The US Army has given itself a self inflicted black eye in how it has mishandled LTC Vindman’s promotion.This did not need to happen. Even though the reality, regardless of anything else that might or might not happen or have happened, is that because LTC Vindman was never going to be able to deploy as a Foreign Area Officer in his region of expertise again. By complying with a lawful subpoena to testify before the House of Representatives, he both raised his profile and did so while stymying one of Vladimir Putin’s objectives in regard to Ukraine. As I wrote back in February, going to either the US Embassy in Kyiv or in Moscow as the Defense Attache or Senior Defense Official was simply out of the question. It would not be safe for him to be placed in either of those assignments, which are usually the highest level assignment that a Foreign Area Officer can aspire to. That didn’t mean that his career had to be over, nor did it mean that the Army didn’t have a meaningful path forward they could have created for him.
What the Army needed to do was to have the Chief of Staff or the Vice Chief of Staff of the Army or the senior officer overseeing Functional Area 48/Foreign Area Officers to sit down with him, explain the reality, and tell him that even if they had to put his promotion in above the zone – after the year in which he should be promoted – because it had to wait until after the election in November, that it would ultimately go through. They also needed to tell him that he was going to matriculate at one of the Senior Leader Colleges for his war college year, preferably one of the ones NOT in Washington, DC to get him out of DC and thereby out of the sights of the President, his surrogates, and his enablers. Back in February, when it was reported that he would be attending the Academic Year 2021 Resident Course at US Army War College in Carlisle, PA, I wrote:
LTC Vindman will be matriculating at the end of July/beginning of August into the resident class at USAWC for academic year (AY) 2021. When he graduates he will have earned both a Masters in National Security and Strategy and his Joint Professional Military Education Level II certification. Without these he would not be eligible for an O6 (colonel) level command or equivalent assignment. He’s just at the right stage of his career, around 22 years in, to be sent to one of the senior leader colleges. Given how the selection process for the Senior Leader Colleges is done, I suspect that this was also always his intended follow on assignment to serving on the National Security Staff of the National Security Council as his assignment was supposed to originally end in May of this year. While it does not always work out that way because life is not neat, the expectation is that the officers who attend the Senior Leader Colleges will serve well past their graduations retiring as full colonels or captains near or at the 30 year mandated retirement or be promoted to general officer/flag officer and serve past the 30 year mark.
Here’s what I think is likely to happen to LTC Vindman and his career based on informed speculation. He will attend USAWC as a student next academic year, graduate, and I would expect that he will be then moved onto the faculty as the Director of Eurasian Studies where he’ll oversee the Eurasian Regional Studies Elective (every student in the resident class is required to take a regional studies elective, but they get to choose which one, which is why it is called an elective even though it is mandatory – don’t ask me, I just worked there…). If this happens, then at some point he’ll be promoted to full colonel and will serve out the remainder of his career at USAWC. He and his family will have eight years of stability in a lovely small town that is close to a medium sized city (Harrisburg) and within a ninety minute to two hour drive of three large cities – Philadelphia, Baltimore, and DC – depending on traffic and whether you’re driving like you stole it. During the short summer breaks between resident class graduation and course prep for the next academic year, he, like many of the Foreign Area Officers (FAOs) assigned to the faculty will be available for temporary duty assignments in his functional speciality as a Foreign Area Officer. While the pinnacle of a career for a FAO is usually being a Defense Attache (DAT) or Senior Defense Official (SDO) at a US embassy within their region of expertise, given LTC Vindman’s prominence, I’m not sure that will be possible. I cannot imagine it would be safe to send him back to US Embassy Moscow to be the DAT, especially given how Russian intelligence and security treats US personnel assigned there. I expect that he and his family will have the stability that this type of assignment at USAWC brings: not having to relocate every two or three years, being able to keep your kids in the same schools until they graduate, and allowing one’s spouse to finally begin to put down some career roots.
Honestly, this is all they had to do to 1) make things as right as they could given the reality while 2) still doing as right as possible by LTC Vindman. Tell him that they would ensure that his promotion would go through, even if it was delayed a bit and give him a legitimate and meaningful career path to serve until he was ready to retire. Whether that was at year 25 or 28 or 30 when it would become mandatory for him to retire if he wasn’t being selected for brigadier general.
