Friday, November 10, 2006

I'm sure this is going to solve all the administration's image problems:

... America’s newest good-will ambassador is Michelle Kwan, the figure skater, who, in the words of her new boss, Karen P. Hughes, the under secretary of state for public diplomacy, "combines the power of sports diplomacy with the personal appeal of a unique American story."

On Thursday, flanked by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Ms. Hughes, Ms. Kwan, 26, addressed reporters....


Message: Don't hate us! We may send innocent people to secret overseas torture chambers, but our young women are both athletic and perky!

I don't know about this:

One reporter asked Ms. Kwan how she planned to deal with the hostility that she might meet as the public face of America. Ms. Kwan quickly showed that she was already familiar with the advice, contained in a memorandum from Ms. Hughes, recently published in The Washington Post, that advised State Department employees to hew to government policy while talking to the news media.

Hew to Bush administration policy? Oh yeah, that ought to win hearts and minds worldwide.

(That memo is here, by the way. Key quote: "You are always on sure ground if you use what the President, Secretary Rice, [State Department spokesman] Sean McCormack or Senior USG [U.S. government] spokesmen have already said on a particular subject." Sure you are.)

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