To Be Filed Under: Meow!

Why I Think Little of Madeleine Albright

"Do you suppose the Bush administration has Osama bin Laden hidden away somewhere and will bring him out before the election?"

-Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in Fox News Green Room conversation with Morton Kondrake

Goodness, Madeleine - bitter much? And since when is 10 months prior to an elelection capitalizing on same? Although, in Maddy's defense, former President Clinton lived to campaign, perhaps we ought not blame his former Secretary of State for thinking 10 months prior to be the closing stretch.

Madeleine Albright (she of the inherently misnomerous surname) is wildly popular among many of my female friends. They blithely regard her as model of mentorship and a master practitioner of statecraft (largely based on her historical status, as well as this money quote from her recent appearance at a Council on Foreign Realtions brunch here in Chicago: "There's a special place in hell for women who don't help other women" ... way to pander to the chicks, Madeleine).

Frankly, the esteem in which she is held in has always been a bit of a mystery to me. When she became the first female SecState, I was keen to give her the benefit of the doubt. However, her modus operandi of reacting to worldwide crises, rather than promoting American interests in a proactive manner, led me to believe that my faith in her was not to be realized. The quote above, made yesterday, clearly shows her to be cravenly opportunistic and cynical, a true Clintonian-democrat of the first order. Gone are the days where former administration officials sublimated personal opinion and opportunism in order to project a united front. Evidently, Ms. Albright cares not for what is in America's best interests, especially when a political three-pointer can be scored against the opposing team.

It's women like Madeleine Albright that make me look a little closer at women running for political office, rather than electing them to office simply because we need female representation in the three branches of our government. Would that my freinds did the same.