Karen Hughes Nominated For What?

Today, in our training sessions for the Arts Advocacy Days, this exact story emerged. It was presented to us as a good sign--that the Bush Admnistration is showing signs of understanding the power of cultural exchanges.

The types of programs that existed in the 1950s and 1960s provided rich cultural importing and exporting. These programs, under the Dept. of State, were slowly killed off. Two years ago, the entire budget for cultural exchange programs in the State Department was 1 million; doubled last year to two million.

This year we are hoping for a ten million dollar budget for cultural exchange programs. Word is Condoleeza Rice wants these programs back.

It's not enough. It's not enough for the kind of rich sharing that is needed for us to BEGIN to regain our authority and esteem.

IMO.

Karen Hughes, F.O.G. (Friend of George)

The Propaganda Czar from Paris + Texas
by Nancy Snow

"Hughes is not known for her foreign policy prowess but for guard-dog like devotion to President George W. Bush."
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0314-21.htm

~With the likes of Abu Garib Gonzales as A/G and "demolish the UN" Bolton headed for the UN and Mr. Neocon Eliot Abrams and the Cheney daughter promoted within the State Dept., and with Rove's promotion from political campaign to WH policy maker, are we really really surprised by Hughes promo from political guard-dog to Under-Sec-of-State??? More in-your-face arrogance from Bu$hInc.
All of this reminds me of this column from Molly Ivins, written during the first week of 2005: Molly warned us to "save some outrage, because we have a long way to go"

Three Days Down, 362 to Go
By Molly Ivins, AlterNet. Posted January 4, 2005.

Save your indignation, we've got a lot of 2005 left.
http://www.alternet.org/columnists/story/20882/

Karen Hughes: Bush's Spinner to the World

Mon Mar 14 Op/Ed - The Nation
David Corn

Have you been worrying about the image of the United States overseas? Have no fear, Karen Hughes is here.
George W. Bush is nominating Hughes to be under secretary of state in charge of public diplomacy. That's the administration official who oversees the government's efforts to sell the United States abroad. No one has been in this position since the summer--which indicates just how much of a priority Bush has assigned to this task. With the United States' standing abroad at a frightening low level--even though Bush's belated response to the tsunami disaster did boost the United States' image in Indonesia--the White House has done little to enhance public diplomacy. That is, if you don't count Condi Rice strutting across Europe in high-heel, black leather boots. And the nomination of uber-hawk and UN-basher John Bolton to be UN ambassador hardly sent a signal that Bush is serious about working with other nations (and respecting their desires).

What are her Hughes' qualifications for this post? Well, she has been Bush's chief spin doctor since he entered politics. Once a local television reporter, she turned to the dark side. During the 2000 campaign, she actively misled the press about key aspects of Bush's past--most notably, his military service and his drunk-driving conviction. As a White House aide, she used PR tactics, not the truth, to push Bush's reckless policies. Now she'll do the same concerning the United States' image abroad. (If she could sell Bush to the American voters, maybe she can sell dirt as food.)

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/thenation/20050314/cm_thenation/32258_1

~A Texas journalist's view of
Karen Hughes, "the High Prophet, the nickname Bush had given her as a derivative of her married name of Karen Parfitt Hughes."

One minute from abnormal
A Texas reporter explores Karen Hughes' cultlike devotion to George W. Bush.

- - - - - - - - - - - -
By James C. Moore

"When cornered, Hughes dissembles. But she is rarely cornered. Nonetheless, she seems to have lost her ability to distinguish between the real world and the red, white and blue movie playing on a loop in her head; it's a drama where "W" is the hero and crowds are cheering him as a savior while the national anthem plays as the soundtrack. This is considerably more than a political skill. It's more of a serious psychological tick. Even when confronted with a videotape or a transcript contradicting her recall, Hughes still finds denial a viable political tool."

continue~
http://www.peterhansen.com/one_minute_from_abnormal.htm

Hughes seems PERFECTLY qualified for her mission -- Under Secretary of State for Propaganda.

Sounds like Goebbles has come back from the grave?

Big Bertha's our link to the Muslim world??? Good grief. Exactly what about her do they think will endear her to them or the rest of the world for that matter? Her undying devotion to Shrub? Her enthusiatic willingness to lie to the American public on his behalf? Her prowess at cheating and maligning the character of others without blinking? The chest hair?

Unlike many Americans, the rest of the world is well studied on ShrubCo and know the dubious role she has played. They aren't going to like her anymore than they like The Chimperor himself. Her appointment shows ShrubCo has absolutely no clue how to enact true diplomacy. BULL-omacy, yep, but not diplomacy.

