Condoleeza Talks and "W" Gets a Shoe Monument

Congratulations to the Pittsburgh Steelers for winning Super Bowl 43 and well done to the Arizona Cardinals for almost pulling off a huge upset. More importantly, it was very cool to see the US Airways pilot and crew being honored before the game. What a great surprise for the crowd and special moment they will always remember. Another surprise was General Patreaus calling the coin toss. Very cool, as well. All of these folks' accomplishments seemed to make the game insignificant -- because that's what it is a game. But it does allow us to escape from reality for a few hours.

So back to the task at hand here at aftertheglory. As stated in the initial blog, we not only take a look at what the former presidents are doing these days, but we're also going to do our best to check out what other past national and global leaders are doing after their glory years. I found a great clip on YouTube of former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, who appeared on The View last Friday (Jan. 30), talking about some highlights and lowlights of her time in the Bush Administration. If you have 9 minutes to spare, she has a few interesting things to say about her time in office. But the most gracious thing she had to say was how grateful she is to her parents for never limiting her in what she could do when she grew up -- especially in the segregated South. Support her or not during her time in office, she has a great story to tell about how she became the nation's first African American female Secretary of State. Only in America! Look forward to her book in a couple of years.

Oh yeah, here is the first half of her interview on The View below. You can catch the second half on YouTube if you have time.

In other atg news, it was reported late last week by AP that Bill Clinton earned more than $6 million in worldwide speaking appearances in 2008. That's what you call "cashing in." These earnings were announced due to Hillary's appointment to Secretary of State. That's some serious bank, though, just for chattin' it up at a few corporate luncheons.

On the lighter side of life in Iraq, a monument to the shoe-throwing journalist who nearly pegged W with both his Hush Puppies during a news conference last month has been erected in his honor outside an orphanage in Tikrit. This no joke! According to The China Daily, the shoe monument, made of fiberglass and coated with copper, consists of the shoe and a concrete base. The entire monument is 3.5 meters (11.5 feet) high. The shoe is 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) long and 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) wide. The orphans helped sculptor al-Amiri build the $5,000 structure.



I don't think we can top this story, so we'll sign off while we're ahead and keep looking for more juicy gems for you.
--atg