When you play out some of these theories to their logical conclusions, the only way the US can achieve full employment is if nobody has a job. I don’t quite know how that works, but who am I to argue with armies of Ivy League economists and a US Labor Secretary?

From CNS News:

U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said Wednesday that failing to extend the length of time that unemployment workers are eligible to receive federal unemployment payments “will mean an increase in the unemployment rate.”

An extension in unemployment benefits that Congress and President Obama enacted a year ago is set to expire at the end of December.
[...]
“Extending unemployment benefits kept 3.2 million Americans out of poverty last year alone, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. A year ago President Barack Obama reached a bi-partisan compromise that kept 7 million Americans from losing these very important benefits,” said Solis.

“If the Republicans do not join hands with us again, it will mean fewer dollars flowing to groceries, to gas stations, to retailers, to businesses, and food on the table for millions and millions of families and their children,” she said. “It will mean that small businesses will close their doors because they won’t be able to meet their payroll. It will mean more layoffs. It will mean an increase in the unemployment rate.

On one hand Hilda Solis wants us to believe that unemployment insurance is a good way to keep the unemployment rate from rising, but on the other hand her method used to convince people to support extending and expanding unemployment benefits is “if we don’t do it, people will lose their jobs.” Using her argument — so what if they lose their jobs? Those people would then go on unemployment, and Solis (along with Jay Carney and Nancy Pelosi) have already established that expanded and extended unemployment rolls are good for the economy… right?

Inexacto the accounting dog ran the administration’s numbers on this, and even he was baffled:

We have a family friend who has a brother who was on unemployment for a long time — so long that his benefits ran out. Do you know what happened? In a fit of desperation and after he’d exhausted his borrowing avenues from family members, he went out and got a job. Maybe Hilda Solis would say that example is an outlier, but I consider it to simply be validation of Newton’s First Law of Motion. The science is settled.
*****

Related reading:

Small-Biz Killers: Who Pays for Jobless Benefits?

Well, well, well: Lib columnist discovers unemployed “gaming” jobless benefits

The unemployment benefits debate, Part IV

Paul Krugman, Cynthia Tucker, and the unemployment benefits debate, Pt. III

Sen. Bunning and the unemployment benefits debate revisited

Sunday morning on the Beltway roundtable circuit

**Written by Doug Powers

Twitter @ThePowersThatBe

Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu is now testifying before the House Energy and Commerce Committee about what a great idea it was conceptually to dump $535 million worth of taxpayer money into a loan guarantee for Solyndra, and how the decision-making process wasn’t political whatsoever, even though emails would seem to contradict that claim.

C-Span has live video here.

Reason.com has a live blog. Chu’s providing proof that even Nobel Prize winning physicists can have issues with selective memory loss:

So far Chu is pleading total memory loss of all the emails warning that Solyndra was going to run out of cash.

In Chu’s defense, maybe he didn’t assume Solyndra would run out of cash because another government loan was in the process of being locked and loaded.

**Written by Doug Powers

Twitter @ThePowersThatBe

Update (MM): Chu says the amount the government will be able to recover from Solyndra bankruptcy is “not very much.”

See my Twitter feed for full live-tweeting. Democrats are doing their best to carry water for Chu and Obama. Henry “Nostrils” Waxman has condemned GOP as “anti-science” for opposing bottomless bailouts for Dem-tied solar frauds.

For vid clips, go to GOP.com. Here’s a sample:

“NOT VERY MUCH:”

No apology for squandering taxpayer money:

This should be interesting:

CBS News has learned Attorney General Eric Holder has agreed to appear before the House Judiciary Committee regarding “Fast and Furious.” The hearing will take place Dec. 8th.

Judiciary Committee member and head of the House Oversight Committee Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) had requested that Holder appear, in part to dig deeper into when-he-knew-what about ATF’s so-called “gunwalking” operation Fast and Furious.

To date, eight Republicans have called for Holder’s resignation.

Predicted first question to Holder on December 8th: “What is your exact definition of ‘a few weeks’?”

Lots of Fast & Furious background here.