As we now know, this didn’t happen. Instead of getting him out of DC for his war college year, we now know he was headed to National War College, which is part of the National Defense University at Ft. McNair in DC. We now know that no one in the senior Army leadership was willing to make it clear that his promotion would eventually go through, even if delayed a bit Nor were they ready to resign on principle over the politicization of the Army’s merit based promotion system. And, apparently, we now know that no one in senior Army leadership took the time to provide him with an acceptable career path as a colonel given the reality that now existed: that it is not safe for him to deploy as a senior Foreign Area Officer to be the Defense Attache or Senior Defense Official at either US Embassy Kyiv or US Embassy Moscow. What LTC Vindman needed was senior mentorship that provided him hope for a useful and fulfilling career path for the final eight years or so of his service as a US Army officer. From the reporting and his attorney’s statement, this does not appear to have happened.
A couple of final points.
First, please, everyone, stop fantasy casting LTC Vindman in a potential Biden administration. He is not only not going to be the Secretary of the Army, nor the US ambassador to Ukraine, he is also not qualified for either of those positions. LTC Vindman is many things, not least of which a real patriot, but he has neither the management experience to be Secretary of the Army, nor the diplomatic experience to be the ambassador to Ukraine. If VP Biden is elected and if he doesn’t find himself facing a Republican majority Senate led by Mitch McConnell, the senior political and diplomatic appointees he nominates will need to be actual professionals with the actual expertise and experience to properly do their jobs. Stunt casting or nominating donors or other elites and notables with no actual experience and expertise for these jobs is simply not going to work. Too much damage has been done over the last four years to let wealthy, connected people role play and play act being cabinet secretaries or ambassadors. That said, he would certainly be qualified to go back to the National Security Staff as the senior director for Russia, Ukraine, and/or Eastern Europe. Or to serve as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Russia, Ukraine, and/or Eastern Europe. I suspect, however, that he will soon be hired by one of the major think tanks as one of their senior fellows dealing with issues pertaining to Russia, Ukraine, and Eastern Europe.
Second, everyone needs to understand the immense pressure LTC Vindman was under. Pressure that only got worse when Senator Duckworth placed a hold on the 1,100 or so Army promotions to the ranks of colonel, brigadier general, major general, lieutenant general, and general until she was assured that LTC Vindman’s promotion to colonel would not be held up by the President as an act of revenge. Let me be very clear, I am not saying that Senator Duckworth’s actions are wrong. I am saying that by her increasing the pressure on the Secretary of the Army, she increased the pressure on LTC Vindman. Those other 1,100 or so men and women now have their lives upended. Some of them are slated into commands at brigade (colonel), division (major general), corps (lieutenant general), Army Service Component Command (major general or lieutenant general), or Geographic Combatant Command (general) and cannot take up those commands until their promotions are finalized. Some are slated into deputy command and senior staff assignments at this same commands. Some where preparing to relocate their families; relocations which are now on hold and no longer sure things. What Senator Duckworth is doing, and she’s a retired lieutenant colonel herself so she knows exactly what she’s doing, is increasing pressure on the Army leadership – senior civilian appointees and uniformed – by creating a knot in the professional pipeline. That knot has a huge follow on ripple effect. It isn’t that promotions will be held up for a few weeks to a few months, it’s that an entire set of personnel changes and rotations into and out of assignments is now completely up in the air. And while this is not LTC Vindman’s fault, I guarantee that some of these 1,100 or so officers who are having their lives placed on hold and their careers potentially upended will blame him. This isn’t because they aren’t good officers, but because they’re humans. The more that Senator Duckworth increases the pressure by holding up these promotions, the more the pressure also increased on LTC Vindman. So it shouldn’t be surprising that he wanted to remove himself from the equation and relieve the pressure on himself.
