Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Federal work force revolt

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • #16
    Originally posted by astralis View Post
    considering how routinely members of the administration contradict the pearls of wisdom coming from Trump's Twitter feed, calling for the Ambassador's head because he didn't comport with a Trump feud is ridiculous.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/pe...ato/vp-AAm03nt

    http://thediplomat.com/2017/01/what-...-apology-tour/

    https://www.yahoo.com/news/m/0e873f1...ntradicts.html

    http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...-a7584386.html
    Once again you're conveniently turning it around. He can not agree and keep his mouth shut. Nobody asked him to interject and he certainly isn't obligated to.

    Comment


    • #17
      Originally posted by astralis View Post
      a US diplomat is obliged to carry out the foreign policy of the United States, he is not obliged to carry out a personal feud of the POTUS.
      The president is the expression of the foreign policy of the USA, limited only by ratified treaty.

      Comment


      • #18
        Was denigrated the elected Mayor of city in another country 'an expression' of US foreign policy? If so I am indeed worried.

        Comment


        • #19
          wooglin,

          He can not agree and keep his mouth shut. Nobody asked him to interject and he certainly isn't obligated to.
          he certainly has the freedom to talk about what he likes-- as long as he doesn't contradict the President when it comes to policy. he's not a bloody commissar.

          even then, that depends on how the President interprets things. for instance, Secretary Tillerson has repeatedly contradicted Trump in terms of policy. so has Secretary Mattis. so has NSA McMaster. for some reason i don't see you telling THEM to shut up, even though they're committing a rather more serious foul.
          There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."- Isaac Asimov

          Comment


          • #20
            he certainly has the freedom to talk about what he likes-- as long as he doesn't contradict the President when it comes to policy. he's not a bloody commissar.
            He may not be a commissar but he sure isn't the President. He used the official embassy twitter account to go passive aggressive, he should have kept his hands in his pocket. This wasn't someone talking to a co-worker in a private conversation at the office, texting his wife, or blogging on his personal facebook account.
            even then, that depends on how the President interprets things. for instance, Secretary Tillerson has repeatedly contradicted Trump in terms of policy. so has Secretary Mattis. so has NSA McMaster. for some reason i don't see you telling THEM to shut up, even though they're committing a rather more serious foul.
            The guy directly and immediately contradicted the President who said the mayor of London is a failure. The acting ambassador belongs on the unemployment line, can do his resistance there.

            =====
            This is like a wimpy version of the oath keeper clowns.
            Last edited by troung; 10 Jun 17,, 19:34.
            To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

            Comment


            • #21
              Originally posted by astralis View Post
              wooglin,



              he certainly has the freedom to talk about what he likes
              No. He doesn't.

              Comment


              • #22
                still waiting to hear if you think this applies to the VP, SECDEF, SECSTATE, NSA, UN Ambassador...
                There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."- Isaac Asimov

                Comment


                • #23
                  Originally posted by astralis View Post
                  still waiting to hear if you think this applies to the VP, SECDEF, SECSTATE, NSA, UN Ambassador...
                  ok.

                  Comment


                  • #24
                    "...you seem to have little knowledge as to the duties, responsibilities, and the leeway given to a US Ambassador."

                    As opposed to a Charge D'Affairs?

                    He's a seat-warmer and has stepped far beyond his portfolio. To that end he's farther adrift than even Trump.
                    "This aggression will not stand, man!" Jeff Lebowski
                    "The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what you share with someone else when you're uncool." Lester Bangs

                    Comment


                    • #25
                      In part this whole topic would only seem to be an issue if you accept that 'tweets' represent official government policy or alternatively a rebuttal of same. Not sure that is the case. I doubt for instance that TRUMP was expressing official government policy on the conduct of London's Mayor with an expectation that the UK Government would in due course respond with some form of official response or perhaps even a sanction against the Mayor. I also doubt in was the officials intention to rebuke or directly contradict the POTUS - even though that's how it looks. The trouble is tweets are a terrible medium for expressing any opinion unless they are carefully filtered and thought through before hitting 'send'.

