King Obama Dispatches New Ambassador to Turkey
You know how the Senate is supposed to confirm the appointment of our ambassadors? Well, Obama has found a way around that inconvenience. Welcome to Turkey, Ambassador Ricciardone, who has just been recess-appointed. Now, it's not as if the Senate was just too busy to rubber-stamp this appointment. The Senate really did not want Francis Ricciardone in this position, and had been holding up this appointment since July. Last August, Senator Brownback sent a letter to the State Department asking eminently reasonable questions about Ricciardone's record in Egypt--he was not especially friendly to democratizing elements, apparently--and what it suggests about the appropriateness of his nomination (and our policy toward Turkey generally).
I'm willing to give Ricciardone a fair hearing, and I agree we need an ambassador over here posthaste--but simply shrugging off the Senate as if it didn't exist?
This isn't the only extremely dubious recess appointment: There are six of them, including the appointment of James Cole as deputy Attorney General. His record is beyond disturbing.
So much for bipartisanship.
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Aug '10
Re: King Obama Dispatches New Ambassador to Turkey
Besides the Turkish Amb, what's your take on Matt Bryza for Azerbaijan ?
Bush's only diplomatic recess appointments were Bolton to UN, Gray to EU, and Fox to Belgium.
Re: King Obama Dispatches New Ambassador to Turkey
Bush shouldn't have done it either, frankly. My take on recess appointments is that they so clearly contravene the Constitutional intention that they should never happen. And to do it with posts this sensitive is truly outrageous. I don't know enough about Bryza to say. And I don't know enough about Ricciardone to have a very strong opinion yet. But I definitely object to the manner of the appointment.
May '10
Re: King Obama Dispatches New Ambassador to Turkey
The argument that presidents use in this case, which I have some sympathy for, is that a nominee deserves an up-or-down vote. If the senate won't confirm someone, then get the rejection over with and the president can move on to the next name on the list. The tendency to express disapproval via delay & deadlock confirms the general view of the legislative function as passive-aggressive and allergic to taking responsibility.
Of course, when the president's own party dominates the Senate with a substantial majority, the reasons for any such delay become more. . .interesting--a situation that GWB never enjoyed, of course, although I seem to recall such a situation occurring during a more recent presidency (I forget the details).
May '10
Re: King Obama Dispatches New Ambassador to Turkey
He's counting on the voting public not paying any attention. Sadly, he's probably right.
No harm, no foul.
Dec '10
Re: King Obama Dispatches New Ambassador to Turkey
What seems to contravene Constitutional intention is that in the modern day, there is really no situation in which Congress is in recess long enough that a recess appointment becomes the only way to do the nation's business -- unlike in the days of weeks-long travel for Senators between their home states and the Capital.
Apparently the lack of an Ambassador to Syria was such a pressing foreign policy issue that Obama had no choice but to appoint one in this recess. I guess the Syrian roles in rearming Hezbollah and inflaming global anti-Western outrage (e.g., over the Prophet cartoons) were so deserving of reward that Obama just couldn't wait for the Senate to come around.
May '10
Re: King Obama Dispatches New Ambassador to Turkey
Surely, Obama would never, ever do that. Because, given the power to regulate cafteria food, he wouldn't actually use it. Or, given the delightful new toy of internet regulation, he would never play with it.
As long as we're good.
Nov '10
Re: King Obama Dispatches New Ambassador to Turkey
Once again, all of this begs the questions:
What is the exact nature of Obama's attitude toward radical Islam?
What is the exact nature of Obama's attitude toward moderate Islam?
This is not idle conspiracy-mongering. We need answers to those questions before we, as American citizens, find ourselves in very serious trouble.
I do not want to say it, and I fervently hope it is not true, but the man in the White House is looking more and more like a real enemy of the country.
Oct '10
Re: King Obama Dispatches New Ambassador to Turkey
Given the Obama administration's precedent of diplomatic faux pas, perhaps Ricciardone will bring Prime Minister Erdoğan a boxed set of Mannix DVDs.
May '10
Re: King Obama Dispatches New Ambassador to Turkey
UN ambassador strikes me as a pretty 'sensitive' post but we defended Bush's appointment of John Bolton. Getting mad at Barry for doing things Bush did, and then reversing ourselves on supporting Bush in retrospect, strikes me as fishy!
Nov '10
Re: King Obama Dispatches New Ambassador to Turkey
Personally, I tend to defend President Bush in this case because John Bolton was an excellent UN Ambassador. The problem with "Barry" is that he seems to have an unerring instinct for picking appointees who are corrupt, incompetent or anti-American — or all three.