The Price of an Ambassadorship

the new world order ?

i can understand a bit of nepotism, but jesus, at least get someone with some feel for the place they're going to.

and maybe get an actual diplomat instead of another "C.E.O." type. we have the "C.E.O. president" and look what it's gotten us.

it's gonna take at least a decade to repair all of the damage the bush administration is doing to the united states.

that is what his legacy will be.

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Hey....have you ever thought this is Bush's way of telling Schroeder that he will never be forgiven for the stab in back on Iraq????? Germany with it's very high unemployment rate and weak economy is very nearly as irrelevant as the UN in the world of Bush Hardball.

Do any of you really think this is just ineptitude and nepotism? Laughing

Bush has made a lot of mistakes but they were in areas where the consequences were unknowable.......this is not one of those mistakes especially with Rice calling the shots on Ambassadorships.

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Well, this has been a theme in German media a fortnight ago, when the WH announced it.

Timmken's predecessor on hios new post, Daniel Coats, didn't speak German neither.

W. L. Lyons Brown, ambassador in Austria, only gave 137,000 Dollar for the Bush campaign, Melvin Sembler, ambassador in Rome even just 127,000 - so the more than 600,000 by William Robert Timken Jr. made him a 'super rancher' ... and we Germans are quite proud to have got such a highly respected person.

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Using an appointment as an embassador as a political pay off is as old as the republic in the US, this is nothing new. My favorite example is Pamela Churchill Hayward Harriman (and those are just the one's she married), Clinton's embassador to France (1993-97). It is my understanding that she was quite good at the job.

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Oddly you didn't scream so loudly when they sent Walter 'Fritz' Mindlessdale to Japan or Shirley Temple Black over to some nation in Africa and neither of them had even a passing knowledge of the language for the country they were becoming an ambassador to. Why was that again? Oh yes, now I remember they were appointed by the Democrats which makes it all perfectly okay.

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Sturgis wrote:

Oddly you didn't scream so loudly when they sent Walter 'Fritz' Mindlessdale to Japan or Shirley Temple Black over to some nation in Africa and neither of them had even a passing knowledge of the language for the country they were becoming an ambassador to. ...

You probably don't know it, but A2K is online only since autumn 2002 :wink:

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Walter Hinteler wrote:

You probably don't know it, but A2K is online only since autumn 2002 :wink:

So you are saying that if I search the archives I might find evidence that for once the Dems. took responsibility for their errings? Not too likely but I may be tempted to look. Beyond that, Walter (may I be so informal or would you prefer Mr. Hinteler?), I did indeed know that this site had been around for a while, I just recently got around to joining up though.

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Well, I didn't know that your "you" indicated, you were addressing Democrats.

Sorry.

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Walter wrote:

W. L. Lyons Brown, ambassador in Austria, only gave 137,000 Dollar for the Bush campaign, Melvin Sembler, ambassador in Rome even just 127,000 - so the more than 600,000 by William Robert Timken Jr. made him a 'super rancher' ... and we Germans are quite proud to have got such a highly respected person.

Does this mean that Germany recognizes their low order on the totem pole and are grateful for any crumb as long as it is a "Big Crumb" from the Bush administration?

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Sturgis wrote:

Oddly you didn't scream so loudly when they sent Walter 'Fritz' Mindlessdale to Japan or Shirley Temple Black over to some nation in Africa and neither of them had even a passing knowledge of the language for the country they were becoming an ambassador to. Why was that again? Oh yes, now I remember they were appointed by the Democrats which makes it all perfectly okay.

Child movie star, Shirley Temple Black is a republican and was appointed by a republican president.

Democrat Walter Mondale had been vice president so he was well equipped for the job.

BBB

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rayban1 wrote:

Does this mean that Germany recognizes their low order on the totem pole and are grateful for any crumb as long as it is a "Big Crumb" from the Bush administration?

Well, since we perhaps get a conservative government this autumn, we are only preparing to become another of the USA's poodles.

