Karen Hughes, The Bloviator

On Wednesday I suggested that the federal government's incompetence before, during and after Hurricane Katrina would be whitewashed by Bush spinmeister Karen Hughes. Where did I get that information? I did what any good blogger does: I made it up. (Hypothesized or speculated are more proper but less accurate descriptors.)

Thankfully, as Bush irritant Dana Milbank reports in today's Washington Post, the facts have caught up to me (emphasis added):

The image of the United States has taken a beating over the past 10 days, as foreign television and newspapers show images of death, chaos and disease in New Orleans. Even lowly Bangladesh (per capita income: $400 a year) was moved to send $1 million in foreign aid.

But Karen Hughes has another view. The Bush confidante, now undersecretary of state for public diplomacy, held a meeting with her staff in Foggy Bottom yesterday and was asked about the international ramifications of the response to the New Orleans flooding. The problem, Hughes replied, was not a failed relief effort but a foreign press that did not appreciate the federal government's good work.

"There are a lot of things being said about us around the world that aren't true," said the woman in charge of polishing the American image abroad. "We've marshaled the resources of our federal government" to help fellow Americans, she said, and if people think otherwise, "we need to aggressively challenge that idea around the world."

If this sounds familiar, see also Bush Administration Messaging on Iraq. With this Bush presidency, it seems, the tedium is the massage.