2009-11-28
Are Political Appointees in the State Department Hurting Obama?
I'm not about to criticize the President for bowing to the Emperor of Japan, and while the handshake and bow combination performed simultaneously isn't uncommon, it's not exactly "right" according to protocol (it was NOT offensive, just weird). In addition to that, the State Department and Japanese Foreign Ministry were on completely different schedules during the 23-hour stay our President had in that country... and it wasn't just the sleeping schedule that was off. The President was actually left waiting in his car for over five minutes before he could be greeted and the conduct of our diplomats traveling with the President has been questioned by Japanese media outlets. While the Japanese Foreign Ministry deserves some of the blame for that, so does our State Department.
Unfortunately, this isn't the first time there have been mess ups regarding Obama appointees in the department of diplomacy. You'll recall the mistranslation of the "Reset" button that Secretary of State Clinton handed to her counterpart in the Russian Federation (ironically, the word printed in Latin letters was "Overload"). Earlier this year in London, the First Lady put her hand on the back of Queen Elizabeth II of England, causing quite a sensation. And it wasn't until late May that the Obama Administration was able to find somebody to be the Ambassador to the Holy See who wasn't flat out rejected by the Vatican for being pro-abortion. (Miguel H. Díaz was finally approved, but he lacked the experience the Vatican was looking for and likely was put so low on the list because he only donated $1,000 to Obama's campaign instead of the FEC maximum of $4,600 for he and his wife).
I'm not going to question or insult President Obama, the First Lady, or Secretary of State Clinton about their actions. Like President Bush in the lead up to the Iraq War, I believe they were given bad information (or even no information). What I am going to question are the hiring practices of the Obama administration when it comes to diplomats and State Department staffers. In just 10 months, the current Administration has had so many breeches of protocol and gaffes that it's becoming painfully obvious that it's more than just a coincidence.
As proven with Ambassador Díaz, the Obama Administration went out of its way to make sure that all spots, regardless of their importance, were filled with political appointees rather than the most qualified candidates for those positions. If you're a conservative looking to attack the President on matters of foreign policy, this is the one spot where you're going to find a lot of traction. And what's more: I'll finally back you up on it.
Gaffes are bound to happen when you have so many personalities of countless cultures and backgrounds all on the same stage. Thankfully, we live in a time when these mistakes are rarely blown out of proportion (with the exception of domestic political opponents of the gaffer). With that said, international relations is more important than ever in our globalized world and one would think there would be a recognition of that by the leader of the free world. While I usually agree with the President's foreign policy, the lack of importance shown by his Administration by sub-standard hiring practices is frustrating to say the least. The President and his entire Administration should want to get this stuff right more than they want to reward the political supporters and financial backers of the Democratic Party and the Obama Presidential Campaign. Unfortunately, that's not the current mindset of the Obama Administration.
Archived Comments
Travis Gearhart
I agree, Kevin. Obama is a political genius, and a worthy adversary, but because he is still relatively new to "the scene", he doesn't seem to know who to trust not to screw up royally. Plus, as you mentioned, he's paying back a lot of favors, and is putting those favors before quality.