Third, and finally, while it is not impossible – as in it would be legal – do not expect that a President Biden will suddenly reinstate LTC Vindman by recalling him to active duty shortly after inauguration in January 2021 and then immediately promote him to colonel. Aside from assuming that Biden will win in November and take office in January, which is putting your eggs in your cart without counting them before your horse has left the barn, it takes LTC Vindman’s agency away from him. He may find that even if this opportunity is presented to him that he enjoys being retired, that he and his family are happy with the professional and personal changes that he felt he had no choice but to make. And as much as I respect Senator Franken, there is no way that LTC Vindman would be presented with a Medal of Honor shortly after Biden would be inaugurated in January 2021.
Open thread!
Adam L Silverman
Well that was a three hour nightmare getting this post published!
I’m going to take a shower!
Adam L Silverman
For whomever posted a single comment earlier. As far as I could tell, because the dashboard was acting up, the post didn’t publish. When I tried to copy, paste, and start over, it locked up first my MacBook Pro and then my iPad requiring hard shutdowns on both. It’s now back up, so whatever your comment was, please repost it. Sorry for the confusion.
Another Scott
Thanks for this.
It’s a crime what Trump and his henchmen did to him, and I hope Congress takes action to prevent similar things from happening again.
One minor quibble – Ambassadorships have been handed out as prizes for a very, very long time. I do not think he would necessarily be bad at such a job, but it would probably be a waste of his talents.
I suspect Vindman is going to take his new-found agency and use it very well. I wish him all the best.
Cheers,
Scott.
Cheryl Rofer
There are lots of possibilities for Vindman in a Biden administration that aren’t Secretary of the Army or Ambassador to Ukraine, which, I agree, would not be right for him.
That is, if he wants to get back into the fray.
Adam L Silverman
And before anyone asks, Watergirl is doing her best to figure out what the problem might be. Even with me emailing her in ALL CAPS!!!!
Adam L Silverman
@Another Scott: You miss my point, with the damage that has been done to the US, its reputation, and its relationships around the world, if Biden is elected he cannot afford to appoint anyone but career foreign service officers (Foreign Service Executives) to all the ambassadorial positions. I know what the tradition is and has been. That tradition is no longer acceptable.
Mousebumples
Thanks, as always, for the information and insight, Adam.
lgerard
Definitely got the impression that the prospect of affecting others by holding up their promotions was a major factor in his decision,
Just makes me think even more highly of him
Hildebrand
Wouldn’t the knot disappear the moment the Secretary of the Army gave assurances? Seems that’s on the Secretary, not the Senator.
On a wholly ancillary note – the food at Carlisle Officer’s Club is amazing.
West of the Rockies
I’m not trying to be snarky or contrary, but if LTC Vindman is not qualified to be ambassador to Ukraine, why is Mrs. Gingrich qualified to be the ambassador to The Vatican?
Edit: I skipped the comments, but now see my question has been addressed.
Mousebumples
I have no idea on how many people are in what field, but are there enough Civil service Executives to fill all those roles, around the world? Or enough qualified that would be worthy of promotion ?
laura
He is a good man who did the right thing instead of the easy thing. How can you not respect someone who was willing to stand up for the rule of law knowing the likely outcome and personal cost and doing it anyway. That takes character and brass.
Those who did the easy thing instead of the right thing – good luck looking yourself in the mirror. As BillinGlendale sez “You know what you did.”
Adam L Silverman
@West of the Rockies: She isn’t. That’s the point. Which, to be explicit, is that the US can no longer afford to allow these positions go to wealth donors and/or the well connected who would like an ambassadorship to someplace nice. The positions have to be filled by professionals.
Punchy
@Adam L Silverman: That’s assuming Europe even wants our filthy diseased-ridden diplomats….
Adam L Silverman
@Mousebumples: There are. Or there should be. I have no idea what the reality at State is given all the damage done by Tillerson and Pompeo.
West of the Rockies
@Adam L Silverman:
OT question, and I ask mostly in a spirit of snarky and fun speculation, but how quick do you think Biden will can Fat Ass (I mean Attorney General) Barr? Day 1?
Anya
As always great points. I just like to emphasize the above. We need to move away from the corrupt practice of rewarding donors with an ambassadorship. But also, our country has suffered a great deal of damage under Trump and we need career civil servants who know what they’re doing.
