Is there any area of our government, over the span of the last seven years, any area, in domestic or foreign policy, national defense, public welfare, the economy, name it, where the average, reasonably informed American might point to success, to signs of progress, of improvement, something, anything, to point to with satisfaction, with pride?

Yesterday I read an article by Steve Benin on the resignation of Karen Hughes from her post as Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, a mouthful there, and a job for which she was as ill suited and unqualified as the man who appointed her and in which, during her two year tenure, she accomplished little, if anything.

In truth, she accomplished nothing, unless you want to count convincing large portions of the world that all Americans must be as out of touch with reality, as clueless and unthinking as their current Commander in Chief, and at that she excelled, as anyone might, having been dispatched to the Middle East with the rank of Ambassador, but without knowledge of the language, culture, history, religions, and general pet peeves of the various states and peoples of the region.

But Karen Hughes was tapped for her office for the same reasons as all Bush appointees are chosen, not for expertise or experience, not for performance or integrity in public service but for loyalty, for unwavering belief in the Messianic delusions of neo conservatism, and a willingness to march in lockstep, nah, goose step, against all who might disagree or dissent.

As reported on Political Cortex last October, two news articles, including one in Prensa Latina, claimed that the Bush family had purchased a sizeable piece of land in Paraguay.  Although it seemed a bit farfetched, the rumor spread like wildfire across the blogosphere.  Mainstream news media, on the other hand, ignored the story and neither substantiated nor disproved the allegation. A search of the White House website turned up no evidence of an official response.

In fact, a response was issued, through the State Department, on an obscure web page far below the public radar.  This is not the reaction one would expect from public relations experts hoping to squelch a rampant rumor, and it's a highly unusual response for an administration known for aggressive denials of unflattering allegations.  Thus, the administration's limp response, like the rumor itself, is intriguing.

At a recent briefing by the folks at the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator, Ambassador Jimmy Kolker asked about whether any PEPFAR funded programs were going to focus on providing the HPV vaccine to adolescents, given that this would also build capacity for rolling out other vaccines in the future. Kolker's response was a bit of an admonition to remember that this is the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (emphasis on AIDS). He said that OGAC is interested in integrating HIV/AIDS services into reproductive health services, but they won't be working to integrate reproductive health services into HIV/AIDS services. Hmmm.

Knight Ridder (God love `em) has an article today about how the State Department, in a program under the supervision of Karen Hughes, has been screening out Bush critics from representing the U.S. overseas in speaking engagements.

WASHINGTON - The State Department has been using political litmus tests to screen private American citizens before they can be sent overseas to represent the United States, weeding out critics of the Bush administration's Iraq policy, according to department officials and internal e-mails.

Several authors are mentioned as being screened out of the program, as well as Sen. Obama: