An observation: a fair number of President Biden's political appointees are former Foreign Service who knew how to pull the levers of the system. Wendy Sherman, Victoria Nuland, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Nicholas Burns are FS "recidivists" and their return helped State bounce back. Especially good in the short run because it bought the FS time to develop the generation that is stretching to cover gaps in experience and expertise left by early departures 2017-2019.
I’m new to your posts. So far I like your thoughts about stuff we could all use to understand better. Plus, I like your sense of humor.
Sorry I cannot relate too well to your basic question as I feel not well capable of forming an opinion on it. I’ll continue to read as much as I can, however, and to thank you for your seasoned observations. Feels like a steady hand in an unsteady world.
A gazette? How about, the items are just, “posts.” Some have column status but some of your best stuff is when you are reacting to balloons from the road. I sent that one straight off to my students. If you’d waited to produce a column, my kids would still be in a balloon crazy.
I’ve actually been thinking about this some since you slipped the other day and referred to the hardworking staff at “Spoiler Alerts.” Spoiler Alerts was a blog, right? Or was your idea that you were writing columns?
Truthfully, it seems most like a blog. And these are blog posts. Don’t overthink.
One area where Biden has been a disappointment is in his appointments of the same kinds of unqualified hacks (read: wealthy donors and old friends) as every previous administration to cushy ambassadorial posts. The most blatant example was his nomination of George Tsunis to be Ambassador to Greece. Tsunis, as you may remember, was nominated by Obama to be the Ambassador to Norway, but the nomination was withdrawn after Tsunis bombed badly at his confirmation hearing. Yes, Biden's nominations are far better than Trump's, but many of Biden's picks are a still an embarrassment for a country that likes to pretend it takes diplomacy seriously. Biden's picks to run the State Department are far, far better than Trump's or Obama's, so kudos to Biden for that.
An observation: a fair number of President Biden's political appointees are former Foreign Service who knew how to pull the levers of the system. Wendy Sherman, Victoria Nuland, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Nicholas Burns are FS "recidivists" and their return helped State bounce back. Especially good in the short run because it bought the FS time to develop the generation that is stretching to cover gaps in experience and expertise left by early departures 2017-2019.
I’m new to your posts. So far I like your thoughts about stuff we could all use to understand better. Plus, I like your sense of humor.
Sorry I cannot relate too well to your basic question as I feel not well capable of forming an opinion on it. I’ll continue to read as much as I can, however, and to thank you for your seasoned observations. Feels like a steady hand in an unsteady world.
A gazette? How about, the items are just, “posts.” Some have column status but some of your best stuff is when you are reacting to balloons from the road. I sent that one straight off to my students. If you’d waited to produce a column, my kids would still be in a balloon crazy.
I’ve actually been thinking about this some since you slipped the other day and referred to the hardworking staff at “Spoiler Alerts.” Spoiler Alerts was a blog, right? Or was your idea that you were writing columns?
Truthfully, it seems most like a blog. And these are blog posts. Don’t overthink.
I like the 'gazette' suggestion, it sounds classy.
It's a blog with an updated distribution system.
One area where Biden has been a disappointment is in his appointments of the same kinds of unqualified hacks (read: wealthy donors and old friends) as every previous administration to cushy ambassadorial posts. The most blatant example was his nomination of George Tsunis to be Ambassador to Greece. Tsunis, as you may remember, was nominated by Obama to be the Ambassador to Norway, but the nomination was withdrawn after Tsunis bombed badly at his confirmation hearing. Yes, Biden's nominations are far better than Trump's, but many of Biden's picks are a still an embarrassment for a country that likes to pretend it takes diplomacy seriously. Biden's picks to run the State Department are far, far better than Trump's or Obama's, so kudos to Biden for that.
Seem to know what you are talking about and like your take on SD affairs. 1st time reader.
Nice even presentation, easy to follow. Certainly shows how you can screw up sensitive things with political hacks the 4yrs prior to 2021.