Another Scott
@Adam L Silverman: No, I got your point, but I think it is too broad.
He could be Ambassador to NATO or something similar. There are many, many similar positions that he could potentially fill. (Rumsfeld held that position, and he’s not known for being especially diplomatic. ;-)
While shipping him off to the AWC or similar might have made sense, we all know brilliant people who are great at their jobs but who are also lousy teachers. It’s a different skill-set.
My musings aren’t going to affect what he decides to do. Vindman is a smart guy who knows a lot about what America is supposed to be about and was willing to risk a lot to support that ideal. That is extremely valuable. Biden’s a smart guy and will have smart advisors, and if he asks Vindman to do something, I’m sure it will be seriously considered, and I don’t think sensible people would think that the decision would be based on political payback or something.
FWIW.
tl;dr – I don’t expect him to be an ambassador either, but …
Cheers,
Scott.
Anya
Adam, sorry for the OT but I’ve been wanting to ask you this for a long time. Suppose Trump pardons Flynn is there anything the military can do to punish him in anyway or is he out of their reach since he’s retired?
Joe Falco
@Adam L Silverman:
It was my post. I’ll just pretend my lost comment was the most insightful, poignant and heartfelt post that was ever made, and we can all mourn the loss of my crystallized wisdom. C’est la vie…
Adam L Silverman
@West of the Rockies: What makes you think Biden is going to win?
The Moar You Know
@Adam L Silverman:
Thanks for this. The days of us handing out ambassadorships as favors to the unqualified needs to be over for a good long time. I am not sure that Americans understand just how badly the last four years have damaged our relationship with the rest of the world. It’s going to take years to fix, and we are not going to be calling shots like we used to. And that’s the best case outcome.
Adam L Silverman
@Another Scott: He is not qualified to be an ambassador. Full stop. Don’t pass go. He does not have the experience to be one. I have taught FAOs, I have served with FAOs. I have taught career diplomatic staff. I have served with career diplomatic staff. And I have worked for an ambassador. I am not making this up. I’m not talking out of my tuchas.
NotMax
@Anya
A pardon does not erase a crime. Accepting a pardon is an on the record ineradicable admission of guilt in commission of the crime.
Adam L Silverman
@Anya: It will depend how the pardon is worded. And if there is something he could actually be courtmartialed for.
Emma
On the question of Senator Duckworth, how much hostility from the military would there have been going toward her vs. Vindman? I get what you’re saying about some people irrationally hating on Vindman holding up their promotions, but wouldn’t a woman of color already retired from the military be the more “logical” person to hate for these people? (“Logical” in quotes because obviously they’re not if they hate anyone other than Trump for messing up their promotions.)
Adam L Silverman
@The Moar You Know: It isn’t just the ambassadorships. Everyone in the top line positions actually have to be qualified. The amount of damage that the senior appointees, both Senate confirmed and acting, have done to the government would astound you if it is every actually reported.
West of the Rockies
@Adam L Silverman:
Because I cannot even imagine the existential void and horror of four more years.
I anticipate COVID will not greatly improve in the next 118 days until the election. Ditto for the economy. Nor will Trump do anything remotely good on the civil unrest front. Trump’s support is down in almost every meaningful category other than rural breakfast cafes. I believe he will lose.
Adam L Silverman
@Emma: I’m sure she’s the focus of a lot of it. But she is doing it on his his behalf and to ensure a precedent isn’t set that politicizes, and thereby breaks, the merit based promotion system.
Adam L Silverman
@West of the Rockies: Prepare for the worst, hope for the best. And remember that hope is not a strategy.
The Moar You Know
@Adam L Silverman: I read the interview with the German Foreign Minister in Deutche Welle the day before that article about Trump abusing Merkel came out. I’ve never heard a nation I’d consider an ally speak of us like that before. Don’t have to be a genius to read something like that and realize that we’ve really done ourselves some major, major damage. And as you say, “if it ever gets reported”. Whatever went down between us and Germany is bad enough that the Germans made it a state secret to avoid pissing off their own people.
