Free Republic

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...

OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR Austin, Tex. SO what can we expect from Karen P. Hughes if she is confirmed as under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs? What steps will President Bush's confidante take to rehabilitate America's image in the Arab world and around the globe? While reporters and Congressional staffers are combing Ms. Hughes's public statements, interviews and speeches in advance of her confirmation hearings, I accidentally stumbled into a little research project of my own. In my garage. Back in 1976, Karen Hughes - then Karen Parfitt - was my star journalism student at Southern Methodist University...