
DNC leaks reveal former FCC chairman (2009-2013) paid DNC $3.5 mil for position - throwaway2016b
https://i.sli.mg/wZrcZq.jpg
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nerdponx
Context for this data?

~~~
dalke
Perhaps
[http://www.opensecrets.org/obama/ambassadors.php](http://www.opensecrets.org/obama/ambassadors.php)
?

> U.S. presidents have long rewarded big campaign donors, fundraisers and
> other loyalists with ambassadorships, and Democratic President Barack Obama
> seems to be no exception.

Because of modern communications, it's much easier for the State Department to
manage overseas relations from Washington. There's the belief that it's okay
to put political appointees in that position than career diplomats.

See also [http://www.npr.org/2014/02/12/275897092/more-ambassador-
post...](http://www.npr.org/2014/02/12/275897092/more-ambassador-posts-are-
going-to-political-appointees) , which highlights some of the errors of that
view point, like when George Tsunis, nominee to become ambassador to Norway,
said the leading Norwegian political party was a "fringe element."

~~~
vidarh
> See also [http://www.npr.org/2014/02/12/275897092/more-ambassador-
> post...](http://www.npr.org/2014/02/12/275897092/more-ambassador-post..). ,
> which highlights some of the errors of that view point, like when George
> Tsunis, nominee to become ambassador to Norway, said the leading Norwegian
> political party was a "fringe element."

It was much worse than that. If he'd just said they were a fringe element,
it'd still have been embarrassingly undiplomatic, but most of the population
of Norway would agree.

The party in question ("Progress Party" / Fremskrittspartiet) has never been
the leading party, but they are now the junior coalition partner in
government. At the same time they are also the most right-wing party in
parliament, and widely detested by voters for most other parties. As an
example of how they are often politically isolated, when the senior coalition
party recently negotiated a settlement over asylum policy, they ended up
negotiating a deal that _every other party in parliament_ , from the Socialist
Left Party, through the Labour Party, and several small centrist parties
agreed to, but not Progress Party. Wide consensus agreements on basic
principles in an area (e.g. there was one agreed related to pensions a few
years ago) is common in Norway, and Progress Party often end up not even being
invited, or being invited and quickly sidelined because they others find
common ground without them. So they're pretty much objectively a fringe party.
Doesn't mean he should've actually said it out loud if he wants to be a
diplomat, of course.

But what he actually said [1] went further. In his answer to a question about
why they were popular, he said pretty much that when you have free speech, you
get some fringe elements, but that the Norwegian government had been quick to
_condemn them_.

At which point he was interrupted by McCain, who pointed out that they were in
fact part of the governing coalition. McCain later ended the questioning by
sarcastically thanking "the extremely highly qualified candidates"
(paraphrased; I translated back from a Norwegian report).

[1] based on this Norwegian report:
[http://www.vg.no/nyheter/utenriks/usa/flaut-da-usas-nye-
amba...](http://www.vg.no/nyheter/utenriks/usa/flaut-da-usas-nye-ambassadoer-
ble-grillet-om-norge/a/10120843/)