I don’t know if the professionals can help us at this point, but amateur hour (and we’ve been doing “ambassador rewards” for decades) needs to be over. At every level of the government. I know that much.
If Biden doesn’t win AND we don’t retake the Senate (neither is guaranteed) we are done as a world power. For a great look at what that future looks like, look no further than Russia.
Adam L Silverman
@The Moar You Know: Even if Biden wins and McConnell holds the Senate we’re done. Not one nominee – political appointee, diplomatic, or judicial – will get a vote if Biden is president and McConnell is still the majority leader.
Adam L Silverman
@The Moar You Know: Not Russia, Victor Orban’s Hungary. Or Israel under Bibi. Or Turkey under Erdogan.
Another Scott
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2020/07/08/lt-col-alexander-vindman-who-testified-against-trump-announces-retirement-from-the-army/
The comments there hurt my head. :-(
Cheers,
Scott.
Mike in NC
So disgraceful. I feel so lucky that when I had to retire from the Navy Reserve after 30 years (2010), at least I got a framable certificate not signed by a Russian asset.
rikyrah
They did the wrong thing
The Moar You Know
@Adam L Silverman: What, I get a choice? Albeit all horrible ones?
Think I’ll take Hungary as my “hard pass”. The other two are merely unmitigated horror.
Thing is, my preferences don’t matter. We’d get the Orban model. We love ourselves some populist, racist dictators.
kindness
Senator Duckworth demanded that the US military act professionally and not fall prey to Trump’s twisted notions of management. The military showed they would bow to Trump.
Senator Duckworth was right and our Army leadership is poor. You have to be able to tell Trump no and expect to be able to keep your job and reputation.
Mallard Filmore
@Adam L Silverman:
That will depend on how dirty Biden and the Democratic leadership wants to go. Biden as President can declassify all sorts of information that is detrimental to the reputation, trial outcome, and-or health of McConnell.
McConnell could be convinced to step down, not sure Biden and the Democrats have the stones to go down that path.
Adam L Silverman
@Mallard Filmore: The US Senate will have to be pried loose from McConnell’s hands. He will not give it up willingly.
Omnes Omnibus
Vindman was a lower level manager who became a subject matter expert. He effectively left the infantry as a captain; that means that he probably never commanded more than 150 men. As a foreign area officer, he became a subject matter expert not a policy guy. He obviously knew his subject matter very well. Neither of these credentials qualifies someone for an ambassadorship or an upper level civilian position. People have been talking about putting him into jobs that are three or four pay grades above where he is now. Does that really make sense?
Mai naem mobile
I am guessing some think tank or news network will pick him up as a Ukraine/Russia expert. He’s probably got a book offer that he can work on right now which will take him past the election. The guy is smart. If worse comes to worse he’ll get picked up by the Rand Corp. or some outfit like that. He’s young and most people will eventually forget that he spoke before Congress about a quid pro quo especially as he ages and his appearance changes.
Mallard Filmore
@Adam L Silverman: I am sure that Biden can convince some of our partner countries to slip us a bit of intel on McConnell that we cannot admit collecting ourselves. It could even come from a not-so partner country that can be convinced to share what they pick up on stingrays as they drive around the city in diplomatic cars.
I do not have your depth of knowledge. Is it only a fantasy of mine to envision McConnell trying to run the Senate from a jail cell?
Anya
I am off to bed.
#WeMust864511320
Noah Brand
@Adam L Silverman: Out of curiosity, since I doubt you’ll be consulte, who’d be your pick for Secretary of the Army? Or, for that matter, Secretary of Defense?
Hkedi [Kang T. Q.]
@Adam L Silverman: As bad as trump is (Overwhelmingly bad), he’s junior league to the damage to the republic that McConnell has done.
Somewhat off-topic, have you read the Laundry files by Charles Stross (if you read fiction)? It’s a very interesting mash-up of Dilbert-meets-007-meets-call of Cthulhu. You might find it an amusing series to read, especially with what is going on with this particular discussion thread.
