NYT: Karen Hughes Begins Task of Repairing America's Image Abroad

[DeepModem Mom]

Bush Confidante Begins Task of Repairing America's Image Abroad
By STEVEN R. WEISMAN
Published: August 21, 2005


WASHINGTON, Aug. 20 - For years, President Bush has called on Karen P. Hughes, his confidante from Texas, to help devise replies to attacks from political foes. Now Ms. Hughes, installed at the State Department, plans to set up "rapid response" teams to counter bad news and defend administration policies around the globe.

The teams, to be set up in the Middle East and elsewhere, are one of several initiatives being prepared by Ms. Hughes, who took office this week as under secretary of public diplomacy. The initiatives are part of what Bush administration officials say will be an aggressive drive to repair America's poor image abroad, particularly in Muslim countries.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in an interview this week that the units would "work to deal with misinformation and misinterpretation." During the war in Afghanistan, Ms. Rice said, the administration discovered that it had to rebut "all kinds of lies about what we were doing."

For instance, Ms. Rice said, the administration discovered that allegations of Koran desecration at the Guantánamo Bay detention center, particularly what turned out to be an unfounded report of a Koran being flushed down a toilet, were spread throughout the media in Muslim countries before the United States could respond....

***

In addition, State Department officials say, Ms. Hughes, a former television reporter, plans to lead an interagency "public diplomacy" operating group, including top public affairs officials at the Pentagon, and to change the way Foreign Service officers are evaluated for promotion, placing more emphasis on public relations skills....

(NOTE: Huh? Evaluate Foreign Service officers for p.r. skills?)


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/21/politics/21diplo.html

[swag]

1. Now that shit makes a lot of sense. I'm glad the adults are in charge.

[saigon68]

34. Putting "Lipstick" on a huge, smelly nasty PIG

She's a real "Piece of Work"


As in "I can explain this"











Look at this "Rag-Head he refuses to "get dressed"

?x=380&y=333&sig=AZ0QNkJigL.qDjfz0i9fKQ--

[ecoalex]

2. The Truth is a Biatch Aint It?

deny always, always deny.It didn't happen.

Ain't bullshit Grand?

[KarenS]

3. two thoughts on this,,,,,

1. She should probably start repairing America's image here first.
2. I think it will take more that HER!!!

Honestly, when she appears on my TeeVee screen I turn it off.
:puke:

[ellenfl]

29. your #1 was exactly my first thought. eom

[rodeodance]

36. no, no no (for your # 1)---we have enough spin docs here!!

[Imagevision]

53. Karen baby wrote Bush's, "for a noble cause speech"

Her idea's to attack Cindy Sheehan like Limbaugh-Hannity don't do jack-sh*t against someone speaking the truth.

[Lindacooks]

4. And why exactly does America's image NEED repairing??

Because of the criminal lies of the chimp and his minions. THEY will never be able to 'repair' their image. The only thing that will fix it is removing them from office.

[Roxy66]

5. LOL.....I cant believe she is our face of reason

[bribri16]

6. There is nothing she can say to help and all she will oversee is more

Bushco spin. She will probably appear nightly on FOX "News."

The world knows the US administration are all liars, murderers, and cheats. The world knows the Iraq invasion was illegal, immoral, and unnecessary. They know it has made the world much less safe and much less peaceful and we are all worse off except for the very wealthy.

[me b zola]

71. Yep.She is going to be used on us.

Just like when bush*inc. hired a high dollar PR firm from NY in shrub's first term. They said it was to win hearts & minds of Muslims around the world. I think, though, that it was to assist the propaganda minister--er, rove--with selling their steaming pile of cow manure here in the fatherland--er, homeland.

[MO_Dem]

7. Well, alrighty, then.....

Everything's gonna be okay from now on. Wonder why it took 'em so long? :sarcasm:

[Burried News]

8. Would those rapid response teams be smart bombs on the

belly of an F-16. Everybody knows you have to get their attention if you are going to teach them anything. Will we be doing pre-emptive education or just the standard random shit kicking and humiliation.

[MO_Dem]

11. MO_Dem misread.....

had too many beers tonight, and at first glance, it looked like "rabid response teams"....on second thought, maybe that's what they are in reality in this misadministration.

[Burried News]

21. If I had thought about it I might have said rabid just to be a wise

guy because the use of dogs is particularly odious given their use during civil rights marches. Also I read some autopsy reports on Dilawar - the taxi driver who died in Baghram prison after a week of beatings. That story hits me because my father was a Taxi Driver. The US has admitted Dilawar was randomly picked up near a suicide bombing he had nothing to do with.

