Bush Bans State Department Officials From Obama Berlin Rally

[kpete]

Bush Bans State Department Officials From Obama Rally

In a flagrant political act, the State Department has barred its employees from attending Sen. Barack Obama's speech in Berlin tonight. Under the pretense that he is maintaining political neutrality, the Washington Post reported today, State Department Undersecretary for Management Patrick F. Kennedy has interpreted the Foreign Affairs Manual in the most restrictive way, claiming that he is ensuring that foreign service officials will remain untainted by a "partisan political act." (Spouse and family members, however, have generously been excluded from this ruling.) The U.S. embassy, which is headed by ambassador Robert Timken, a businessman and crony of George W. Bush's from Ohio, who is widely reviled in Germany for his ignorance of foreign affairs, has instructed officials not to attend the rally. The American Foreign Service Association has complained about the edict but there's not enough time to dispute it. Funny that.

The truth is that there would probably be few better opportunities for embassy officials to get a feel for the views of the Germans by mixing with them during the rally. Of course, the sentiments expressed by Germans, who worship Obama as much as they loathe George W. Bush, might not be ones that the administration is eager to hear.

more at:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jacob-heilbrunn/bush-bans-state-departmen_b_114696.html

[napi21]

1. Yea, and Condi sent a notice to all of them in Iraq that they were

NOT to assist the Obama people in any way. "If they want to rent a bus, tell them where they can go rent one!"

Childish behavior IMO.

[Hersheygirl]

2. Yeah, Bush doesn't want

them to see what real president looks like.