**Written by Doug Powers

Twitter @ThePowersThatBe

To paraphrase Forrest Gump, sometimes there just aren’t enough adjectives.

Real Clear Politics:

Obama’s Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack: [...] “I should point out, when you talk about the SNAP program or the foot stamp program, you have to recognize that it’s also an economic stimulus. Every dollar of SNAP benefits generates $1.84 in the economy in terms of economic activity. If people are able to buy a little more in the grocery store, someone has to stock it, package it, shelve it, process it, ship it. All of those are jobs. It’s the most direct stimulus you can get in the economy during these tough times.”

Jay Carney disagrees: unemployment checks are the most direct stimulus the government can provide. But Tom and Jay will have to meet halfway and agree that, under their logic, America’s economy will only be firing on all cylinders and have full employment when everybody is on food stamps and getting unemployment checks.

I can’t help but wonder though… if every dollar of food stamps puts $1.84 into the economy, instead of the $860 billion stimulus, why didn’t the administration just send every single American $2,800 worth of food stamps and thereby generate $1.58 trillion in economic activity?

How much is this administration stimulating the economy? According to the Department of Agriculture, 45,753,078 people were on food stamps as of May of this year. Of those, 31,983,716 were inherited from previous administration, which means there are roughly 13,769,362 more people on food stamps than when Bush was president, which according to Secretary Vilsack means the economy is being helped that much more.

Click one of this administration’s stimulus machines for the video:

Bonus insanity:

The New York Times reports that in order to increase jobs, your administration is considering creating a “Department of Jobs” by, among other things, merging parts of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the Commerce Department, and economic divisions of the State Department.

How would a “Department of Jobs”create jobs? Probably by hiring people to work in the “Department of Jobs” (problem solved). But if the government hires people to work in the Department of Jobs, that could pull somebody off unemployment compensation and/or food stamps, which of course would be bad for the economy. It’s all caused quite a conundrum in the bustling Paradox Situation Room at the White House.

**Written by Doug Powers

Twitter @ThePowersThatBe

If President Obama is serious about tax increases (sorry, I meant to say “spending reductions in the tax code”) and increasing overall tax revenue, he should start by first calling a cabinet meeting and ordering everybody in the room to pony up what they owe.

From the New York Post by way of JWF:

US Attorney General Eric Holder and his brother failed to pay the property taxes on their childhood home in Queens, which they inherited last August after their mother died, The Post has learned.

And because their ailing mom, Miriam, was already behind on two quarterly tax bills when she succumbed to illness on Aug. 13, the charges went unpaid for more than a year — growing to $4,146.

It wasn’t until The Post confronted Holder last week about the delinquency that he and younger brother William Holder finally paid up Friday, including $73.14 in interest.

There are plenty of ways to lead in Washington, but “by example” is usually the least desirable option. But It’s possible Holder was completely unaware, although you might expect a US Attorney General to at least be inquisitive about the tax obligations in something he inherited a while ago, even considering the unfortunate circumstances.

Is “the New York Post didn’t inform me” (or in some cases Turbo Tax or the USA Today) now an acceptable excuse for failing to pay taxes on time?

In language that might make Barbara Boxer care about things like this a little more, by not paying their fair share, Obama’s tax-lax cabinet members along with some of ma’am’s delinquent liberal colleagues in Congress could be doing untold long-term damage to Planned Parenthood.

**Written by Doug Powers

Twitter @ThePowersThatBe

A couple of months ago:

U.S. Transportation Secretary LaHood Unveils New DOT Webpage on ‘Buy America’

Yesterday:

(CNSNews.com) – U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said today that he told his daughter to buy a Japanese car–a Toyota Sienna–and that she did so.

“Mr. LaHood, there are some UAW people here and they’d like to have a chat with you…”

**Written by Doug Powers

Twitter @ThePowersThatBe

Sadly, there are still politicians who are trying hard (and succeeding in too many instances) in forcing a national rollout of the brilliant liberal political model that pounded Detroit into the ground:

Detroit’s Ombudsman says a snafu in the finance department has created anxiety for homeowners.