The prisoner abuse really really upsets me. It is one thing for frontline troops to go nuts but for rear echelon - no excuse, none.

[Habibi]

58. "Pre-emptive education." Geez, if that wasn't so damnably, sadly

right on, I'd be doing this ('cause it's such a great expression):

:rofl:

[yorkiemommie1]

9. oh, she's just PERfect for that job

< sarcasm >

[hatrack]

10. Just like mercury in canned tuna - we need BETTER PR!!

Just like sewage sludge killing fish in rivers and lakes - we need better PR! Just like the tobacco industry lying for decades about smoking and cancer - they just needed better PR!

Typical American horseshit millenial reaction.

[fishnfla]

63. A fucking PR campaign to hit the news cycle

That'll go over real well out east. Like an Islamic democracy

2 steps forward, and then retreat

[sakabatou]

12. I don't how this would work

I mean, you'd have to lie and spin your ass off for it to work.

[barb162]

20. She's pretty good at that

[bribri16]

48. Remember, Karen helped sell Bush to America first. Is that a badge

or honor? I don't think so. She and Harris are two of the three women who most helped push down our throats from the beginning. If you ask me, they should be put in jail.

[Warren Stupidity]

13. "change the way Foreign Service officers are evaluated for promotion"

Not that I am cynical and paranoid but I think that spells PURGE.

[terrible beauty]

14. real journalists

She is in for a hell of a shock when
she is questioned by REAL JOURNALISTS outside the USA.

[DeepModem Mom]

72. Indeed she is -- welcome to DU, terrible beauty! nt

[NYC]

15. "work to deal with misinformation and misinterpretation."

That's all they deal in.

[pinto]

16. "evaluate FS officers for PR skills". I love how the reality creeps out of

the spin....She's a publicity agent, pure and simple. And she always shows up when Bush is in trouble. This is diplomacy? I think not.

[Roland99]

62. I still think she was deeply involved in PlameGate

[napi21]

17. Her words just might work in the US, but not anywhere else!

There seem to be enough people here in the US who not only believe Shrub, but Karen is good at speaking. She could probably get quite a few people to believe her...here.

It won't work in Europe, or the middle east. Those folks aren't a gullible as we are. They also have newspapers and broadcasts that point out the stupidity in Shrub's remarks.

I think Karen is good at her job, I just don't think it will work this time.

[struggle4progress]

51. Bingo. Another loudmouth rightwing liar from Texas ..

.. simply isn't going to win hearts and minds around the world ...

[Maggie_May]

18. What ever happen

to I want to stay home and be with my family more?? Does Ms. Hughes think defending Bush more important? Has anyone asked her this question?

[moondust]

19. How much foreign studies experience does she have?

My guess is zilch. The ignorant leading the ignorant.

[DrZeeLit]

39. No experience, no Farsi, and a woman w/o a veil in Arab countries,

run by men.

Mmm, yeah. That makes SO MUCH SENSE....... NOT!!!!

What were they thinking?
Do they ever consider the culture of the OTHER countries?
Nobody is going to take a woman, at her PR level, seriously.
They barely let Condi in the door.

Another dud by the * admin.

[Hekate]

22. John Bolton, Karen Hughes, & improving our image abroad:

...oxymoronic to the nth.

The line about dealing with misinformation and misinterpretation made me laugh -- for Condi to be able to say that with a straight face must have taken years of practice. Oh yeah, I guess they've all had years of practice! :rofl:

Don't worry about Karen not having enough "time with her family." As a Bush-creature that's irrelevant. She stepped off the stage just long enough to get groomed for the next promotion.

Hekate

[leesa]

23. Ummm...Ms Rice...your lie that the Koran incident didn't happen has been

debunked. Karen Hughes will be the new Queen of Lies.

[saigon68]

35. Rice= queen of ugly

[antonialee839]

24. Wouldn't it just be easier to do the right thing?

Don't these deluded "morans" understand what most rational people already know? The Bush Crime Family, and that includes Nurse Ratchet, ARE THE PROBLEM. As long as they are in office, no amount of happy p.r. talking points will repair our broken image abroad.

[Olney Blue]

61. Nurse Ratchet....

LOL

[complain jane]

67. LOL

Aw man I spit my ice cream on the keyboard.

[Im_Your_Huckleberry]

83. i've been saying that all along.......

