When George W. Bush [3]'s long-time spin doctor Karen Hughes [4] was sworn-in [5] as Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs [6], she said "that our ability to differ freely, openly and respectfully is, in itself, something to be celebrated." But during a "town hall [7]" meeting for State Department employees, she described her plans to improve US image abroad in militaristic phrases, outlining a "rapid-response unit" and "forward-deploy regional SWAT teams" to "formulate a more strategic and focused approach to all our public diplomacy assets." The Washington Post's Dana Milbank writes [8], "One of her underlings rose to ask how this effort squared with the administration's famously tight control over its message. … Hughes replied that ambassadors are free to talk -- if they use the talking points [9] she sends them. 'If they make statements based on something I sent them,' she said, 'they're not going to be called on the carpet.'"