Karen Hughes' Departure

The resignation of Karen Hughes, a State Department undersecretary and long-time Bush confidant, ends an odd, silly and sorry chapter in the Bush Administration's Book of Malgovernment. Salon's amusing headline
nicely captures the failure of Hughes' heavy-handed efforts to convince the Islamic world that America is a bunch of good guys regardless of its policies. In her remarks to the U.S. Islamic World Form in February 2006, she described the attacks of 9/11 as "acts of hate and murder inspired by a violent ideology that seeks to impose tyranny by force and fear." And she uttered this, presumably, with a straight face.
But it gets worse. It's excruciatingly obvious that, while this might apply to "the world today," it apparently is not the behavioral standard of the Administration. The telecommunication immunity demanded by the Administration of Congress is certainly a fine example of accountability. And a more honest society? How about the small matter of lawyerly gamesmanship now taking place before the Senate Judiciary Committee's Atty. Gen. nomination hearings of Michael Mukasey.
During her final press conference comments, Hughes was asked about the recent shooting deaths of 17 Iraqis involving Blackwater security forces and she displayed remarkable rhetorical empathy for the many Muslims whom she has sought to convince of America's goodness: "Negative events never help." All that's missing from that is a kneeslap and guffaw.