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I believe that the US hasn't yet even appointed a new Ambassador to Australia after the last one (a Texan oil mate of Bush) went home.

Mind you, we're very friendly here, a small economy, very little influence in the world and when George says "Jump!" our Prime Minister rolls over (our PM is very obedient but he needs a bit more training).

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BumbleBeeBoogie wrote:

Democrat Walter Mondale had been vice president so he was well equipped for the job.

BBB

But did he speak Japanese? I need to know since the language barrier was the alleged beef with this ambassadorship matter. If Fritz did not possess a complete command of the Japanese language then he clearly had no right to be an ambassador to Japan regardless of whether or not he had been Vice President.

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Walter Hinteler wrote:

rayban1 wrote:

Does this mean that Germany recognizes their low order on the totem pole and are grateful for any crumb as long as it is a "Big Crumb" from the Bush administration?

Well, since we perhaps get a conservative government this autumn, we are only preparing to become another of the USA's poodles.

I see you have very quickly learned the art of talking "junk".

Also according to your definitions of liberal vs conservative, your next "conservative" gov't will still be left of our center......correct.

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Sturgis
Japan has liked the U.S. Ambassador to be a retired bigwig, as a sign of "respect." Recent Ambassadors to Japan have included Mike Mansfield (Senate Majority Leader), Walter Mondale (Vice President & 1984 Dem Presidential nominee), Tom Foley (Speaker of the House) and Howard Baker (Senate Majority Leader).

Mike Mansfield, married to a Japanese woman and fluent in Japanese was our best ambassador followed by Mondale, then Foley.

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rayban1 wrote:

I see you have very quickly learned the art of talking "junk".

Also according to your definitions of liberal vs conservative, your next "conservative" gov't will still be left of our center......correct.

ad 1) you must have missed reading a lot my responses to come to such a conclusion

ad 2) well, the Christian Democrat Union might be in the center, but their partner (at federal elections), the Bavarian Christian Social Union surely in more to the right.
If they make a coalition withe the liberian party (which seems to be the only possibilty when they want to form a government), you'll get some problems with them: very rightish here, but with some 'left' ideas.

(Besides, I don't think that I ever equalled 'liberal' to be in opposition to conservative - social-democrats aren't liberal at all ... outsite the USA.)

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rayban1 wrote:

Hey....have you ever thought this is Bush's way of telling Schroeder that he will never be forgiven for the stab in back on Iraq????? Germany with it's very high unemployment rate and weak economy is very nearly as irrelevant as the UN in the world of Bush Hardball.

Do any of you really think this is just ineptitude and nepotism? Bush has made a lot of mistakes but they were in areas where the consequences were unknowable.......this is not one of those mistakes especially with Rice calling the shots on Ambassadorships.

how did germany stab america in the back ? not going along with something is much different than actively going against something.

either way, punishing a country who is an active ally in so many other issues is really short sighted.

ray, when i first got into pro level entertainment work, a fellow who had been around for quite a while and was doing well gave me a hint that has served me pretty good service; "be nice to everyone. you never know who they'll be next week."

over the years i've seen people go from nobody to somebody quite unexpectedly.

can never have too many friends is also a good one to remember.

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rayban1 wrote:

Germany recognizes their low order on the totem pole and are grateful for any crumb as long as it is a "Big Crumb" from the Bush administration?

well, if there's anything that the bush administration is good at, it's being "crumby" with people...

Laughing

sorry ray, couldn't resist, dude...

by the way, bush may have bigger problems than his loyalists think.

i was talking to pop yesterday about all sorts of things, and out of nowhere, he chimes in "i'm really disappointed in george w. bush".

when i came to, i crawled back up into my chair and told him he better be careful that my mom didn't hear him saying stuff like that, he mentioned that she wasn't too thrilled about him either.

my dad hasn't voted for a dem since roosevelt and my mom has never voted for a dem president. ever...

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The Price of an Ambassadorship

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