Mai naem mobile
@Adam L Silverman: I doubt McConnell will hang around if the GOP loses the Senate. He is not going to hang around to be in the minority. He’ll retire like Newt Gingrich did. I am guessing Kentucky forces Beshear to appoint a same party replacement. Mitch is old. He doesn’t give a shit about Kentucky except that that is how he gets to be in the Senate. Elaine and he have made plenty of money off government. His daughters do not appear to be interested in following him into government.His GOP colleagues/competitors for his job will probably have their knives out for him. I am pretty sure the Dems are not going to be nice to him. Why would he bother staying?
Anya
@NotMax:
@Adam L Silverman:
thanks both. There is hope that he’ll pay some way.
i feel like the military shouldn’t have someone as disgraceful as Flynn to continue to enjoy the prestige and the credibility attached to it.
Adam L Silverman
@Mai naem mobile: I’m betting on Brookings. Fiona Hill, okay the Fiona Hill, PhD who was his boss at the NSC, not the Fiona Hill, PhD who is an American politics expert and is from Scotland (I know them both, the former very, very casually – I doubt she’d know me from Adam and I AM Adam, the latter a bit better as she was two cohorts ahead of me in the doctoral program at UF and, I suspect, she’s been getting a lot of the other Fiona Hill’s hate emails and voicemails for the past six months or so) is a senior fellow at Brookings. And my impression is that the President of Brookings, Gen (ret) Allen, hates the President. So it would likely be a good fit.
Adam L Silverman
@Mallard Filmore: A rich fantasy life is, from what I’m told, essential to good mental health.
Adam L Silverman
@Noah Brand: While it’ll upset several people here, I’d recommend Duckworth for Secretary of Defense. But the reality is that it will be one of the former Deputy Secretaries of Defense that are now at the Biden Institute or working with the campaign. He has some very senior former people that he’s worked with while VP that are “his people” and they’re going to get the top line and most of the senior positions. And their proteges will get the intermediate and junior positions.
The Moar You Know
@Mallard Filmore: Neato. How does that get budgets passed, judges confirmed, or our gutted government restaffed?
McTortise is not the only bad actor in the Senate. If the GOP holds it, and we manage to wish him into a cornfield, his replacement will be just as bad and possibly far worse. The GOP has one job and they are all on the same page: rule or ruin.
Adam L Silverman
@Hkedi [Kang T. Q.]: McConnell had a strategy, stuck with it, and it was both very effective for him and very damaging to the US.
I don’t reach much fiction anymore, but I’ll give it a look and see if it is something that would interest me. Thanks for the recommendation.
Adam L Silverman
@Mai naem mobile: The fly in your ointment is that McConnell has to lose his majority. Is it possible this year? Yes. Is it probable? Maybe. Is it definite? No.
Adam L Silverman
@Anya: I don’t think Flynn will be able to stay out of trouble. He seems to be both angry and somewhere between irrational and deranged. And he’s going to want to get even and is dumb enough to think he could pull off an op, as a private citizen, to get even with his perceived persecutors.
The Moar You Know
Bedtime, guys.
piratedan
Adam…. you are being really cautious about November (with cause) and I would like to know if there’s something going on that you’ve yet to touch on in your posts…
namely we know that the Russians worked hand in hand with the GOP for voter suppression, which we know will attempt to be replayed but that Dems are much more aware of (or so we hope) and ready to combat it.
Fears that I still harbor are outright vote manipulation, votes being changed or “lost”…. or are your fears based on other points of attack. I still have concerns that the Russians may have even manipulated the GOP primary votes (but no one really seems interested in exploring that) to give us Trump.
your thoughts…
Calouste
@West of the Rockies: What qualifications do you need to be ambassador to a country with 800 people? What does that job even entail?
Adam L Silverman
@piratedan: I have some of the same concerns as those you’ve articulated. Basically all of my professional experience from working for the Army, where I’ve worked on issues in states and societies where the very issue of who actually gets to be a member of the state and society with all the rights and privileges thereto is being contested among multiple ethno-national and or ethno-religious groups, as well as work on authoritarian regimes, especially populist systems, is screaming at me. When you combine that with the President facing the reelection or prosecution dilemma, and Barr and McConnell being very, very, very close to achieving their own strategic objectives, which only happen if the President is reelected, I am very concerned. None of them are going to give up power easily and they will do everything they can to keep from having to do so.