[Oreegone]

25. This makes me perfectly ill

What bullshit......this is like sending a Sunday school teacher to Africa expecting she will really demonstrate how to put on a condom.....What the fuck does she know about Muslim countries and their cultures and beliefs?
Nothing that is for sure......Lie about a war, don't send enough troops, don't supply the troops adequately, don't have an exit plan, send a bitchy, clueless, brainwashed babysitter to bring the world around to our point of view. If this was a novel, it would be funny, unfortunately it is real....Holy Shit....

:puke: :hurts:

[2Design]

26. yeah - right - use a rw - who do they think they are kidding

these people are incredible -
they repeat and repeat and repeat
although unfortunately it did seem to work on many who still think
911 and iraq are one and the same

and those who can't see how we are less safe now

[AndyTiedye]

27. The Only Way America Can Restore Its Image In the World...

...is to send Bush, Cheney, Rove, Rumsfeld, Libby, Bolton, and everyone
else who was involved in bringing on this horrible war
TO THE HAGUE


The Peace Palace. The Hague. Home of the International Criminal Court


War Crimes Trials Are Held In This Room


The Prison Wing of the Peace Palace. Home of Convicted War Criminals.

[wake.up.america]

28. Barbara Bush or Mr. Hughs, which would be considered more...

obnoxious. I saw Barbara some time ago on Larry King. She is a bully, much like Hughs.

[Voltaire99]

30. Why send a gargoyle?

The goal is to lessen world enmity, not increase it!

Hughes has always reminded me of a female version of Dick Cheney: Dickensian in the way her exterior reveals the sour inner life.

[ngGale]

31. Why don't we repair it over here ....

so we won't have to repair it over there.:sarcasm:

[demgrrrll]

32. I remember Tucker Carlson writing about her telling lies about Bush's

behavior without compunction. He wrote that he felt her actions bordered on pathology.
So...we have a pathological liar who is supposed to convince people that she is telling the truth about America's motives. I do not know how far Murdoch's tentacles reach but they do not have the media control that they have here. I will be surprised if she has any success at all, of course with our media they will polish the turd that is Karen P. Hughes to a glossy sheen.

[DeepModem Mom]

37. Thanks -- I'd forgotten that. You're right, Carlson seemed astonished...

that she told lies so blatantly, knowing that she herself, and the person she lied to, both knew the truth. These people think they're on a mission from God, and whatever behavior is required to accomplish that mission is okay. Such hypocrites.

[SKKY]

33. Oh great! Turd Blossom #2 in charge of reparing our image abroad...

...reality is seriously approaching fantasy with these clowns.

[Javaman]

38. Putting the toothpaste back in the tube...

[cap]

40. she will just make things worse

Bush doesnt control other countries' media like he does here. The other media will ridicule her efforts.

[Rose Siding]

41. Can anyone believe this- about the delay in beginning the job?

"Though President Bush and Ms. Rice promised a revamped "public diplomacy" drive in January, it has taken months for Ms. Hughes to begin her job, partly because she has wanted to get her son ready for college.

Bush policy (which she ADMITS is most of the problem) has inflamed rampant, world wide disdain for the US and he can't find ANYONE to start work on this before NOW?

I know from personal experience all the anxiety associated with a kid leaving home. Everyone handles it differently, and has a right to do so, but NINE months before a crisis like this gets handled?

INCOMPETENT!

[peekaloo]

42. picking out that right outfit for the kid's first day of college

is quite challenging for a mother. :silly:

How many lies can they stack before the dung heap topples?

[CBHagman]

43. It shows what a low priority it is.

These people really do think the whole world is like Texas, don't they, and that they can pull the same stunts with the rest of the world.

The trouble is, the image is very much of Hughes trotting out to a barn from which the horse has long since departed. They can't control the message; Al-Jazeera, the blogs, etc., etc., have long since assured that.

What low standards this administration sets, and what incompetence it passes off as "discipline." I've said it before and I'll say it again: Bush gets what he wants, but he doesn't succeed. The same is true of his administration. These are aggressive, peevish, self-righteous screw-ups.

[vard28]

69. Wonder if she'd feel differently if...

instead of college, she was getting ready to send her son off to WAR? Just when I think these people can't do or say anything more stupid than they already have, I find that they prove me wrong again. I'm tired of being wrong... :banghead:

[Cha]

44. Oh yeah, send out

bush's hatchete woman ABROAD to make a good impression for the good ol' USA. People Abroad aren't stupid..they get the real news.

