Really, I just can't. As CJill says, "branding isn't a substitute for reality-based foreign policy."

I guess the arrogance still shocks me. It boggles my mind that anyone could think that by placing a story about the rape, torture and murder of innocent civilians in the "business pages" that story is somehow less "impactful" and forgettable. Perhaps I'm wrong, but it seems to me that people tend to remember that kind of horror, no matter how many Disney movies they see.

That Hughes and Rice and the rest of the clueless were there doesn't surprise me at all. Where else would they turn? Surely not trained experts and people with experience in the building of nations, heavens no! They turn to the PR world because that's all they know. Reality is what they make, remember.

As I said, snark is failing me here. But I'm sure if I turn on the TV, that won't bother me so much. After all, that's what my government does.