WWJ Newsradio 950′s Florence Walton reports some Detroiters got two tax bills and others got none.

Nearly 60,000 Detroit property tax bills we mailed out with the wrong interest rate.

“In an environment where we are told on a daily basis that the city is broke, it makes absolutely no sense what-so-ever that the city can not get their game together so that they collect money and collect it on time.” City ombudsman, Dorian Brown, says her office has been swamped with calls.

Hey, let’s let ‘em handle our health care records too!

Are you as surprised as I am? I know — I can’t believe there are still that many property owners in Detroit.

Here’s a radical proposal. Since US taxpayers have already paid for 40,000 laptop computers for Detroit students, why not give the kids a crack at keeping the books? It’s not as if they could demonstrate any more incompetence than what we’re used to seeing.

But it’s not all bad news for Detroit. You know the city’s annual financial report — the one that always confirms that Detroit is a fiscal basket case and never offers any reason for hope? Well guess what? That report was filed on time for the first time in 14 years.

**Written by Doug Powers

Twitter @ThePowersThatBe

From Zappatrust by way of Moonbattery:

There is already an entry for “Dupnik” in the urban dictionary, but the above would be a big improvement over the current definition.

**Written by Doug Powers

Twitter @ThePowersThatBe

If Chris Christie ever decides to seek higher office, he recently stumbled across what would be the perfect campaign slogan.

From The Corner:

“Let me help you pack.” That’s what Gov. Chris Christie told one of the state’s top administrators when that administrator commented publicly that he could leave New Jersey and go to another state if his $242,000 total compensation were to be capped under the governor’s proposed rule.

“Let me help them pack.” I can envision the t-shirts and yard signs already.

**Written by Doug Powers

Twitter @ThePowersThatBe

So much for the separation of race baiter & State:

President Obama’s top education official urged government employees to attend a rally that the Rev. Al Sharpton organized to counter a larger conservative event on the Mall.

“ED staff are invited to join Secretary Arne Duncan, the Reverend Al Sharpton, and other leaders on Saturday, Aug. 28, for the ‘Reclaim the Dream’ rally and march,” began an internal e-mail sent to more than 4,000 employees of the Department of Education on Wednesday.
[...]
The Washington Examiner learned of the e-mail from a Department of Education employee who felt uncomfortable with Duncan’s request.

Had Duncan encouraged 4,000 Department of Education employees to attend Glenn Beck’s rally, he would have been discarded like yesterday’s jobless claims report… unexpectedly, of course.

If any DoE employees actually took Duncan’s advice and went to Sharpton’s rally, how many do you think spotted the flaw on this SEIU banner:

(h/t Weasel Zippers & Drudge)

**Written by Doug Powers

Twitter @ThePowersThatBe

Imagine how tired they’d be if they were actually doing a good job.

From The Hill:

President Obama’s economic team is exhausted, according to White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, and that is one the reasons Christina Romer announced her departure Thursday.

Gibbs dismissed reports that Romer, the outgoing chairwoman of the president’s council for economic affairs, was leaving because of conflicts with Larry Summers, the director of the National Economic Council.

The press secretary told The Hill on Friday that Romer and the rest of the economic team have worked the equivalent of six years during the 18 months they’ve been in office, and Romer wanted to return to her normal life.

What a load of Pelosi that claim is. So a member of the economic team who stays with the administration through a full four-year term will have worked the equivalent of about 16 years? That’s certainly a quicker way to qualify for your pension.

Let’s assume for argument sake that a hard-working economics staffer under “normal” conditions works five days a week and 14 hours a day (could be much more, could be much less). That’s about 260 working days a year — times six years is 1,560 days. At 14 hours a day, that’s 21,840 working hours in six years. Subtract three weeks worth of time for vacations every year, and that’s about 20,580 working hours.

To pack the same thing in 18 months — about 547 days — the economics staffer would have to work seven days a week and 37.6 hours a day. I know such a number is possible in the world of Beltway accounting (“you get half, I get half, and he gets the other half”), but not in the real world.

