best she can to stay in the Beltway limelight.

Her most recent effort to bring positive attention to her much criticized performance as Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs appeared in her article in the Washington Post, "Sinking in the Polls" (September 17).

<...>

Her article, however, not only fails to document what (if anything) her public diplomacy programs have done to lessen bin Laden's influence, but overlooks another key point: lack of support for bin Laden does not necessarily translate into approval overseas for Mr. Bush's foreign policy (and public diplomacy is, after all, an instrument and reflection of policy).

An alert reader of the Washington Post, Robert Anton Mertz of Bethesda, had this pearl of wisdom about Ms. Hughes (letter to the editor, September 22):

"Karen P. Hughes ("Sinking in the Polls," op-ed, Sept. 17) ... barely mentioned that the formerly positive view of America held by an overwhelming majority of people in the Middle East has dropped precipitously.

In Turkey, according to the Pew Global Attitudes Project, those with a favorable view of America dropped from 52 percent of residents surveyed in 2002 to 9 percent of those surveyed today. In large part this is due to hostility to U.S. foreign policies in the region, but it is also due to the ineptitude of public diplomacy under Hughes' leadership at the State Department."

Not loving bin Laden and terrorism, in other words, does not automatically mean loving George W. Bush and his policies<...>

Bin Laden may be a declining problem for American public diplomacy, but the president's actions abroad continue to be a major one, if not the major one.

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[sandnsea]

1. Ooh, it isn't a military operation

We have to go into these countries and make some friends on the planet. I see now. Why didn't somebody tell me this back in 2004? Oh wait...

[rodeodance]

2. i am not even curious enough to go to read her bs.

[Olney Blue]

3. She left at one time to "spend more time with her family."

They sent her back.

[Canuckistanian]

4. LOL

Now, who's she going to "spend more time with"?

[LuckyLib]

5. K-K-K-Karl, Gonzo, and Rummy. They can play poker and talk about the "Good Ole Days."

[Rose Siding]

6. Hughes was at the White House freep shindig last week

While too many dem Senators were peeing on MoveOn, the Republican base was feted by bush, laura, condi, karen and cheney.

Hughes is several pics down
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1898610/posts

[Olney Blue]

7. Why do Republicans act like they are the only Americans who support the

troops? It feels like we are two separate countries sometimes.

[slampoet]

8. Here is a reality check for Hughes, I saw your book at the Dollar Store Yesterday.