                      Based on my albeit limited contact with consular and diplomatic staff they tend too take a long term view of managing their particular international relations. That's in part understandable because presidents, prime ministers,politicians and policies of all shades tend to come and go with monotonous regularity but regardless of whose in charge the long term relationship still has to be managed. So diplomats tend to think about relationship with other countries in terms of the years (sometimes decades) of work put into developing them while politicians tend to be much more fixated on the short term news cycle. Hence the continual fiction between the two camps regardless of who is in government.

                      Like any relationship (even a bad one - say the one between the US and Cuba) the State Dept has to work at keeping lines of communication open - even 'enemy states' do this. This includes from time to time having to 'explain' - or demand an explanation about media reports on something a public figure has said somewhere, some time. This is even more important when a senior politician says something likely to have a direct impact on a close, long term friend, as is the case here. If President Trump is really pissed off about what the official did I'm sure he can have his posting to London terminated - although I would suggest that if that did happen and it leaked out he would only be making a bad situation even worse. Lets see what happens.

                      Anyway that's my 10c worth.
                      Last edited by Monash; 12 Jun 17,, 08:48.
                      If you are emotionally invested in 'believing' something is true you have lost the ability to tell if it is true.

                      Comment


                      • #26
                        i'm so glad i have Mattis for a boss-- the only one out of the whole group whom doesn't have a brown nose.

                        https://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...88f_story.html

                        By John Wagner June 12 at 5:31 PM

                        At Monday’s Cabinet meeting — the first President Trump had held with everyone on board — White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus spoke up to thank Trump “for the opportunity and blessing that you’ve given us to serve your agenda and the American people.”

                        Priebus said he was offering words on behalf of everyone in the room. But one by one, pretty much everyone else seated around the table took the opportunity to lavish their leader with praise, too, as the media looked on.

                        “It’s an honor to be able to serve you,” said Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

                        “I am privileged to be here,” said Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta. “Deeply honored.”

                        “What an incredible honor it is to lead the Department of Health and Human Services at this pivotal time under your leadership,” Tom Price, secretary of that department, added when it was his turn to speak. “I can’t thank you enough for the privileges you’ve given me and the leadership that you’ve shown.”

                        When other Cabinet members got the opportunity, they offered more specific adulation. Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget, thanked the president for his “direction in pulling that budget together.”

                        Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao thanked Trump for visiting her department last week, relaying that “hundreds and hundreds of people were just so thrilled.”

                        And Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, after noting that some of his colleagues had touted their international travels for Trump, served up this: “A lot of us just got back from Mississippi. They love you there.”

                        The over-the-top praise of the president by his Cabinet came as the biggest items on his legislative agenda have made little progress, his administration continues to be dogged by investigations into his campaign’s ties to Russia, and his disapproval rating in the latest Gallup tracking poll rose to 59 percent.

                        The effort to buck up the boss drew immediate notice on social media, with some comparing Trump to King Lear. In the opening of the Shakespeare play, the aging king of Britain, having decided to step down from the throne, asks his three daughters to tell him how much they love him.

                        More biting still was a parody video sent out on Twitter by Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.).

                        “GREAT meeting today with the best staff in the history of the world!!!” Schumer wrote.

                        The video depicted him sitting at a conference table with three staffers.

                        “Lucy, how’d we do on the Sunday show yesterday?” Schumer asked one of them, his immigration counsel, referring to his appearance the day before on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

                        “Your tone was perfect,” the aide said. “You were right on message.”

                        “Michelle, how’d my hair look coming out of the gym this morning?” Schumer asked next, posing the question of his director of scheduling.

                        “You have great hair,” she said. “Nobody has better hair than you.”

                        A Schumer budget adviser then chimed in, parroting Priebus.

                        “Now before we go any further, I just want to say thank you for the opportunity and blessing to serve your agenda,” he said. Schumer broke into laughter.

