“When candidate Barack Obama spoke of change, we thought he meant a new way of doing business, but apparently he also meant coinage. Because President Obama has kept the unsavory tradition of doling out some of the cushiest ambassadorial posts to fundraisers who brought in some of the biggest chunks of change to his campaign. Fifteen of the 62 ambassadors nominated so far were money “bundlers” for the campaign, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, among them Pittsburgh Steelers owner Daniel M. Rooney, retired Chicago investment banker Louis B. Susman and Los Angeles entertainment executive Charles H. Rivkin,” according to the L.A. Times.
Change? Looks like business as usual.
The United States is the only country that looks outside of its diplomatic corps for ambassadors, and the 21st century’s global economy and multipolar politics demand envoys steeped in the nuance of diplomacy and in the language, culture and history of the countries where they serve. Obama is only a third of the way through his ambassadorial appointments and, to be fair, most seem to meet this standard. Now we hope the rest will be based on merit alone, not money.
This is awful. Then again, President George W. Bush appointed a guy who ran horse shows to run FEMA…
Leave a Reply