Madeleine Albright, the former US Secretary of State, was recently featured on a box of Wheaties cereal; the manufacturer, General Mills, claims that Mrs. Albright deserves to be celebrated much more, but that “the company is currently focused on praising other popular historical figures, like Hitler, Fidel Castro and Joseph Stalin”, which, unfortunately, leaves no room whatsoever for the former “Balkan Peace-bringer”, as she has been referred to in the past. Sorry, former madam Secretary of State – you just can’t seem to catch a break, huh?
Albright has even tweeted a picture of the box of cereal with her face on it, and thanked General Mills for the honor that has been bestowed upon her. Just for the record, Madeleine Albright is now in the same rank as numerous Olympic gold medalists and famous athletes, such as Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan, Michael Phelps and many others.
However, it seems that the famous cereal manufacturer has decided to feature a different kind of athletes on its packaging; the kind that was famous for the slaughter of thousands of people, ethnic cleansing of millions and massacres of countless more. Now, that’s a crowd where Mrs. Albright should feel right at home with! After all, her actions in the Balkans during the 90’s as the top US ambassador have made her famous worldwide; it makes perfect sense that she should be celebrated as a hero for tearing apart a region of the world.
The Wheaties website justifies their decision to feature Albright on their packaging by stating that “a champion is no longer solely the megastar athlete; it is also any person who looks inside and challenges their personal best”. Personal best? Right. If you were to ask the peoples of the Balkans what Mrs. Albright’s personal best was, they’d give a figure of around 500, 000….dead and driven from their homes, thanks to the “peace-bringing” abilities of the former US Secretary of State. Kudos to you, Wheaties; you’ve really outdone yourself with this one.