The Elton John lyrics keep going through my head..
The Bitch Is Back

Music by Elton John
Lyrics by Bernie Taupin
Available on the album Caribou

...
I'm a bitch, I'm a bitch
Oh the bitch is back
Stone cold sober as a matter of fact
I can bitch, I can bitch
`Cause I'm better than you
It's the way that I move
The things that I do

I entertain by picking brains
Sell my soul by dropping names
I don't like those, my God, what's that
Oh it's full of nasty habits when the bitch gets back

It's not enough. It's not enough for the kind of rich sharing that is needed for us to BEGIN to regain our authority and esteem.

IMO.

Posted by: Karen at March 14, 2005 10:36 PM

Karen,

I agree with the essence of your message, but part of this problem, as I see it, is that it will be impossible for the United States to begin to regain the world's esteem (I think we need to be wary about the authority part of all of this) when our President has to rely on sycophants to make his case in the world arena. A cheerleader who "spins" the message for the President will never be held in high regard by those who make the ultimate decisions. Karen Hughes will be viewed with a jaundiced eye, and no amount of Texas charm-or whatever you want to call it, will change that. The Europeans have lived through a dose of propaganda, and know it when they see it.

I wouldn't be surprised if her first "mission" is to the Far East. The people there are grateful for the assistance that we provided after the Tsunami, and we did send two ex-Presidents (If they can go why not Karen?).

When our leaders begin demonstrate respect to the world's people and their leaders, and only then, will they want to reciprocate with the United States. They will gladly take our money if we offer it, but I don't think that is what you are saying.

Well on NPR I was surprised to hear Scott McClellan referred to as Bush's spokesman, rather than his press secretary.

And he wasn't talking to the press core - he was talking to China. Wouldn't that be something Bush should do? Not Scott McClellan - that guy who talks in circles and says nothing who is even more dim than Ari Fleischer? (Didn't think that was possible)

Isn't this a matter of national security? I would think the President would talk to China.

Oh that's right - he's working on the SS vaudeville tour. That would require "multi tasking" - he says he doesn't do that.

Oh yeah - & when the world wants to know what the entire United States is like they ask someone from Texas.

Hughes will have an aide BORN in Egypt. That makes her an automatic expert on the entire Islamic diaspora, right?

I was BORN in Oregon so I'm an expert on all American and European culture and other matters, right?

Well on NPR I was surprised to hear Scott McClellan referred to as Bush's spokesman, rather than his press secretary.

DiAnne,

Doesn't the WH consider spin the same thing as news? Maybe that was what NPR was hintng at (I am probably giving them too much credit)?

http://www.whitehouse.gov/government/fbci/grants-catalog-international.html

These are White House faith-based propositions for international programs. Maybe this is the angle they have in mind - spreading liberty via spreading the Christian faith throughout the Muslim world.

http://answers.org/featured/z20040326122731659.html

This link relates a Barbara Walters interview with Karen Hughes, who is a devout Evangelical Christian.

Connect the dots. These people have a master plan.

The church I grew up in did not believe in war ..

As Hughes claims humility will be an expert on "everything". AND DON'T YOU FORGET IT!

Oops

As Hughes claims humility, she will be an expert on "everything". AND DON'T YOU FORGET IT!

Does this ring a bell?
Last October, Pat Robertson claimed that just before the invastion of Iraq, the President told him "There aren't going to be any casualities."

Robertson did not write a "clarifying" Op Ed in the New York Times like Paul Bremer did after the he said there weren't enough troops on the ground to secure Iraq.

Rove insisted he heard no such thing from Pat Robertson, suggesting that Robertson was making it up. They denied Bush had ever said such a thing. Rove, McClellan and Karen Hughes all told reporters that and that Mr. Robertson was mistaken. Karen Hughes came on Judy Woodruff's show and said Bush had always told us we would need to sacrifice etc.

Is this sort of thing going to work for situations like when we accidentally bombed the Chinese Embassy in Kosovo? Or the discrepant reports about the killing of the Italian secret service officer & the wounding of the reporter for which the "full investigation" is still outstanding? Or in the instance of situations like Abu Graib or the permanent incarceration of persons in Guantanamo without charges?

Is this really going to fly? Does the whole world watch Fox? & can Bush really hold "Town Meetings" with pre-selected citizens all over the place? That might require multi-tasking. I'll admit I'm really confused.

& really .. I thought the State Department was about diplomacy and that ambassadores were sent to other countries to make friends with them. This sounds more like the State Department is about religion and we're sending out missionaries.

There are alot of used copies of Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale" and George Orwell's "1984" on Amazon.com. Maybe I need to reread them so I can prepare for the future.
I don't know whether to get a nun's habit or a burkha.

From Robert at Twin Cities IndyMedia:

One story the corporate media did cover today is the hiring of Karen Hughes. She was hired to improve President Bush’s international reputation, especially in the Middle East. Persons in the Middle East are well aware of cluster bombs, depleted uranium, and the landmines used by the US in its war with Iraq.