Even if we consider a “regular” 40-hour work-week over six years, include three weeks worth of vacation time per year, and pack that far less aggressive schedule into an 18 month time frame, the worker in question would have to put in almost 22 hours a day, seven days a week in order to perform that six years worth of work in a year and a half.

We know Gibbs has a flair for the ridiculous, but he’s somehow managed to out-do himself. Besides, who cares how hard Obama’s economists are working? Gilligan worked hard to get off the island too — so what?

And if my math is a little off here, all I know is that it’s a lot more accurate than any administration economist working for a boss who once reminded everyone that accounting is an “inexact science.” I’ll say.

**Written by Doug Powers

Twitter @ThePowersThatBe

Over the weekend, I wrote about Washington state Supreme Court justice Richard Sanders, an old friend of mine from my days in Seattle who had been identified on Friday by lawyer Wendy Long as the man who heckled Attorney General Michael Mukasey during his Federalist Society address.

I received the following non-response response from Justice Sanders last night:

Dear Michelle,

It does not appear General Mukasey heard anything from the audience except applause. I had personally left the dinner long before he collapsed and first knew of it watching the news from my hotel room the next morning. I respect you and the General. I’m glad he recovered. You are both doing your job in a way both of you sincerely believe is correct…

The question isn’t whether Mukasey heard the heckling or whether Sanders witnessed Mukasey’s collapse, but whether Justice Sanders was the one who shouted “Tyrant. You are a tyrant!” at the Attorney General.

I wrote back:

I understand that you left the dinner before Mukasey collapsed and that you believe that he may not have heard the heckling. But my question is whether you were the heckler. Is this a yes?

The question still has not been answered. And it seems to me that this dodging is, well, injudicious.

Since my post on Saturday, several MSM outlets have also contacted Sanders for comment. The Olympian mistakenly reports: “State justice says he wasn’t at Mukasey’s speech.” Which is not what he wrote to me in his e-mail, nor what he told the Wall Street Journal:

The Law Blog on Monday caught up with the 63-year-old Sanders (pictured, right). Sanders didn’t confirm that he was the one who shouted at Mukasey, but didn’t deny it, either. He said he had “no comment except to say that having reviewed the video of the speech” on the Federalist Society’s web site, “it doesn’t appear that whatever was said was heard by [Attorney] General Mukasey. I left the dinner before the General unfortunately collapsed.” He added that “in my mind a heckler is someone who is making repeated comments audible to the speaker [and] you’ll see that that just didn’t happen.”

The Law Blog watched the video and 17 minutes, 30 seconds into it, the heckler’s voice is clearly heard and Mukasey glances in his direction before resuming the speech.

When asked why he left the room in the middle of Mukasey’s speech, Sanders told us he simply “wanted to go to my [hotel] room.”

Did he or didn’t he?

What is up with that depends-on-the-meaning-of-heckler b.s.? Geez.

James Taranto was at the dinner and noted yesterday that the heckling came from the same table where Sanders was assigned.

A writer at The Olympian has accepted Sanders’ spin (also echoed by the ABA Journal) and is now casting me as a reckless “rumor”-monger — despite the fact that Sanders refuses to comment on whether he was the heckler:

Although the rumor that Washington State Supreme Court Justice Richard Sanders heckled U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey just before he collapsed is making its rounds on the blogosphere, Sanders says that’s bunk.

Mukasey is back at work, but Michelle Malkin appears to have started the Sanders speculation with her article “Who Heckled Attorney General Michael Mukasey?”

…I talked to Sanders today, and he said he was at the gathering of the Federalist Society at which Mukasey collapsed mid-speech (he was released from a hospital and returned to work). But Sanders said he went back to his hotel before Mukasey spoke.

I asked him specifically about Malkin’s suggestion that he heckled Mukasey.

“As to that, I don’t have any comment. But I wasn’t there when he collapsed. I heard it on television the next morning, I was very sorry to hear it,” Sanders said.

“I wasn’t there when he collapsed” does not equal “I didn’t heckle Mukasey.”

