CAROLINE KENNEDY TO TESTIFY ON AMBASSADORSHIP NOD...

[Indi Guy]

Source: AP



WASHINGTON (AP) — Former first daughter Caroline Kennedy is preparing to testify before a Senate panel weighing her nomination to be U.S. ambassador to Japan.

President Barack Obama chose the attorney and best-selling book editor for the diplomatic job. If confirmed, she would be the first woman in a post where many other prominent Americans have served to strengthen a vital Asian tie.

Her testimony comes before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Her father, John F. Kennedy, served on the panel when he was a Massachusetts senator. He was elected president in 1960 and assassinated 50 years ago.

Caroline Kennedy helped propel Obama to the Democratic presidential nomination with her endorsement over Hillary Rodham Clinton — the only time she's endorsed a presidential candidate other than her uncle Ted Kennedy in 1980.

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/caroline-kennedy-testify-ambassadorship-nod

[bucolic_frolic]

1. WHO would vote against this nomination?

Tea Partiers have some splainin' to do if they
vote against this nomination.

[shebornik]

2. You're assuming Tea Partiers are going to act rational?

[Shemp Howard]

3. I believe that I'd vote no.

An appointment should go to the most qualified person, not to the person with the best political connections. An appointment should not be a reward.

It would seem to me that the post Ambassador to Japan should go to someone who is an expert in Japan and the Far East.

This is not meant to be a slam against either Obama or Kennedy. Both parties have done this sort of thing in the past, and both will continue to do it in the future.

But unless Kennedy could demonstrate that she's highly qualified for the position, I'd vote against the nomination on principle.

[Ash_F]

4. A brief read-through of her history shows none of that

Good point.

[olddad56]

5. What does 'most qualified' mean these days? ..

In all of one party and in a large part of the other party, most qualified means most corrupt.

[bucolic_frolic]

6. If Ambassadorships went to academic geopolitical experts

most ambassadorships for the last 200 years would have been unfilled

Ambassadors are experienced, larger than life personalities who do not fit
into technocrat slots.

Ambassadors, from Benjamin Franklin to John Adams are cultural schmoozers,
appointed for their abilities to represent the US and the President in
diplomatic ways, give their judgment to the President, and strengthen
foreign alliances.

Many, many, many are political appointees, of the party or the President in offce,
who are rewarded for service to their party and country.

Sometimes they are appointed to get them out of the domestic political fray. Seems
to me I remember that JFK and Henry Cabot Lodge II were not on good terms.

I recommend David McCullough's "John Adams" biography because it details the
ambassadorships of Adams and to some extent Franklin and Jefferson in Paris, and
Adams in London. They had little protocol, and America had few friends at the time.
They observed and imitated contemporary court protocol, made contacts with business
and banking interests, and conducted themselves well.

And what does highly qualified mean for an ambassador? Astute, good judgment, experienced
in many aspects of business and politics, loyal to the country, committed to public service.

They're a lot more cultured than CEO's and they don't bankrupt the institution they run.

I'm no expert on Caroline Kennedy, but she's a slam dunk for this position, IMO.

[CTyankee]

7. Kennedy is such an asset. She is perfect for the job. The Japanese will probably love

her. I cannot imagine a better candidate for this position.