And it is not that I distrust the polling or the analysis, but the same data that is leading people to say that it provides a plausible path for Biden to win 400 electoral votes and the Dems to flip the Senate, expand their majority in the House, and make big gains in state legislative seats is the same data that, at the other side of the distribution, shows a plausible path for the President to once again lose the popular vote, and by even larger margins this time, while eking out a narrow Electoral College victory, the Dems holding the House, McConnell barely holding the Senate, and the state legislative results being a mixed bag.
Mai naem mobile
@Adam L Silverman: i disagree. MCconnell himself could hang on but lose the Senate majority.
Timurid
Even before the election, I’m just numbed by the proposition that Trump will kill tens or hundreds of thousands more Americans and the legal and proper response is to just let him do it for (at least) six more months. It’s as if Hannibal Lecter was competing on ‘Chopped’ and started butchering and cooking members of the audience. And the response of the judges is just “Well, that sucks. Let’s vote him off the show and not invite him back” instead of “Let’s call the cops to take this guy to jail.” But before they do anything, they must observe the forms. They will let him finish the meal… and they will taste the meal… before they vote.
HumboldtBlue
Other than the White House home court where Obama runs with that weak-ass left hand, he can still be taken with a stanky leg.
Brachiator
@Adam L Silverman:
There are some ambassadorships which, almost by tradition, go to donors or friends. They are almost too cushy to go to mere foreign service professionals. These include the UK, France, and sometimes Mexico (John Gavin). There are no deep national security issues involved with these postings.
I will be very surprised if anything changes here. Not betting against it…yet. But would be extremely surprised.
Timurid
And right now I’m climbing the walls because, of all things, a leaky toilet (the wax ring apparently has a crack in it). I’m racking my brain trying to think of ways to avoid the plumber, because that plumber will be of my landlord’s choosing, not mine, and I’d really rather not find out about a red state, red city plumber’s approach to masking and social distancing. There’s a pretty decent hivemind of skilled tradespeople and skilled DIY types here, so when a truly open thread comes around I’ll solicit some advice. But right now the thought that a damned toilet could potentially be a threat to my safety is driving me mad…
Mai naem mobile
@Timurid: that’s because they created their Teabagger/Birther/RWRadio listener voting base and have no idea how to get control of this monster they created. Worse than that some of these nutjob base have themselves becoming elected officials. The Matt Gaetzs and Goober Gohmerts of the current GOP don’t understand the crazy fringe stuff you say is just stuff you say to get elected, not stuff that you actually believe in.
oclib
@Mai naem mobile:
I agree with you. McConnell himself has already indicated that he’ll stick around, even as minority leader. I think he feels that only he truly knows how to insert the monkey wrenches where needed.
MisterForkbeard
@Timurid: I’m in a blue state, but we had to hire a plumber for something similar a few weeks ago. The dude showed up in a Hazmat suit.
We tipped a lot. :)
sgrAstar
@Adam L Silverman: you don’t think McRaven has an inside track for SecDef? He seems to have every box ticked: unshakeable integrity, serious military bkgd, managerial competence, brains, glamor. People I know, know him and say he’s great. ?????
?
Yutsano
@Adam L Silverman: Please please PLEASE stop trying to rob people from the Senate! I don’t care if she’s from a blue state with a Democratic governor. Let Duckworth continue to be the junior senator from Illinois. She’s building relationships that will help especially if we get the majority next year (Lord please make it so!) and she’s amazingly effective there. Plus is there anything in her background beyond being a lieutenant colonel that suggests she is capable of handling a HUGE bureaucracy like the Department of Defense*? There are other considerations besides her knowing the military well.
*Yes I’m going with the Webster spelling reform because it’s an American agency and I can do what I want so live with it.
