Obama's Choice For Arg Ambassador.....$ Buys The Post?

[Arnebartelsman]

Nothing wrong with patronage per se. It was the norm in 19th century European and North American states. And it was real gents who were the beneficiaries. And there's nothing particularly appealing about some classless arriviste working his way up with nothing but tedious merit. The problem is these Obama appointees are crude yobs -- other than being political bagmen and crony capitalists they have no other talents. They can't deal with foreigners, can't hold up their end of a conversation.

So Patronage is ok, but only if you like the appointee?

 

[Caliexpat]

Can anyone say that they're really surprised by this? The Obama administration is perhaps the most corrupt and incompetent the US has ever had. The hits just keep on rolling.

 

[pitipur]

Can anyone say that they're really surprised by this? The Obama administration is perhaps the most corrupt and incompetent the US has ever had. The hits just keep on rolling.

instead of Obama/Bush/CFK/whoever else bashing, let's just all agree that all politicians are terrible and save ourselves a lot of forum reading.

 

[Joe]

Can anyone say that they're really surprised by this? The Obama administration is perhaps the most corrupt and incompetent the US has ever had. The hits just keep on rolling.

Obama is the best president since Clinton!

 

[bigbadwolf]

Can anyone say that they're really surprised by this? The Obama administration is perhaps the most corrupt and incompetent the US has ever had. The hits just keep on rolling.

That's my opinion. Obama himself is a ventriloquist's dummy who mouths the words on the teleprompter, then buggers off. He's utterly indifferent to policy, to incompetence, to sleaze and corruption.

 

[EdRooney]

Actually he said "real gents" so the point is just to make sure posts don't go to any of the plebs: all's fine, so long as government remains in the hands of the élite without any disruption from the ignorant meddlesome masses.

 

[bigbadwolf]

Actually he said "real gents" so the point is just to make sure posts don't go to any of the plebs: all's fine, so long as government remains in the hands of the élite without any disruption from the ignorant meddlesome masses.

Exactly. They should go back to their Budweisers and pro wrestling. Mass democracy has been an abysmal failure. When gents were running the show there were standards. No Rahm Emmanuels, no US officials saying "F*** the EU," and so on.

 

[EdRooney]

Exactly. They should go back to their Budweisers and pro wrestling. Mass democracy has been an abysmal failure. When gents were running the show there were standards. No Rahm Emmanuels, no US officials saying "F*** the EU," and so on.

As opposed to the current Ivy League crew which has done such a bang-up job.

 

[bigbadwolf]

As opposed to the current Ivy League crew which has done such a bang-up job.

The Ivy League ain't what it used to be. What it used to be was the preserve of the sons of WASP gents -- rather than a stepping stone for classless upstarts like Obama and his ilk. An affirmative action beneficiary, if ever there was one, and whose natural station in life would be that of a uniformed doorman.

 

[bigbadwolf]

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/02/us-ambassador-picks-103242.html#ixzz2sfVEiGS1

Recently, a colleague of mine from the Foreign Service told me about a former U.S. ambassador to Sweden who, some years ago, had passed out in the snow, too drunk to get up. He had been partying hard during an outing in the countryside. Fortunately, an embassy officer found him in time to save his life. America’s boozy man in Stockholm was a non-career political appointee—no surprise. The fellow who saved him was a professional diplomat. And the roles the two men played that night is emblematic of a familiar routine.

That was the thought I had earlier this week when word came that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee had approved nominations of President Barack Obama’s latest batch of ambassadorial picks—including a couple of first-time diplomats whose cringeworthy performances during their testimony suggested they’ll need to rely heavily on their Foreign Service staff to keep from embarrassing the United States. Of course, we have little reason to worry about longtime Montana Senator Max Baucus, whose appointment to serve in China the Senate passed unanimously on Thursday. But some wealthy campaign donors with backgrounds a bit further afield from public service should give us concern. They’ve already embarrassed themselves.

When hotel magnate George Tsunis, Obama’s nominee for Oslo, met with the Senate last month, he made clear that he didn’t know that Norway was a constitutional monarchy and wrongly stated that one of the ruling coalition political parties was a hate-spewing “fringe element.” Another of the president’s picks, Colleen Bell, who is headed to Budapest, could not answer questions about the United States’ strategic interests in Hungary. But could the president really expect that she’d be an expert on the region? Her previous gig was as a producer for the TV soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful. She stumbled through responses to Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) like, well, a soap opera star, expounding on world peace. When the whole awkward exchange concluded, the senator grinned. “I have no more questions for this incredibly highly qualified group of nominees,” McCain said sarcastically.