On Laura Bush' new policy initiative as a first lady...

It's oddly strange to me, reading the news that Laura Bush, the first lady in the George W Bush White House, is _only now_ declaring her new policy direction/initiative on foreign policy matter. I do not doubt her sincerity or intention, but I have serious doubts on the timing.

Why now, when Bush is in his lame duck phase, well past the mid point into his second term, and there is less than a year and a half left in office? What does she expect to achieve? And, where was she in the past six years?

If she has been so genuinely concerned about women's status in Middle East, does it take six years for her to wake up and realize that? Has she been so well sheltered that she didn't realize this has been going on since she stepped foot in the White House?

Perhaps, she's thinking of HER legacy too, the same way her husband is worrying about HIS legacy (which amounts to nothing more than a very messy and unnecessary war in Iraq). In fact, I can't even think of what she has done. I thought she's as content to keep her house in order, much like her mother-in-law.

But I would say this to her, it's a little too late. While the Republicans go all out to attack Hilary Clinton, no one could argue her genuine and long-running efforts in children and women's welfare, before and since her White House days with Bill Clinton. I certainly hope that she would be able to make her mark, in her own right, on her own terms, as the first female president. It would be a great inspiration for all girls and women to look up too, rather than the stereotypical Laura Bush.