Trump nominates handbag designer to be ambassador to South Africa

[Phokus]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...ter_impression=true&__twitter_impression=true

Sure, why the hell not.

 

[zinfamous]

Not sure if real....

But no doubt that resident Trump nut-ticklers will be in soon, certain that this is an excellent pick for all sorts of reasons. So, some handbag designer who's qualifications total: "Florida neighbor of Trump," that hasn't lived in her home country for 40 years?

She's probably going to show up there thinking that Apartheid is still law. I'm not even joking.

 

[hal2kilo]

Ambassadorships have always been mostly purely political payoffs, since forever. I'm not going to waste my time getting upset about this, when there are far more dangerous and damaging things being done to our democracy at the moment.

 

[UNCjigga]

I’m 100% certain she won’t insert herself/US or meddle in any other way with that whole land reform issue. Nope. She won’t touch it with a 10 foot pole.

/s

 

[imported_tajmahal]

I should give a rat's ass ? Why? The Vienna Convention clearly states that if they don't like an ambassador they can declare her persona non grata. It's up to South Africa what they want.

"Article 9. The host nation at any time and for any reason can declare a particular member of the diplomatic staff to be persona non grata. The sending state must recall this person within a reasonable period of time, or otherwise this person may lose their diplomatic immunity."

 

[shortylickens]

Came in expecting Paris Hilton.
Leaving disappointed.

 

[pauldun170]

Career vs Political appointments

http://www.afsa.org/appointments-donald-j-trump
vs
http://www.afsa.org/appointments-barack-obama
vs
http://www.afsa.org/ambassadorial-appointments-george-w-bush
vs
http://www.afsa.org/ambassadorial-appointments-william-j-clinton
vs
http://www.afsa.org/ambassadorial-appointments-george-h-w-bush
vs
http://www.afsa.org/ambassadorial-appointments-ronald-reagan
vs
http://www.afsa.org/ambassadorial-appointments-jimmy-carter
vs
http://www.afsa.org/ambassadorial-appointments-gerald-ford


https://www.publicintegrity.org/2008/08/11/3082/checkbook-diplomacy
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Polit...in-ambassador-appointments-That-s-nothing-new.

 

[Commodus]

I should give a rat's ass ? Why? The Vienna Convention clearly states that if they don't like an ambassador they can declare her persona non grata. It's up to South Africa what they want.

"Article 9. The host nation at any time and for any reason can declare a particular member of the diplomatic staff to be persona non grata. The sending state must recall this person within a reasonable period of time, or otherwise this person may lose their diplomatic immunity."

Because an ambassador should have relevant experience beyond simply having been born in that country? I know, the notion of someone having appropriate competency for a given job is foreign to Trump supporters, but it's a common practice in... well, the rest of the planet.

 

[imported_tajmahal]

Because an ambassador should have relevant experience beyond simply having been born in that country? I know, the notion of someone having appropriate competency for a given job is foreign to Trump supporters, but it's a common practice in... well, the rest of the planet.

Usually it's a common practice to reward friends, donors and allies to choice little ambassadorial postings, but lie about it if you want.

 

[KMFJD]

another unqualified ambassador

 

[imported_tajmahal]

another unqualified ambassador

May she RIP.

https://www.politico.com/story/2014/02/shirley-temple-politics-103371

 

[shortylickens]

another unqualified ambassador

Good thing she's not around any more. Trump would probably barge into her dressing room and grab her by the pussy.

 

[ivwshane]

Career vs Political appointments

http://www.afsa.org/appointments-donald-j-trump
vs
http://www.afsa.org/appointments-barack-obama
vs
http://www.afsa.org/ambassadorial-appointments-george-w-bush
vs
http://www.afsa.org/ambassadorial-appointments-william-j-clinton
vs
http://www.afsa.org/ambassadorial-appointments-george-h-w-bush
vs
http://www.afsa.org/ambassadorial-appointments-ronald-reagan
vs
http://www.afsa.org/ambassadorial-appointments-jimmy-carter
vs
http://www.afsa.org/ambassadorial-appointments-gerald-ford


https://www.publicintegrity.org/2008/08/11/3082/checkbook-diplomacy
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Polit...in-ambassador-appointments-That-s-nothing-new.

