Is Chutzpah State Department Policy?

Far be it from me to suggest that Condoleeza Rice failed to acquire her talent for chutzpah through her own industry and resources; but this morning we were reminded that there is a legacy of chutzpah in the office of Secretary of State, in not in the State Department itself. Thus I once again find myself in the risky position of wanting to make the Chutzpah of the Week award on a Wednesday under the assumption that nothing more outrageous will occur before the end of the week. On the other hand, just as one of my friends complained that I took too long in giving an award to our President, there are probably others who wonder how it is that Condi's most notorious predecessor could have gone so long without receiving an award, particularly since he has not exactly been keeping a low profile. All this, of course, is an extended prolog to announcing that this week's award goes to Henry Kissinger.

The circumstances have to do with his participation in what The Smoking Gun has called the "Scooter Libby Love Letters:"

Donald Rumsfeld, Henry Kissinger, Paul Wolfowitz, and John Bolton top the list of individuals who wrote a federal judge on behalf of former White House aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby, who was sentenced today to 30 months in prison for lying to investigators and a federal grand jury examining the leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity.

However, it is not Kissinger's advocacy for Libby that has earned him the award. As we see, he is keeping company with another award-holder; so there has to be at least one key differentiating factor! Nevertheless, Kissinger seems to share Wolfowitz' talent for expressing himself in the truly outrageous language he invoked in his description of Libby:

I was deeply impressed by his dedication, seriousness, patriotism and essential decency. He is a man of strong views, some of which I do not share. But in my observations, he pursued his objectives with integrity and a sense of responsibility.

As the man responsible for bombing Cambodia to the brink of oblivion (and still exercising his power over the White House to make sure that he will be protected from the International Criminal Court system), Kissinger clearly sees himself as our national expert on "patriotism and essential decency;" and it is that sense of self that earns him the Chutzpah of the Week award (not to mention the lasting companionship of Condoleeza Rice and Paul Wolfowitz, now that he has now joined their club)!