“If Mukasey didn’t hear the heckle, it’s not a heckle” does not equal “I didn’t heckle Mukasey.”

To be clear: I don’t think this is a massive scandal. But I would like to know the truth and I think people in Washington state deserve to know it, too. Sanders earned my deepest respect as I covered his pro-life, pro-liberty stands. When he was unfairly accused of judicial misconduct in the past, I said so. And if I think he violated the spirit of the code of judicial conduct at the Federalist Society dinner, I will say so, too.

A sitting judge acting like an unhinged Code Pink protester would certainly seem to cross the line.

Moreover, dancing around a simple factual question now is, at the very least, annoying. And unseemly.

***

Update: Finally, the truth. Here’s a statement Justice Sanders e-mailed me this evening…

I want to set the record straight about a dinner I attended on November 20, in Washington, D.C., sponsored by the Federalist Society — a conservative and libertarian legal group of which I am a member. Attorney General Michael Mukasey was the keynote speaker.

In his speech, Attorney General Mukasey justified the Bush administration’s policies in the War on Terror, which included denying meaningful hearings for prisoners in Guantanamo, and other questionable tactics, all in the name of national security. Mr. Mukasey said those who criticize the Administration for abandoning provisions of the Geneva Conventions fail to recognize that “… Al Qaeda [is] an international terrorist group, and not, the last time I checked, a signatory to the Conventions.” Although the United States is a signatory, and these Conventions prohibit torture, the audience laughed. Attorney General Mukasey received a standing ovation. I passionately disagree with these views: the government must never set aside the Constitution; domestic and international law forbids torture; and access to the writ of habeas corpus should not be denied.

The program provided no opportunity for questions or response, and I felt compelled to speak out. I stood up, and said, “tyrant,” and then left the meeting. No one else said anything. I believe we must speak our conscience in moments that demand it, even if we are but one voice.

I hope those who know my jurisprudence will agree that to truly love the Constitution is to uphold it, to speak out for it, not just in times of peace and prosperity, but also in times of chaos and crisis.

I did not “heckle” Attorney General Mukasey, and I did not disrupt the meeting, as those who watch the video of his speech on the Federalist Society’s website will discover. I left before Mr. Mukasey had his frightening collapse. I learned of his collapse later, from news reports. It should go without saying that, despite our vastly different views on what constitutes upholding the rule of law, I hope he continues to recover and remain in good health.

Update: Sanders is shocked, shocked that anyone paid attention to his outburst:

In the initial days after the event, Sanders, when questioned by other reporters, danced around whether he was the person who shouted at Mukasey. He wouldn’t confirm it, nor would he deny it.

But on Tuesday, Sanders told The Seattle Times that he’d simply reached the point where he couldn’t remain silent.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine there would be any mention of this in the press,” he said. “But here we are.”

The state’s Code of Judicial Conduct requires judges to be “dignified” toward those they deal with “in their official capacity.”

Asked if his outburst might violate that code, Sanders said: “Well, it’s so open-ended and vague, maybe someone would think that it could apply. I don’t know. I think it’s a free-speech activity. In my mind this had nothing to do with my role as a judge.”

It has everything to do, though, with jeopardizing his public appearance as a dignified, temperate representative of Washington state’s courts.

More:

Asked if it was dignified, Sanders said: “I think it was an impulse. … At that particular time, I didn’t have a chance to reflect on it. I didn’t plan it out in advance. It just happened.”

He left before Mukasey’s speech was finished, Sanders said, because “I wasn’t enjoying myself.”

Sanders said he wouldn’t call what he did heckling. Afterward, he said, he heard from a number of people — some supportive, others not. “Some people think it was the wrong thing to do,” he said. “To other people, it was heroic.”

Sanders said he now regrets what he did: “If I had it to do over again, I wouldn’t.”

Alternatively, he wishes he had said “Tyranny” instead of “Tyrant,” “because in my mind, these policies can lead to tyranny.”

Needless to say, I’m hugely disappointed. I have few enough heroes in public office as it is. Now, I have one less.