TS (the original)
@sgrAstar:
I thought – until trump – it was the norm to not have a military person as the Sec of Defense. From Wiki
sgrAstar
@TS (the original): I think you’re absolutely right, but McRaven has been out of the Navy for years. It’s my understanding that the SecDef needs to be at least 5 years away from active duty. McRaven became the Chancellor of the UTX system after he left the Navy. I admire his courage in speaking out about trump’s malfeasance. Our military has suffered tremendous blows at trump’s hands- imho McR has the brains and leadership abilities to help fix that. And, the Navy appears to be a mess. Need a Navy guy to fix that. Full disclosure: we are a Navy family. Ugh!
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Croaker
Whether or not the system changes and if does it won’t be in our lifetime. Political patronage and goes back to our origins. Jefferson and Jackson started this crap. The senate aka Moscow “confirms” the orange mind control Ferret’s nominees for about 1200 of these. Ambassadorships are one.
In alternate universe president Clinton’s nominees would have been held up by a rigorous vetting process. There would be many furrowed brows and concerned faces. Hours of reporting on the confirmation processes and great concern of the lack of skilled leadership.
Look up the plumb book for fun if you want your blood to boil.
Croaker
darn thing closed while editing Plum book. 7k spoils out there for the overlords to grant. Whether or not its Moscow or Wall Street or 1%.
ENDEAVOR TO PERSEVERE then declare war on the union
J R in WV
@The Moar You Know:
I would say rather that I am not sure that Americans understand just how badly the last four years have damaged every aspect of Anerica’s ability to cope with the world.
Geeno
All I want for Vindman is that, whatever Army HR legerdemain has to take place, he gets O-6 officially, and is pensioned as an O-6.
Robert Sneddon
@Geeno: Lt. Col. Vindman has a very good case to sue for constructive dismissal given the paper trail, threats and public statements by many people able to affect his promotion. Any attempt to fight such a suit in court will be messy with a lot of subpoenaed records and communications exposed — my guess is that the DoD will fold and give him everything his lawyers want to make it all go away.
Just One More Canuck
@Timurid: we thought we had that problem a few months ago but it turned out that the bowl had worked a bit loose. Once we tightened it up (turns out those knobby things at the base actually have a purpose) it solved the problem. Hope it turns out to be that simple for you too. Good luck
Gvg
I have always disliked our tradition of giving donors, ambassadorships. When we started, it was pretty much the norm including England. At some point others stopped but we didn’t. I think it’s because it didn’t hurt us in some public spectacle, like the spoils system of local jobs causing Civil Service reforms. This may be the opportunity to legislatively end the practice, not just Biden choosing pros instead of donors, but actually legally end the choice, which is what I want.
Gvg
@Timurid: how handy are you? YouTube tutorials can show you how, it’s not that hard. I’ve done it. My recommendation is buy 2 wax rings. They are pretty cheap and it’s awkward but not hard, so you can mess up one trying, then need a second try.
home depot does curbside. I have been using it extensively since I figured out how. The parking lot notify them you are there ap seems to work better on apple than android, I have both but figuring it out was annoying. I also use Ace hardware curbside which got going earlier than HD.
my dad tried the newer non wax rings. I forget why, but it didn’t work, he had to go get a wax one.
evodevo
@Timurid: Changing a wax seal is extremely messy, but not complicated…are you physically capable of lifting 50 lbs or so? Then you are good…consult YouTube or a book. It’s not that hard…
Stephen
@Hkedi [Kang T. Q.]:
Don’t – this is far too close….
J R in WV
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Adam L Silverman
@Yutsano: She held an assistant secretary position at the VA.
Adam L Silverman
@sgrAstar: ADM (ret) McRaven is ill. He has a chronic illness. It is why he stepped down from running the UT system. It is not widely discussed, let alone reported. It is managed.
TidyCat
Adam – I love this post & thank you for it. I have enormous (yuge, even) respect for your opinion in matters like this.
That said, I was wondering if you could comment on the Hong Kong situation – specially as it affects Taiwan. I know this isn’t your geographic area but I would happily settle for your informed speculation =^..^=
TidyCat
@Adam L Silverman: I’m such a noob (long time reader, first time commenter) I didn’t tag you in my above comment – gomen nasai! Watashi was hontouni baka desu yo ne! (>_<)
brantl
Why? He deserves it.