Wonder if any of them remember khughes' statement in 2000 regarding Clinton and his need for a "Clear Exit Strategy" in Kosovo?

[librechik]

45. I just got this image of karen cackling and all these flying monkeys

heading off around the world to drop more dung on our self-made shitpiles at her command.

Karen is the LAST person who should be doing this--you can see the lie ticker moving constantly behind her eyes: "Can I get away with this? What about this?" while the truth huddles in the corner.

[PassingFair]

60. LOL, Librechik!

I was JUST about to go looking for some stills of the Wicked Witch of the West.
I hope she is not as successful at casting her spells on the rest of the world as she obviously has been here.




On Edit: Apologies to any real witches. No offense meant.

[highplainsdem]

46. Step 1: Have Bush & entire cabinet & staff resign

[go freedom]

47. Who cares?

They is either with us. or they is again' us.....

YEEEEEHAWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!

/sarc

[Swamp Rat]

49. HAHAHAHA!!!

GOOD LUCK!!! :D Don't forget your Burkha Frau Hughes! :rofl:

[TankLV]

50. One of the architects of the stolen election? Boy irony isn't dead!

Unless they mean she's going to walk right to the nearest DEMOCRATIC prosecutor's office to sing like a canary on her fellow repuke criminals!

[warrior1]

52. I know how she could do it

all of them resign and be held accountable would be a good start.

[daleo]

54. The international media will see right through this

So that can't be the real reason for this. More likely she is setting up puppet news agencies in foreign countries that can be used to report back to the U.S. corporate media, to give the propaganda the appearance of neutrality.

[stubtoe]

78. Karen Hughes: US Minister of Propaganda

Int'l media has seen this movie before!

[54anickel]

55. Rice was misquoted - she really said

"work to deal with out misinformation and misinterpretation."

One huge lying, spinning machine they've put together.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

56. That's like saying your new puppy is going to the living room...

...to clean the carpet,

[Mika]

57. Doubleplusgood

[AtomicKitten]

59. Good luck, Ms. Hughes!!!

Since she is part of the team that took us to war in Iraq, I wish her a lot of luck trying to smooth that over! There is no way in hell the planet will swallow any more of what they are dishing up!

[BiggJawn]

64. Tough job, thanks to Juhior. WRONG damn person to do it.

May as well announce that she's gonna put a busted light bulb back together and make it work....

[Betty]

65. You can't shine shit, Karen,

even though there are lots of idiot Americans who buy your bullshit, the rest of the world isn't so easily fooled.

[genieroze]

66. How To Repair Americas Image

IMPEACH BUSH:headbang:

[yojon]

68. I wonder if Ghengis Khan had a PR agent

wonder what approach he would have taken..

[Olney Blue]

70. Hughes will be as well received in the Middle East...

as Pickles was.

When I saw that KH had the audacity to come out after the first debate and spin it in Bush's favor, I realized she was nuts.

Furthermore, I am ANNOYED that someone with NO credentials can assigned to a job this sensitive in the government.

[Toots]

73. Why does America's image need repairing?

Americans were thought highly of before 2001.

[Norquist Nemesis]

74. Hughes; Bush's Political Plastic Surgeon n/t

[RaulGroom]

75. Ha ha ha ha! Ho ho ho ho ho! Hee hee ho ho ha ha ho ha heee!!! n/t

n/t

[DeepModem Mom]

76. Well said, Raul -- LOL! nt

[Chicago1]

77. No need to do this...

THEY ARE ALL GOING TO JAIL OR BE SENTENCED TO THE DEATH PENALTY.

Another ridiculous phenomonon with the BUSHIES. I can't wait until the Revolution. This whole government SUCKS.

[auburngrad82]

79. 5 years into this fiasco IS NOT rapid response nt

[Lochloosa]

80. Karen Hughes is the perfect argument for the use of

Burqas

[demo dutch]

81. She's a pittbull with a necklace!

[OnionPatch]

82. I have an idea that will save some money

How bout acting with integrity and honesty in US foreign relations? Oh, I forgot....that will only save the *taxpayers* money, not the multi-nationals.

[robertpaulsen]

84. This WHIGer needs to STFU to repair her own image.

Imagine her "repairing America's image" overseas at the exact moment the Plame indictments hit the fan.

:rofl:

[Dulcinea]

85. Karen Hughes is Boy George's nanny.

She cleans up his messes.