President Obamas nominee to be Americas next ambassador to Argentina admitted during a Senate hearing that hes never even been to the country, stirring up criticism from the right. And last month, Obamas nominee to Norway, George Tsunis, made several blaring errors during hearings, including at one point referring to Norways president. Norway has no president. Some in the media are pointing to the fact that Obama has been appointing friends, cronies, and fundraisers to ambassadorships without regard for their qualifications. And they cite statistics showing that 37% of his appointees were political rather than career diplomats, and that the average Obama appointee raised $1.8 million for his election campaigns. This is a completely phony controversy. It has ALWAYS been this way. 38% of Reagans ambassadors were political, not career diplomats. About a third of all ambassadors appointed by any president have tended to be political friends, fundraisers, and the like. There is nothing different about Obamas actions. Of course, that doesnt make it right. Presidents routinely ignore the urgings of congress to end this crony process. The Foreign Service Act of 1980 states that positions as chief of mission should normally be accorded to career members of the Service. Furthermore, it declares, “Contributions to political campaigns should not be a factor” in appointments. Despite this, ambassadorships to lush Caribbean countries or wealthy, stable places like Switzerland and Luxembourg continue to be rewards for successful fundraisers, and likely always will be. SOURCE: afsa.org/ambassadorhistory.aspx
Posted on: Sat, 08 Feb 2014 01:07:21 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015