AfterBsh

A big thing happened on Wednesday. Laura Bush waded into a foreing policy issue. It's not that she hasn't spoken up on such things before, but it has been rare and never like this. She basically called the military government of Myanmar (like President Bush she uses its old name of Burma) to step aside and make way for democracy. There was nothing in her speech that waveredin anyway from the position that President Bush outlined in his address to the United Nations, but calling them a "Friendless Regime" was more extreme than even her husband had been.

The big question is why? I think first of all the White House is looking toward Hilary Clinton's eminenet nomination by the Democratic Party. They'll be able to hold Laura up and say "See, Clinton wasn't so extraordinary as First Lady." Of course that type of strategy could backfire, as they would be hard presed to portray her as a "medler", something she was accused of during her husband's administration.

But I think it's got more to do with Laura Bush's career. She is positioning herself, like Hilary did before her, for a post-whitehouse political career. A senate run in Texas would not be out of the question but both those seats are held by republicans already. Certainly an ambassadorship in a future Republican administration would be hers for the asking. Perhaps a governorship. It would give her something to do while her husband is running Major League Baseball. I'm thinking, like Eleanore Roosevelt before her, ambassador to the United Nations should Mitt Romney or Mike Huckabee or Fred Thompson win the election. (Rudy would never appoint her to the UN, though McCain might giver her Burma).