***

Commenter Skeptic: “What he did was rude. His outburst and subsequent storming out of the talk were the actions of a egotistical boor. How would he like someone to act the same in his courtroom? My guess is he wouldn’t. An apology for what he did would be appropriate. He should publicly apologize to Attorney General Mukasey and then ask the voters of the State of Washington to forgive him.”

I dearly hope this is not true.

I knew, respected, and greatly admired Justice Sanders when I worked at the Seattle Times in the 1990s. I was alone on the editorial board in supporting his judicial candidacy (judges are elected in Washington state) and defended him when bitter detractors tried to haul him up on bogus judicial misconduct charges because he had the nerve to briefly address a crowd of pro-life activists at a state Capitol event. Here’s what he said:

“I want to give all of you my best wishes in this celebration of human life. Nothing is, nor should be, more fundamental in our legal system than the preservation and protection of innocent human life. By coincidence, or perhaps by providence, my formal induction to the Washington State Supreme Court occurred about an hour ago. I owe my election to many of the people who are here today and I’m here to say thank you very much and good luck. Our mutual pursuit of justice requires a lifetime of dedication and courage. Keep up the good work.”

He was later cleared of those ridiculous ethics violations.

I lost touch with him after leaving Seattle. But while I was there, this is the Justice Sanders I knew:

He was a staunch defender of life, liberty, and the state Constitution — and a brilliant thinker on private property, Second Amendment, and free speech rights. He was deeply committed to individual rights, unafraid to challenge liberal orthodoxy, and always thoughtful and gracious in his demeanor. He’s been elected three times to the high court and has been one of the most prolific writers on the bench.

The Federalist Society is renowned for bringing together the sharpest conservative and libertarian legal minds and fostering the highest order of intellectual exchange.

It is no place for emotional Code Pink-style protests — let alone injudicious outbursts from sitting judges.

I sent Justice Sanders an e-mail last night asking him if he was indeed the heckler. I’ll let you know the outcome.

In the meantime, the Federalist Society has posted full video of AG Mukasey’s appearance. Watch it here. Mukasey sent a follow-up note to FedSoc members after his collapse:

Dear Friends,

Well, as I was saying…

Let me please begin by underscoring what an honor it was to speak to you last night. I am, as you might imagine, quite embarrassed to have collapsed last night. I hope that embarrassment is not the product of undue human pride, or at least not principally so. I am embarrassed in part because I fear I ruined your evening and caused you concern – for that I am truly sorry. Equally important, I hope the shortened conclusion of the speech did not detract from the message I hoped to convey: Specifically that the issues of law and policy relating to our continuing national security are real, and are worthy of the most careful thought and deliberation so as to keep the American people safe.

The Federalist Society has spent the last 25-plus years promoting thoughtful and fair debate concerning the critical legal and public policy issues facing our nation. It was an honor to address you last night, and I urge you to continue the fine efforts of the Federalist Society in the future.

Finally, I was truly humbled to hear all of the prayers and well wishes sent on my behalf from attendees at the dinner. Thank you all. I am, fortunately, well, and I too pray for all of our good health and for the future of the Nation we all love.

Very Truly Yours,
Michael Mukasey

***

Update 2:15pm Eastern: Still no response, but this essay from Justice Sanders decrying the Bush administration’s “War on Liberty” is telling.

You won’t be surprised to learn that most of those problems stem from politics–specifically, a nationalized oil industry like the one some Democratic congressmen are advocating for our country. It’s a great exposition of why nationalizing an industry doesn’t crimp profiteering– people are still making vast fortunes off Mexican oil; they’re just doing so under the table. And despite the high price of oil right now, because of the endemic corruption in the system, Pemex isn’t making very much money.

The politics, by the way, are fascinating. I didn’t realize that the date of the nationalization of the industry is celebrated as a national holiday. That’s a clever way to maintain your monopoly–make it a matter of patriotism.

