Defiant U.S. ambassador rebuked for faith-based writing asks to resign

[alp227]

Source: CNN

(CNN) -- The U.S. ambassador to Malta has submitted his resignation, just over a week after he was called out in a State Department report for allegedly devoting time to writing about religion at the expense of his official duties.

Douglas Kmiec told CNN that he notified Malta's foreign ministry on Saturday about his intention, the same day he submitted his resignation to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and three days after he tendered a similar letter to President Barack Obama.

"With my reputation impugned by the recent ... report, I can no longer be certain that I am in a position with my government to have your needs and perspectives heard in the best possible light," Kmiec said in an e-mailed statement.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/04/16/malta.ambassador/index.html

[aquart]

1. Well, ain't that too damn bad.

Whatever will we do without him?

Does the Christian martyr lecture circuit pay well?

[alp227]

3. oh i didn't mention he's a Republican who supported Obama

and under the Reagan and Bush Sr. admins he was Asst. Atty. General for the Office of Legal Counsel, and Obama appointed Kmiec as Malta ambassador

[awoke_in_2003]

4. "Does the Christian martyr lecture circuit pay well?"

Unfortunately, too damn well.

[No Elephants]

9. And there will no doubt be a book, maybe a spot at Faux News. Not that he needs money.

[Proletariatprincess]

2. Good Riddence

Im sick to death of these phoney religious moralizers. Let them do it on their own time and keep it to themselves.

[SpiralHawk]

5. Your Knights of Malta crusaders

...is not what America, or the world, needs...

[formercia]

11. They think otherwise

When they put on their capes and swords, they become 'special.'

The Knights wan to take us all back to a time before there was such a thing as Democracy, when Kings and princes ruled.

For $5000. a Year, you can be one too.

[SemperEadem]

6. dude, my tax dollars do not pay you to write about your religion

while on the clock.

You are not a martyr. You are an idiot who was stealing time from the company and not doing what you were hired to do--which wasn't writing about religion.

[No Elephants]

7. Screw CNN. He was rebuked for not doing his job and for being a drain on his department.

And, he wrote on religion. When did that become "faith based" writing, rather than religious or theological writing? And, he's paranoid delusional.

If people wanted to pay him back for something he wrote in 1989, he would never have been appointed ambassador in 2009. Does he think he got an appointment and lasted two years, just so he could be rebuked?

All of which begs the question, why did Obama and Hillary want him in the first place? This guy has a long track record. Not to mention that he saw his federal job as a missionary positions--and not the sexual kind.


"He also said the report's assertion that faith-based writings weren't relevant to his position represented a "flawed and narrow vision of our diplomatic mission."


Separation of church and state just keeps looking better and better.

[karynnj]

16. Completely agree

I went to the SFRC cite and found his nomination hearing. (easy because the SFRC site now has a search function) The hearing was chaired by Senator Shaheen, who chaired the sub committee on Europe.

In his prepared statement, he mentions Malta's history as where St Paul was shipwrecked and then spoke of the need to understand religion. He spoke of intending to roll out the red carpet to religious scholars. Comments that in retrospect needed to be questioned. (his statement was at about 96:30 )

His questioning started at 131 minutes - no one pursued any questions on his comments on religious outreach.

It really sounds like the State Department and he had very different ideas on what his role in Malta should be - I hope that the case is that ignored private advise on his actions and the report was the next step specifically to get either change or a resignation. Given that he was someone whose help Obama respected enough to give him this plum assignment, I suspect that was the case. The only other thing they could have done was to tell him to resign or fire him.

[socialshockwave]

8. Do your job

it was clear that he was rebuked FOR not doing his job.

And on another note; does anyone find it ironic that the Heritage Foundation ad was the one that popped up on my screen? "Help stop spend and tax government" - I just found that hilarious.

[Snoutport]

10. why is that funny?

it means they are popping up on every computer pretty much. The Right Wing is making very good use of internet ads...the dems...not so much.

[freshwest]

12. The Dems don't have Kochroaches. Their megabucks are polluting our consciousness.

On a subliminal level it's irresistible.

The sea of ugly Obama pictures are designed to create contempt.

They make Dems ashamed of their candidate.

You'll note the ads are always anti-Dem, so they fear Dems.

[classysassy]

13. The Anti Christian responces

are disgusting,one one day in the future all of you who slander Christians will rue the day.

[Lance_Boyle]

14. Bring on the rue, Churchy. The pathetic invention you call 'god' is a lie.

[karynnj]

15. Like many good locations, it was likely because of the support he gave Obama in 2008

Start at 96:30 minutes. http://foreign.senate.gov/hearings/hearing/?id=6c5bc7fc-c16a-9608-9123-294e132efdf3

His background is interesting and more compelling than most campaign contributors. (He was a Fullbright scholar.) The real problem might be that ambassadorships are given as thank yous. He mentioned "what faith means to that nation" and the respect and understanding of all faiths. He welcomed scholars on faith issues.

I have never read of any other ambassador having a report like this one - that seems to say that he is not just doing little as Ambassador, but it sounds like he has tried to use the embassy staff as he might have used university staff to review his writings. Is it possible that the real source of the negative comments is the various career foreign service professionals in the Malta embassy.

[Ian David]

17. Really, how much time does it take to be ambassador to Malta in the first place? n/t

[autorank]

18. Pepperdine

Douglas W. Kmiec (born September 24, 1951) is an American legal scholar, author, and U.S. ambassador. He was the Caruso Family Chair and Professor of Constitutional Law at Pepperdine University School of Law. Kmiec came to prominence during the United States presidential election, 2008 when, although a Republican, he endorsed Democrat Barack Obama. In July 2009, he was nominated by President Obama to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Malta. He was confirmed by the Senate and has served for over a year as ambassador to Malta. He resigned his post effective August 15, 2011.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Kmiec

Speaks for itself. What a winner this guy is, not!