How can Karen Hughes change Bush’s reputation if the administration’s policies remain unchanged? Perhaps she could achieve this goal if she could pull the plug on the international press and make it tow the administration line as it does in the US. Only then she would she have a chance. Otherwise, she is doomed to failure like her predecessor, an advertising executive from Madison Avenue.

DiAnne-
Small correction to you post above. Karen Hughes is not an evangelical, she's a fundamentalist kook posin' as an evangelical. Fundamentalists give true, righteous evangelicals a bad name.

Uh, I have no idea what that woman looks like but I remembre her being extracted from her Texan home to help bush during the campaign..
Let her come! Some fun ahead.
Condi didn't convince us at all, so the new Bush cheer leader shouldn't expect much attention. Whe had enough of the show already.... She will meet with little attention. No need to say it will be even worse in the Muslim world.
She's an Evangelical? I wonder how she will pass her message her France. Evangelicals are listed as "sect" and watched by the secret services just as the islamists. No difference for us.
What an accurate pick again. This is no more a government, it's a caricature play born from a kind of kafkaian writer's brain..

OT. Could someone explain to me what does "Bamboozlepalooza" mean? I love the word, but I would like to improve my knowledge... you did so much for me in cursing already!

Thanks.

Andree...

What Karen Hughes looks like... hmmm.

If you've ever seen "Pee Wee's Big Adventure", she is a dead ringer for "Large Marge", the phantom trucker.

Andree... "Bamboozlepalooza"

bamboozle

v : conceal one's true motives from especially by elaborately feigning good intentions so as to gain an end; "He bamboozled his professors into thinking that he knew the subject well"

The "palooza" part is like adding the word EXCESSIVELY to whatever the topic is.

Equals W: The Excessive Bamboozler

Mark,

Thanks so much, now I have to remember the word... which wont be that easy!

Obviously Bush wasn't able to mend fences and make nice on his last trip,so now he sends Hughes to the rescue. She's on a mission not to mend fences, but to make certain that the message gets muddled and it will be soooooooo confusing......AGAIN!!~ All we're going to hear is the same damned thing,over and over .....AGAIN!! We're used to it, so this should be nothing new to our ears!! PUKE for breakfast anyone?
Oh well,at least Condi has a new alli.

Oh well,at least Condi has a new alli.

Posted by: Patti Ferschke at March 15, 2005 08:46 AM

I'm thinking they're going to really get on each other's nerves fairly soon... Stay tuned for clinched teeth, cat fights, mud-wrestling events...

Andree
There used to be a big rock festival called Lollapalooza. I guess it means a "big deal" - it's a really corny kind of concept.

I was, howeveer, just invited to a "Potato Festival" and it's with Congressman McDermott who was in Fahrenheit 9/11 and is a personal hero.

Though I've been trying to find some articles there is little press coverage about Hugues nomination.
One paper just states that "in spite of many attempts to improve the image of United States abroad, they all failed miserably, and Mrs Hugues nomination shouldn't change anything to the world perception".

I found a picture too, she looks "mémère", granny like. At least for me!

Hi md.

Florida Dem

I didn't know the difference between "fundamentalist" and "evangelical" but anyone who takes the Bible literally and especially in a selective way or believes you have to be "born again" or you'll go to hell - I throw them in with cult members too.

Just think about what type of church it was where last weekend someone let loose with a gun. They were focused on prophesy and Revelations. Then there are those who bomb abortion clinics.

If the church is black, antiwar and has a good choir I'll give them some extra points. If they don't proselylize, with missionaries and recruiting for converts, they get ten more.

Otherwise, just tell them I'm a vampire.

This will give you a good idea about the principles (as if she had any) that will guide Karen Hughes.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35010-2005Mar14.html?referrer=emailarticle

The Bush administration, rejecting an opinion from the Government Accountability Office, said last week that it is legal for federal agencies to feed TV stations prepackaged news stories that do not disclose the government's role in producing them.

SNIP

The legal counsel's office "does not agree with GAO that the covert propaganda prohibition applies simply because an agency's role in producing and disseminating information is undisclosed or 'covert,' regardless of whether the content of the message is 'propaganda,' " Bradbury wrote.

SNIP

"This is more than a legal issue. It's also an ethical issue and involves important good government principles, namely the need for openness in connection with government activities and expenditures," Walker said. "We should not just be seeking to do what's arguably legal. We should be doing what's right."

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said yesterday that federal agencies have used video news releases for years. "As long as they are providing factual information, it's okay," he said.

Walker said that even by that standard, some prepackaged news stories are out of bounds.

Marc Trager

Could also be Nurse Ratchett in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" aka "Big Nurse"

DiAnne,

I can spot this one, and the connection between a mental hospital and the WH is such a good one!

