State Department

Tragic Passing Of Richard Holbrooke, Premier Diplomat And Peace Maker! :(

The death last night of Richard Holbrooke, one of the greatest diplomats in American history, after the occurrence of an aortic tear while visiting Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the State Department last Friday, is a tremendous loss to American diplomacy. 🙁

A career diplomat since the late 1960s, Holbrooke worked on the problems of Vietnam, Bosnia, Cyprus, Afghanistan and Pakistan.   He was also Ambassador to Germany, and also was Ambassador to the United Nations under President Bill Clinton.

Holbrooke was often considered a potential Secretary of State, and many thought he should have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for having negotiated the Dayton Accords in 1995, which brought peace to the Balkans and ended the Serbian war on Bosnia.

Also having prevented a war between Greece and Turkey over Cyprus in 1996, Holbrooke was known as a tough negotiator who would not let anyone intimidate him, and he was known for not suffering fools or villains, staring down Serbian dictator Slobodan Milosevic.

It will not be easy to replace Holbrooke, so American diplomacy has suffered a major loss hard to measure!

Sarah Palin’s Quest To Learn Foreign Policy Begins In Haiti!

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is visiting Haiti this weekend in the midst of controversy over the recent presidential election, and the turmoil surrounding the cholera epidemic and the earthquake that have made this year probably the worst in the long tortured history of that nation. 🙁

She is traveling with Franklin Graham, the evangelical preacher son of Billy Graham, with both of them ignoring the request of the State Department and the Obama Administration to avoid visiting there at a delicate and dangerous time for Americans to visit, who require extra security coverage.

Why is Palin visiting? It is apparent she wants to build up foreign policy credentials for her expected run for the White House, and also continue to gain the support of evangelical Christians at the same time.

She also is expected to visit Israel and Great Britain, and possibly other European nations in the year 2011, even though it is clear that she carries little weight and respect in the eyes of foreign leaders.

Does Sarah Palin really understand the history of Haiti, and could she point it out on a world map without coaxing or hints? 🙁

Does she really have any background and depth in world affairs, and can she acquire this simply by doing photo ops with foreign leaders in what will obviously be just a publicity stunt? 🙁

Can Sarah Palin really make judgments when she has exhibited no curiosity about the world until now, and every time she opens her mouth and speaks, she makes one long for the “intellectual” George W. Bush or Dan Quayle, who by comparison are “geniuses”?

And beyond all of this, can Sarah Palin unite even her GOP colleagues when she utilizes such language as “impotent” and “limp” to describe her critics within the Republican Party who point out her total ignorance, and quite frankly, stupidity, every time she utters any comment on anything? 🙁

Again, she may be a nice neighbor and a friendly person, as long as you do not dare to criticize her. But since she is so defensive and negative and VERY ignorant, she does not belong in the very serious business of wishing to be President of the United States!

Not everyone born in the US is qualified to be President. You need real credentials and you need “smarts”, neither of which Sarah Palin possesses now, or ever will possess!

Hillary Clinton: Only One Term As Secretary Of State?

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has indicated in an interview that she intends to serve only one term, a statement that certainly has raised eyebrows.

Clinton said that she loves her job and finds it very challenging, but that it is a 24-7 job, and that in three more years, she is going to want to retire, and then do a lot of reading and writing and some teaching. She claims no interest in pursuing the Presidency ever again.

Hillary will be 65 in October 2012, and certainly it is not uncommon for people of that age to wish to retire and take it easy. But somehow, it is hard to fathom Hillary wanting to be out of the center of politics and public affairs, so it is probably a smart thing to assume that she will change her mind or have President Obama convince her to stay on.