Clinton: Myanmar ex-junta inspired by ‘West Wing’
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, right, speaks during a Congressional Gold Medal award ceremony at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2012, with former first lady Laura Bush, left, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., honoree and Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi , Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
WASHINGTON >> Myanmar’s former generals have looked to American television for tips on how to build a democracy.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton drew laughter Wednesday in Washington as she recounted a conversation with Myanmar’s lower house speaker from her historic visit to the country last year.
Clinton said: He “said to me, ‘Help us learn how to be a democratic congress, a Parliament. He went on to tell me that they were trying to teach themselves by watching old segments of ‘The West Wing.'”
Clinton smiled: “I said, ‘I think we can do better than that Mr. Speaker.'”
The drama about a fictional U.S. president’s inner-circle stopped broadcasting in 2006, while Myanmar’s junta was still in power.
Clinton spoke at an event honoring Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi.
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