                        Trump used Monday’s meeting to try to make a public case that — despite multiple investigations into election meddling by Russia and other distractions — his administration is racking up accomplishments at a record clip.

                        “Never has there been a president, with few exceptions — case of FDR, he had a major depression to handle — who has passed more legislation and who has done more things than what we’ve done,” said Trump, referring to President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

                        “I think we’ve been about as active as you can possibly be at a just about record-setting pace,” he added.

                        While Trump has issued a flurry of executive orders — more than any recent president at this point in his tenure — Congress has yet to pass any of his marquee agenda items. Those include a revamp of the Affordable Care Act, a tax-code overhaul and an infrastructure package.

                        Most bills that Trump has signed have been modest in nature, including several rolling back regulations adopted in the closing stretch of President Barack Obama’s tenure.

                        Conservatives have also touted the confirmation of Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Neil M. Gorsuch, which the president trumpeted Monday.

                        Trump began the meeting by berating Democrats, including Schumer, for taking longer than he wanted to confirm his Cabinet picks. The president also accused them of being “obstructionists” on his high-profile agenda items.

                        “If we had the greatest bill in the history of the world on health care, we wouldn’t get one vote from the Democrats, because they’re obstructionists,” Trump said. “That’s what they want to do. That’s the game. They think that’s their best political gain.”

                        Republicans are using a parliamentary maneuver to try to pass a health-care bill that doesn’t require any Democratic votes. After several tries, a bill was pushed through the House, but it is being rewritten in the Senate.

                        During the meeting, Trump also announced that he would hold a news conference in two weeks to lay out his administration’s plan to fight the Islamic State terrorist group.

                        He said that his administration had already taken some steps to cut off funding for terrorist organizations.

                        “We are stopping the funding of terrorism,” Trump said. “You have to starve the beast, and we’re going to starve the beast.”

                        Trump’s national security efforts were praised later in the meeting by his Cabinet secretaries, including Mike Pompeo, director of the CIA.

                        He told Trump he was “honored” to serve him but cut his remarks shorter than some colleagues.

                        “In the finest traditions of the CIA, I’m not going to share a damn thing in front of the *media,” Pompeo said to laughter.

                        Defense Secretary Jim Mattis was the most reserved in his comments, offering praise for the “men and women of the Department of Defense” but not Trump specifically.
                        There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."- Isaac Asimov

                        Comment


                        • #27
                          Makes you want to vomit. We have a moron for President who puts himself before the country in his quest for more and more self adoration. Sounds like he is still on the set of The Apprentice where everyone sucked up to him in order not to be fired. Can't wait till he designs his own uniform for all to wear.

                          Comment


                          • #28
                            Originally posted by S2 View Post
                            "...you seem to have little knowledge as to the duties, responsibilities, and the leeway given to a US Ambassador."

                            As opposed to a Charge D'Affairs?

                            He's a seat-warmer and has stepped far beyond his portfolio. To that end he's farther adrift than even Trump.
                            The UK had a chargé d'affaires in Beijing for more than 20 years, and by 1972 I would imagine that seat was plenty warm.
                            Trust me?
                            I'm an economist!

                            Comment


                            • #29
                              Originally posted by astralis View Post
                              Defense Secretary Jim Mattis was the most reserved in his comments, offering praise for the “men and women of the Department of Defense” but not Trump specifically.
                              Well obviously he won't last long then.
                              If you are emotionally invested in 'believing' something is true you have lost the ability to tell if it is true.

                              Comment


                              • #30
                                Originally posted by Monash View Post
                                Well obviously he won't last long then.
                                He was the only one in the room who doesn't care about climbing the greasy Washington pole, so he was the one who cares least about getting sacked. Trump dumping he or McMaster because they aren't sufficiently sycophantic would just increase the speed of that car heading toward the cliff. Only the hardest of hardcore apologists would be left defending him.
                                sigpic

                                Win nervously lose tragically - Reds C C

                                Comment

                                Working...
                                X