...I'm okay with being REALITY-based.




Wednesday, July 09, 2003
      ( 8:52 AM )
 
Give Big, Become an Ambassador

While we like to continuously delude ourselves that our government is a democracy and that there is equal opportunity for everyone, the opposite has been the truth almost since the inception. Ambassadorships are the prime example of this. While it might seem logical to assign someone with diplomatic experience and know-how to be this country's representative in other nations, most often an ambassador is a big-money contributor to the president's campaign or party. A fresh example of this is today's announcement that the Bush administration has nominated James Kenny as the new ambassador to Ireland. James Kenny is a millionaire head of a Chicago construction firm with zero diplomatic experience. Now, Ireland, you may think, would be a cake-walk of an ambassadorship. But frankly, it's not. Ireland's economy is one of the fastest growing in the world, and the continuous struggle carried on with the British over the six most northern counties on the island requires ongoing diplomatic finesse and know-how. But while Kenny may not have any experience dealing with the intricate issues surrounding Ireland's place in the EU and the delicate workings of saving democracy in the north, he is a big BushCo insider. He not only raised lotsa moola for Daddy Bush, but in addition to being one of the primary GOP fundraisers for Junior, he gave almost $42,000 of his own money for the 2000 election. But his old family hails from County Mayo, and that's enough knowledge of Ireland and its issues to make him the prime candidate for the ambassadorship.

I'm not singling out BushCo for this practice, every administration, republican and democrat, before it has done the same. I realize that the ultimate purpose of government is to maintain the status quo and that this and many other practices that keep our country from developing truly worthwhile relations with other nations and practices that might make us admired, respected and a true partner on the worldwide scene are never optioned because things just always perpetuate old ways of doing things. It's unfortunate that Jefferson's truism that he liked "a little rebellion now and then. It is like a storm in the atmosphere" (1787) is not taken more to heart by the people of this country.

Today this small piece of news about this ambassadorship has got me thinking about the fact that while we may have the longest well-functioning republic with democratic rights for its citizens in history, we've also fallen into lethargy and malaise in terms of keeping this republic functioning with the best intentions of its citzens, and not the maintenance of its own fat habits, as its primary goal.

A little rebellion is good now and then.

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