Priorities

While she has virtually disappeared as the cartoon riots flared in the area that is supposed to be her specialty, Karen Hughes emerges to defend business interests:

In a discussion with reporters, Under Secretary of State Karen Hughes said she did not believe the gathering objections represented a general Islamophobia among American lawmakers, as a Dubai newspaper's opinion article alleged Monday.

"I would hope that is not the case," Hughes said. "I hope the people of the United Arab Emirates and the government will understand that in a democracy, there is a process of debate."

The problem for the Bush Administration, of course, is that this failure to pay attention hurts them not just from progressives, who, along with many conservatives are stunned at awarding a contract to a company from a state that supports Al Qaeda under the table; it also runs into many of their supporters outright anti-arabism. There are a lot of folks out there who are as bigoted as Ann Coulter, even if they are not as well hung as she is.