Who will take the first shot by "Big Nurse" Hugues?

Last Updated 2:49 pm PST Monday, March 14, 2005
WASHINGTON (AP) - A moderate Republican is trying to strip all $14 billion in Medicaid cuts from the Senate's $2.56 trillion budget, testing the GOP-run Congress' appetite for trimming spending as President Bush has proposed.
"As the Senate began debating the budget Monday, Republicans struggled behind the scenes to head off the amendment by Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore. Should Smith prevail later this week, it would mark an embarrassing rejection of one of the pillars of Bush's budget and raise questions about how much deficit reduction the GOP can achieve, even at a time of record shortfalls."

Saving Medicaid from the Bush ax is important. I suspect Republicans will try and force us to choose between saving Medicaid and saving Anwar on Wednesday. But this Commission proposal by Smith appears to be reasonable and worthy of our support.

What do others of you think?

Pamella have you contacted DeWine's office yet regarding Anwar?

Good discussion of why Joe Liebermann is not a friend to those Americans who need economic protection(Also highlights lies and misstatements by our President).

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/15/opinion/15krugman.html?th

Call to Renewel has an action alert to protest an immoral budget.

http://www.calltorenewal.org/index.cfm

left side, midway down: Action Alert

This is an organization dedicated to removing poverty from the world.

Administration to Unveil Polluter-Friendly Mercury Plan

March 15, 2005

The Bush administration's new plan to curb mercury emissions is a gross handout to polluters and industry. It will reduce toxic mercury pollution at a much slower rate than other more environmentally favorable plans while instituting a cap-and-trade system, which lets dirty power plants buy credits from cleaner ones.

The president's plan would make mercury pollution worse not better. Every year, power plants emit 48 tons of toxic mercury into the atmosphere. President Bush likes to claim his plan will reduce mercury pollution by 70 percent by 2018. But he won't tell you that this represents a large step backwards from previous efforts. The Bush administration rolled back a plan a 2000 Clinton White House plan which "would have mandated curtailing emissions at every plant by the maximum amount possible, which proponents said could bring a 90 percent reduction in three years using existing technology," according to the LA Times.

The administration allowed the polluters to write their own laws and regulations. The EPA's mercury emission rules were partially drafted by the very energy companies they're supposed to regulate. In April 2003, a group of eight power plants reviewed the administration's plan and submitted a "wish list" of changes to weaken regulations. The Washington Post last year found that, in a side-by-side comparison of the rules and the power-plant memo, at least "a dozen paragraphs were lifted, sometimes verbatim, from the industry suggestions."

Under the president's plan, some power plants will be allowed to increase mercury pollution while others will profit from selling their credits to the worst offenders. The cap-and-trade system will produce so-called "hot-spots," localized areas of severe pollution and contamination. As the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes today: "There's no gentle way to put it: The White House is ignoring the public's will, betraying the public's trust and endangering the public's health by proposing weak mercury regulations for the nation's power plants."
Daily Talking Points is a product of the American Progress Action Fund.

Krugman on Liebermann

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/15/opinion/15krugman.html?ex=1111554000&en=feaeb5b384cea5f9&ei=5070

[snip]
My guess is that Mr. Lieberman thought he was being centrist and bipartisan, reaching out to Republicans by showing that he shares their concerns. At a time when the Democrats can say, without exaggeration, that their opponents are making a dishonest case for policies that will increase the risks facing families, Mr. Lieberman gave the administration cover by endorsing its fake numbers.

E.J. Dionne Jr. on DeLay and the links to Indian Casinos

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35347-2005Mar14.html

Sorry OC...I didn't see your post by Krugman...

Benson on ANWR

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/benson/

Last night I watched the "war room",the movie on how Clinton won. I rolled (almost) about the line:"everything that's up should be down and everything that's down should be up"...hillarious! Too bad that line wasn't repeated oevr and over again this last campaign!!
Great Benson BB...we need to post it everywhere.

Our country is fortunate to have many distinguished Muslims. These individuals come from different countries India, Pakistan, Turkey, Palestine, Israel, Saudi, Jordan etc.

The best way to promote American policies and adjust them to the needs of the Middle East and Muslim people is to chose someone who represents their views, talks like them, feels like them and has independent bi-partisan views.

Does our president have the courage to change? He wants democracy for the people of Middle East, democracy doesnot equate to Republican beliefs or Conservative values. Democracy comes from within, Look at India and china for examples, both countries are changing but based on their value system. Is George Bush ready to listen, learn, look and be democratic in his thinking.

Remember Gandhi was born in India and educated in South Africa. He decided to stand up for his rights in India and not South Africa. He knew he was Indian and his policies could succeed in India. He did it on his own will.