Multilingual Subversion at the State Department
Diplaying the tenacious investigative reporting skills for which he has become so admired, John HindRocket at Powerline today uncovers some truly disturbing subversive influences in our nation's State Department.
John references a New York Sun editorial which complains that the Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs is Nicholas Burns. The Sun is deeply upset about this appointment because Burns is a "Kerry-ite." Burns is guilty of this because Richard Holbrooke apparently once said that he, Holbrooke, would become Secretary of State if John Kerry became President and he hoped to appoint Burns to the position he now occupies.
John, while admitting that he knows nothing about Burns and therefore can't say if he's truly a "Kerry-ite," nonetheless complains as follows:
The bit about Arafat and Warren Christopher is one thing, but the Sun and the Rocket both evidently think that it is grounds for suspicion and depression for a diplomat to have studied in another country and to speak other languages.
This makes sense, and really is quite disturbing, because anyone who has studied at the Sorbonne and who has learned other languages, especially Arabic, has no business working in America's foreign policy apparatus, especially not in its diplomatic corps. What's next? Trained scientists working at the FDA? Degreed people working at the Department of Education? Generals employed at the Pentagon?
Do you think the MSM is going to report on John's disturbing discovery of multilingual subversion lurking in the State Department? Yeah, right.
John references a New York Sun editorial which complains that the Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs is Nicholas Burns. The Sun is deeply upset about this appointment because Burns is a "Kerry-ite." Burns is guilty of this because Richard Holbrooke apparently once said that he, Holbrooke, would become Secretary of State if John Kerry became President and he hoped to appoint Burns to the position he now occupies.
John, while admitting that he knows nothing about Burns and therefore can't say if he's truly a "Kerry-ite," nonetheless complains as follows:
Is it really fair to call Burns a Kerry-ite? I've never met the man and know nothing about him, but this (quoting the Sun) is depressing:
"Mr. Burns has impeccable credentials for a Kerry administration official. He studied in France, earning the Certificat Pratique de Langue Francaise from the Sorbonne, and speaks French, Arabic, and Greek. He did a stint as spokesman for President Clinton's first-term secretary of state, Warren Christopher, where his service included criticizing Mayor Giuliani for kicking Yasser Arafat out of a concert at Lincoln Center, saying that Mr. Arafat deserved to be treated with 'respect, dignity, and hospitality.'"
The bit about Arafat and Warren Christopher is one thing, but the Sun and the Rocket both evidently think that it is grounds for suspicion and depression for a diplomat to have studied in another country and to speak other languages.
This makes sense, and really is quite disturbing, because anyone who has studied at the Sorbonne and who has learned other languages, especially Arabic, has no business working in America's foreign policy apparatus, especially not in its diplomatic corps. What's next? Trained scientists working at the FDA? Degreed people working at the Department of Education? Generals employed at the Pentagon?
Do you think the MSM is going to report on John's disturbing discovery of multilingual subversion lurking in the State Department? Yeah, right.
posted by Glenn Greenwald | 12:28 PM
<< Home