GTaudiophile
Lifer
Here we have yet another President who rewards donors/friends by giving them Ambassadorships all over the world.
Case in point: Ex-Banker Expected to Be Named US Ambassador in Berlin
A former top executive at New York-based investment bank Goldman Sachs, Murphy later served as the Democratic Party's national finance chairman. He now stands a great chance of being appointed to the post in the imposing US Embassy on Berlin's Pariser Platz square, the city's historical center and site of the Brandenburg Gate.
After leaving Goldman Sachs in 2006, Murphy became the Democratic Party's leading fundraiser, in charge of attracting millions in private donations to the party. Unlike Germany and most European countries where the parties are funded through government subsidies, the finance chairmen of the Democratic and Republican parties are first and foremost responsible for filling the coffers through private fundraising. They must not only know politics, but also sell it.
During the 1990s he was a donor and also a fundraiser for the Clinton-Gore campaigns. And afterwards, Murphy also ran unsuccessfully in the gubernatorial race in New Jersey, where he currently lives.
In the most recent presidential campaign, Murphy first raised funds for the Democratic Party and, after the nominating convention in Denver, for candidate Obama, too. He organized a number of dinners for and with Obama, sometimes at his own home. The Christmas cards he sent out last year featured a photo of Obama sitting on the steps of his house in New Jersey -- circled by Murphy's four children.
What Murphy lacks, however, is diplomatic experience. That doesn't necessarily have to be interpreted as a defect, though. In Germany, ambassadors are selected from the pool of diplomats in the Foreign Ministry, but in the US, career diplomats are often overlooked in favor of politically engaged private citizens, often people who have been major fundraisers and party donors. An American ambassador first and foremost represents the president and must therefore be loyal to his politics.
And we wonder why America's image abroad is suffering? Aside from the obvious wars, torture, etc., could it ALSO have something to do with the idiots who represent us overseas? In other words, people who don't know a culture and are not engaged in it vs. the opposite? I mean, the last person we want representing us overseas is a trained diplomat, right? The best person for the job is obviously a rich campaign donor!
Change we can believe in!
Oh, I wonder if this guy was any way involved in the current mortgage crisis? Does he pay his taxes? Does he speak German? (You would think foreign language ability would be a minimum requirement for any ambassador.) Does he really know the culture at all?
Case in point: Ex-Banker Expected to Be Named US Ambassador in Berlin
A former top executive at New York-based investment bank Goldman Sachs, Murphy later served as the Democratic Party's national finance chairman. He now stands a great chance of being appointed to the post in the imposing US Embassy on Berlin's Pariser Platz square, the city's historical center and site of the Brandenburg Gate.
After leaving Goldman Sachs in 2006, Murphy became the Democratic Party's leading fundraiser, in charge of attracting millions in private donations to the party. Unlike Germany and most European countries where the parties are funded through government subsidies, the finance chairmen of the Democratic and Republican parties are first and foremost responsible for filling the coffers through private fundraising. They must not only know politics, but also sell it.
During the 1990s he was a donor and also a fundraiser for the Clinton-Gore campaigns. And afterwards, Murphy also ran unsuccessfully in the gubernatorial race in New Jersey, where he currently lives.
In the most recent presidential campaign, Murphy first raised funds for the Democratic Party and, after the nominating convention in Denver, for candidate Obama, too. He organized a number of dinners for and with Obama, sometimes at his own home. The Christmas cards he sent out last year featured a photo of Obama sitting on the steps of his house in New Jersey -- circled by Murphy's four children.
What Murphy lacks, however, is diplomatic experience. That doesn't necessarily have to be interpreted as a defect, though. In Germany, ambassadors are selected from the pool of diplomats in the Foreign Ministry, but in the US, career diplomats are often overlooked in favor of politically engaged private citizens, often people who have been major fundraisers and party donors. An American ambassador first and foremost represents the president and must therefore be loyal to his politics.
And we wonder why America's image abroad is suffering? Aside from the obvious wars, torture, etc., could it ALSO have something to do with the idiots who represent us overseas? In other words, people who don't know a culture and are not engaged in it vs. the opposite? I mean, the last person we want representing us overseas is a trained diplomat, right? The best person for the job is obviously a rich campaign donor!
Change we can believe in!
Oh, I wonder if this guy was any way involved in the current mortgage crisis? Does he pay his taxes? Does he speak German? (You would think foreign language ability would be a minimum requirement for any ambassador.) Does he really know the culture at all?