Incidentally, it’s not just Mexico’s economy, our own nationalization debate and our price at the gas pump that are affected by Pemex’s monopoly. It reaches another issue of interest to this blog:

Put another way, if prices were to dramatically drop, the Mexican government would have to increase subsidies to Pemex (the company needs $9 billion right now just to repair infrastructure), and raise taxes on everyone else, lest it be unable to provide many basic services. Take heed, America: Such a scenario may trigger even more immigration, including the illegal kind, to our country, in turn further raising pressure for amnesty. Mexico’s oil industry corruption is our problem, not just theirs.

*Most of their daily updates are newspaper-length columns, which are usually written within a tight word count to fit in dead-tree papers.

__________________

{Post by See-Dubya. More about the Pemex pipeline bombings here.}

Reuters reports: “The State Department’s public diplomacy chief and image guru, Karen Hughes, has decided to resign, U.S. officials said on Wednesday.” More here.

Given her abject dhimmi tendencies, this is a good thing. DLTDHYOTWO.

Via USA Today, self-delusion reigns at Foggy Bottom:

“She’s made it possible for every ambassador around the world to feel comfortable going out and talking about America’s message, pressing the public diplomacy case,” Condoleezza Rice tells reporters.

Hughes, a former TV reporter, says she’s proud of her accomplishments. “I feel that I’ve done what Secretary Rice and President Bush asked me to do, by transforming public diplomacy and making it a national security priority central to everything we do in government, while also engaging the private sector more extensively than ever before,” she says.

***
Flashback via Robert Spencer:

Well, this explains a great deal. State Department diplomat extraordinaire Karen Hughes has been studying Islam via the notorious Saudi-funded dhimmi “scholar” and Islamic apologist John Esposito and Reza Aslan, the wunderkind who assures us that Muhammad was the ideal Rotarian and the jihad against the West is just a myth.

Flashback via Diana West:

Karen Hughes, stay home.

The president’s confidante has been on a “listening tour” to “start a conversation with the rest of the world” — namely, the Muslim world, beginning with Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey — but there were too many times when she just didn’t know what to say.

A Washington Post anecdote from day one captures the disconnect. Asked in Egypt whether she was going to meet with the Muslim Brotherhood, the opposition party banned by Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak with deep roots in terrorism and a catchy motto (“Allah is our objective. The Prophet is our leader. The Qur’an is our law. Jihad is our way. Dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope”), Hughes “turned to an aide and indicated she was not sure of the answer. The aide whispered back, and Hughes replied, ‘We are respectful of Egypt’s laws.’”

I guess that means no, but the non-denial denial is open to interpretation. Maybe she wanted to meet with the Muslim Brotherhood, but couldn’t. Or maybe she didn’t want to say something as harshly non-conversational as “no” because the popular MB might be elected one of these days. Or maybe she just didn’t know.

But worse than not knowing what to say is saying too much. Or saying the wrong thing. Or even saying anything at all. Hughes committed all of the above, a faux-pas trifecta, after meeting with Sheikh Muhammad Sayyed Tantawi, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar University, the academic center of Sunni Islam. It was a “wonderful meeting,” she explained, because the two of them were able to talk “about the common language of the heart.”

Oh, brother. Is this an Under Secretary of State or a sorority sister? Hughes burbled on about the leadership of Al-Azhar “in speaking out against extremism, against terrorism, (which) is not in keeping with the tenets of Islam” — natch. The sheikh “made the point that all divine religions are built on a spirit of love,” she said, “and (that) it is important that all of us work together to fight extremism, to fight terrorism.”

What a guy. Hearing Hughes talk about Sheikh Tantawi, you could almost forget what he said in 2002, as translated from a report by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), when he called on Palestinian Muslims to “intensify the martyrdom operations against the Zionist enemy” — men, women and children — and described the barbarous slaughter as “the highest form of Jihad operations” and “a legitimate act according to (Islamic) law.” Maybe that’s the “spirit of love” Hughes was gushing about.

Flashback via Militant Islam Monitor: White House rep Karen Hughes: I found “new allies” at radical Islamist ISNA convention ” to help educate America” about Muslims