A Modern Magdalene

I stand corrected.

After doing some research on Shaha Ali Riza (and by research I mean, sitting in front of my computer and watching the headlines pop up for a few minutes) I've come to realize that I was 100% wrong about Paul Wolfowitz's girlfriend. Very few of the gleeful tales detailing Wolfy's slow unraveling have focused on Riza as more than an accessory to a very political murder. Many people have giggled over her famous photo, where she appears in an unflattering profile. Others have gaped at her astronomic salary (not astronomic considering her years of experience at the World Bank.)

But who mentions that she worked for the WB long before Wolfy was all but appointed? That her superiors recommended her for promotion multiple times? That she has a brilliant mind, and consistently spoke in favor of reason and justice in the Middle East? That her career was, by all accounts, more illustrious and admirable than Wolfowitz's?

He, of course, has a history of cronyism and blindness (and one wonders what W saw in him). But I will say one thing about Wolfy: he chose a woman who was his equal, and one from a different religious background. Let's debunk the inevitable comparison - Wolfowitz isn't sneaking off into corners to get blowjobs from a White House intern. (Which paints him in stark contrast to another, supposedly more feminist leader I could name.) He's engaging in a long-term partnership with a brilliant, intelligent woman his own age, and he isn't married or previously committed. In fact, it is the very women who hate Wolfy and his blighted history (me) who aspire to be the kind of woman he ended up dating. It's no wonder the liberal media are confused. On the one hand, we want Wolfy dead or alive. On the other, our pro-humanist impulses cry out that Riza must have her day. I hope she does. I hope she emerges from this, that she doesn't become yet another civilian casualty on a political battlefield dominated by misguided politicians and hatchet-wielding journalists.

For more on Riza, click here.