I am convinced that these people think that they can do anything. This is exactly what the Democrats are warning everyone about. Trump has said that he has complete power to do anything. And I think this is damn scary.
The article told us something about changes when Trump took over. It really didn’t provide a comparison to what happened when Obama took over from Bush. One wonders what the comparison would show.
Well, the article sort of leads in that direction. If those diplomats who are quitting agreed with Trump’s policies, why would they consider quitting? They would be eager to continue to help out.
“But no president has been as nakedly hostile to America’s diplomats as Donald Trump, who ran on an anti-elitist, anti-”globalist” platform and saw the intelligence community’s report on Russian election interference as a “deep state” conspiracy against him. And the foreign service is nothing if not a group of elite, globalist bureaucrats—especially in the view of Trump and his allies.”
Lets remember how the former ambassador to Ukraine said she was definitely against the type of inquiries Trump wanted. Unfortunately, there was not a direct question “what would you have done if the President had ordered you to work with the Ukrainians to get those investigations started, whether you agreed with them or not? Would you have complied and done your best or would you have quit?”
What’s damn scary is unelected bureaucrats believing they are the ones with the mandate to run the government, not the elected officials who have that duty under the Constitution.
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It’s always been that way throughout history.
“Well, the article sort of leads in that direction. If those diplomats who are quitting agreed with Trump’s policies, why would they consider quitting? They would be eager to continue to help out.”
I’m not suggesting they always, or even mostly, agreed with his policies. I’m suggesting they were able, in many cases for decades, to compartmentalize differences between R & D administrations, and continue to do the work. Now they’re bailing en masse. Something’s different, man, and it ain’t just the policies. Not the legitimate ones, anyway.
“But no president has been as nakedly hostile to America’s diplomats as Donald Trump, who ran on an anti-elitist, anti-”globalist” platform and saw the intelligence community’s report on Russian election interference as a “deep state” conspiracy against him. And the foreign service is nothing if not a group of elite, globalist bureaucrats—especially in the view of Trump and his allies.”
That’s pretty harsh, but is it inaccurate? I don’t know, and unless you’re an FSO, you don’t either.
Lets remember how the former ambassador to Ukraine said she was definitely against the type of inquiries Trump wanted. Unfortunately, there was not a direct question “what would you have done if the President had ordered you to work with the Ukrainians to get those investigations started, whether you agreed with them or not? Would you have complied and done your best or would you have quit?”
From what I’ve seen, the career diplomats who are testifying against the administration and its shadow operatives (what else are you gonna call Giuliani here) mostly think the quid pro quo is a potential crime. Not bad policy, a crime, and they want no part of it. You may disagree, but you really have no basis to question their motives, given their frequently unblemished stellar service records, and Mrs. Putin’s decidedly less stellar one [cough] bone spurs.
They don’t have to “agree with Trump’s policies”. They aren’t the deciders.
They are eunuchs.
What good have they done for America with their foreign policy. There’s no need for that many airheads in the federal bureaucracy. See, Trump is draining the swamp.
Sigh… once again, I’m not suggesting they have to agree with policy. I’m saying they carried out policy from the left and right for decades. Now they’re hightailing it, in some cases stating they consider the policy to be a crime. Should you obediently follow an order you consider to be illegal, or speak out against it and, if necessary, resign?
Can’t make myself any clearer than that.
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Those are all solid Fox News talking points, but they don’t address my question, even indirectly.
And “Trump is draining the swamp.”? [Cough] Igor and Lev, Sundlund.
ETA: The best shade thrown at Igor and Lev? “Those guys definitely wore tracksuits to their daughters’ weddings.”
To hell with the arrogant bastards.
And they don’t execute policy. They are glorified errand boys.
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It directly answers your question. Does it sound like I’m scratching my head?
Now that’s funny.
The stuff Colbert and Myers say about Trump is harsh, but funny. If the right could come up with something better than “The 1/2 Hour News Hour” I’d watch that too.
No, it doesn’t. And no, it doesn’t. Such a gesture would indicate contemplation and or confusion.
I seriously doubt there is a person on this board, myself included, who would be fit to enter the Career Foreign Service. In my case, insufficient skills in a foreign language. I don’t think a single damned person on this board, coming out of college, would have been fit to take the Foreign Service examination and survive the rigorous process necessary to enter the Foreign Service. Successfully entering the Foreign Service is prima facie proof that a person is among the brightest and best the United States has to offer.
The airheads can be found on these and other forums, on BOTH sides of the political spectrum.
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I am. Ambassadors don’t speak the language.
If you think you got what it takes, go ahead and try and make the cut. 
Let’s talk about what Trump has accomplished by ignoring the advice of foreign service professionals:
- Syria: Hastily pulled out American troops, undermining our Kurdish allies and enabling a revival of ISIS.
- Ukraine: Significantly undermined the reform government of President Zelensky, to the point where there are fears that Zelensky will be forced to concede much to to Putin’s Russia than he would have had to do with a firm US ally. Trump announced as a candidate that most people in Crimea would prefer Russian rule. No career foreign service officer would support that assessment
- North Korea: Give Kim Jung Un a huge prestige boost, stopped joint military exercises with South Korea. In exchange Kim has continued his nuclear program unabated. Trump’s concessions got Trump some photo ops but nothing of value
- United Kingdom: Encouraged Brexit which has torn the UK apart because any form of delivering Brexit will be substantially less positive than what was promised.
- Qatar: Allowed a regional embargo of the country in the Persian Gulf where we have our largest air base
- Saudi Arabia: Turned a blind eye to the genocidal war in Yemen, and to the murder of a US resident.
Career foreign service officers, who know what they are doing and do not have to satisfy a base, provide advice, which if listened to keeps American Presidents from acting like fools.
It was clear at this week’s NATO meeting that our strongest allies’ leadership not only know that Trump is a fool but now recognize that he is a weak fool at that.
Well done, Always Trumpers. The rest of us know that a foreign policy based largely on making Vladimir Putin happy and generating business opportunities for Trump and his cronies is a disaster for the United States.
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The only person running the government is clearly Donald Trump and his people.
Pray tell, who else is?
