This development seems to have eluded most of the blogosphere, but apparently our new public face in the Middle East looks like an angry transvestite.
But seriously, folks. Here's what worries me about this: DuringBush's first term, liberals generally lamented his effective neuteringof Colin Powell. I can't remember how many articles I read thatcontained the phrase "…Condoleezza Rice when he wants to send a seriousmessage." With Rice at State, I think a lot of people assumed that theSecretary of State and The Person Bush Uses To Send Serious Messageswould finally be the same person. So far, that has been the case, andthe results have been…well, vastly improved. (Witness the 100%reduction in wars!)
What worries me about Hughes is that she could undo this synergy. Byall accounts, Bush and Rice are close, but Bush and Hughes are closer.And as far as I can tell, the job to which Hughes has been appointed isexplicitly about sending messages, in a region of the world whereAmerica's reputation is vital.
I guess it's only natural that Bush would fill Rice's old place as de-facto consigliere with someone new. Maybe he disdains hoity-toity institutions. Maybe he just naturally distrusts State, no matter who’s in charge of it. (Hardly surprising for a president that puts such a premium on loyalty.) In any case, if I’m right about this, it’s disappointing. Between Hughes and Bolton (who, while were on the topic, looks likeCaptain Kangaroo), the Bush-2 foreign policy team is definitely balking on fulfilling its initial promise.