Hmm...one of these things is not like the others...

 

[imported_tajmahal]

Good thing she's not around any more. Trump would probably barge into her dressing room and grab her by the pussy.

If he was truly as evil as you think, maybe he could order her dug up? Make up a story and put it out there, someone will pick it up i'm sure. Maybe if you include Judge Kavanaugh in the story you'll get a twofer.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Ambassadorships have always been mostly purely political payoffs, since forever. I not going to waste my time getting upset about this, when there are far more dangerous and damaging things being done to our democracy at the moment.

Pretty much.

I mean certainly related was Equifax hired their Chief Security Officer from someone that majored in Music Studies.... Gee I wonder why they had a massive data breach?

Obvious corruption circle jerk of a swamp of "friends" and "friends of friends" is obvious in those cases.

 

[Commodus]

Usually it's a common practice to reward friends, donors and allies to choice little ambassadorial postings, but lie about it if you want.

They should still have experience beyond "well, she lived there once." And "others did it" doesn't make it a good move.

 

[dainthomas]

Should have made her ambassador to South Korea, since we still don't have one of those.

 

[hal2kilo]

Because an ambassador should have relevant experience beyond simply having been born in that country? I know, the notion of someone having appropriate competency for a given job is foreign to Trump supporters, but it's a common practice in... well, the rest of the planet.

Mostly based on how much money they raised for their campaigns. The big ones, UK, Japan, France, ect, they usually try to find someone who has some experience though.

 

[imported_tajmahal]

South Africa? Give it to anyone that wants it.

 

[kage69]

Was this just another donor kick back, or do we have Ivanka to thank for this latest example of nepotism?

Let me guess: she only speaks English and doesn't have experience in anything other than selling luxury purses.

 

[kage69]

Mostly based on how much money they raised for their campaigns. The big ones, UK, Japan, France, ect, they usually try to find someone who has some experience though.

Large and important countries usually get someone who isn't an idiot, comes with a State or intelligence background, and has (at least) a general working knowledge of the host country and it's history. Language skills are a plus if not a necessity. Bush sent an ambassador to France who didn't speak French. Went over great, but they dropped it when it was clear our president could barely manage English.

 

[imported_tajmahal]

Large and important countries usually get someone who isn't an idiot, comes with a State or intelligence background, and has a general working knowledge of the host country and it's history. Language skills are a plus if not a necessity. Bush sent an ambassador to France who didn't speak French. Went over great, but they dropped it when it was clear our president could barely manage English.

There are eleven official languages of South Africa: Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sotho, SiSwati, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa and Zulu.
Let's wait until we get an ambassador that speaks them all, right?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_South_Africa

 

[Commodus]

Was this just another donor kick back, or do we have Ivanka to thank for this latest example of nepotism?

Let me guess: she only speaks English and doesn't have experience in anything other than selling luxury purses.

While I'm not enthusiastic about the appointment, only speaking English isn't necessarily a huge barrier in South Africa. English is a lingua franca in the country, and there are certain regions (like Natal) where English is frequently the main language. Odds are that a South African official will know English in addition to whatever their native tongue might be.

 

[sdifox]

So Trump's new bag person in South Africa? One BMW filled with krugerrand coming up.

 

[zinfamous]

I should give a rat's ass ? Why? The Vienna Convention clearly states that if they don't like an ambassador they can declare her persona non grata. It's up to South Africa what they want.

"Article 9. The host nation at any time and for any reason can declare a particular member of the diplomatic staff to be persona non grata. The sending state must recall this person within a reasonable period of time, or otherwise this person may lose their diplomatic immunity."

I love how you've just given up completely on embracing a single minimum standard of competence, without corruption, in government.

How little you seem to give a shit about yourself.