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.
Indeed, the administration has a long and tawdry record of trying to browbeat government agencies into submission, whether it's the CIA or the Centers for Disease Control. The State Department is perhaps highest on the list of conservatives and neocons who see it as the center of disloyalty and treachery. But this latest action represents a new low. If it's going to these lengths, the Bush administration must be really worried about Sen. John McCain's prospects.
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Thank you Germany, for the warm welcome you gave to Barack Obama. Better times are coming for all of us. The past four years have been miserable for many Americans. We had to deal with the fact that George W. Bush was elected by the American people--not once, but twice. How dumb can a country's electorate be. It was hard to fathom what being an American meant, knowing we had elected a man like W as our leader.
Four years of soul-searching are about to end. The America you know and love is on it's way back.
"Busssh Bans State Department
this decision should be applauded.
federal and state employees are suppose to be or should be, non-politi
As it makes sense for uniformity in providing essential government services that taxpayers pay for
JDFU
Tell that to the Justice Department under Bush/Cheney. Or any other department under them for that matter. Name a department, it's been infected by their myopic political agenda. This has been the most blatantly politicized federal government in the nation's history.
Anybody remember McSame's rally in Canada? If I recall, everybody attended, and there was even some question as to who exactly funded it.
They are also citizens and have the right to attend a political speech in order to determine which candidate they would choose.
You're just not right here. Not even a little. Bush has no authority to tell people who they can support or what they do when they're off the clock. To demand that would make Bush/Cheney and the administration sound like fascists. Oh wait, they've already done that.
I'd love to see them try to enforce this 'ban' and then have to answer to the law suits that will surely follow.
Turn it around, JDFU. What would have happened if Bill Clinton banned State department employees from his campaign rallies? Think Big. Don't be a sheeple.
I have to disagree with you Bearzerker. I happen to not only be a federal employee, but a veteran as well and it is unconstitutional to take away my right to be apart of the political process just because I work for the government. The Hatch Act tells me I cannot openly campaign or wear campaign slogans at my workplace, but it doesn't disallow me from being apart of the political process. And away from work I wear my Veterans for Obama button proudly!!!
"King" george needs to be IMPEACHED for his imperial and dictatorial excesses, and his trampling of the US Constitution!
1. How can merely attending a gathering to listen to the speech of a US Senator and Presidential candidate be construed as inevitable 'political' support?
2. Are State Department employees not potential VOTERS, who has the Constitutional right to MERELY LISTEN to a candidate?
3. Does everyone who attends the speech of a candidate necessarily the supporter of the candidate?
4. Patrick Kennedy should be ashamed of himself and even fired by the incoming administration for going along with the undermining of Americans CONSTITUTIONAL right to MERELY GOING TO LISTEN to a speech!
By allowing the INCOMPETENT and bungling bush to get away with 'sleeping on the job' prior to 911, lying over the UNPROVOKED invasion of Iraq, the unjustified slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Americans and Iraqi, etc the power drunk bush is deluded into thinking that he can get away with ANY 'high crime and misdemeanor'!
All: US State Department employees serve at the pleasure of the Executive. Additional rules do apply (some that, in fact, limit their constitutional freedoms as citizens) depending upon the job. That said, diplomatic staff are often called upon to provide service in war zones, in areas of civil unrest, etc. That is why they must always serve the Republic and not themselves. It is in their very job description and their immediate superiors will often require this sort of obedience to the larger mission, whatever that mission may be.
Furthermore, US citizens who serve our government may occasionally disagree with their superiors, especially if that superior is elected to office. Some disagreements may be voiced publically, others may not. (For instance, a Commissioned Officer may not countermand a direct order and the ultimate penalty would be a court martial. A US Senate staff person may or may not publically comment on behalf of their Senator to the press. They serve at the pleasure of both their Senator and the constituents of that State.)
I find that President Bush II continues to embarrass the Office of the Executive and, quite frankly, me. In a few months, I get to choose a new Executive and I, for one, wish I could cast that ballot in each and every State in the Union.
Respectfully,
Catherine McHenry
A Regular Citizen of the USA
Perfect! Bush probably thinks that Prohibition worked, too....
"(W)orship"? You might wish to mix with a few Europeans.
If they watch it on local television or radio will they be punished? The simple act of listening to a speech on one's own time should not be confused as equaling political activity which can be banned. Our Constitutional guarantees should protect us from our government's excesses wherever we are in the world.
This doesn't surprise me one bit. The Bush Administration has never been for America, only the Republican Party. Surely, noone is surprised at this latest act of pettiness. The GOP is running scared. I hope anyone who is even remotely thinking about voting for McCain understands that their vote will not only continue the Bush/Cheney policies, but it will also keep the neo-cons and their cronies in power. Certainly, that would be impossible to tolerate. A vote for McCain is:
1) Continuation of the Patriot Act
2) More abuses with FISA
3) Secrecy, Secrecy, Secrecy!!! (I thought they worked for us!!)
4) More Tom Delays, Larry Craigs, Alberto Gonzales, Karl Roves, Paul Wolfowitzs, Jack Abramoffs
5) Lying us into War
6) Still lying to us
......and the list goes on and on.
WE DESERVE BETTER!!!!!
Sorry, impeachment is 'off the table'.... Why do you think this is limited to Republicans?
brilliantly stated. could not have expressed this better
Aweee. I think we see a great american crime family losing its self esteem and self confidence. Afraid your officials may actually like Sen. Obama?
"NO, you're our neo-con sheep, and cannot go watch somebody who actually has poise, intellect, and behaves as a world leader should. Back to your stable! Chop Chop!"
Wow... he's really scared of Obama...
It's too bad that W wasn't more "principled" when Rove was organizing campaign rallies at the GSA a few years back. Oh well, I guess he did throw Lurita Doan under the bus...
A bit of subject, but just a bit. The Washington Post hardly mentioned how Obama wowed the Germans. What's with the Post? Have they gone Fox?
It will be sooooo sweet when these criminal aholes are GONE from the White House. The major problem will be the HUGE dump they have taken on the American public. The HUGE deficit. The absolute disaster of their inept stupidity. They are beyond comparison. Nothing more than white collar crime in the White House.
Agreed. How the heck is Obama supposed to clean up this mess in fours years?
He's not. Not in four years. Not in eight years. Everyone has to stop thinking about their own butts and start considering their children's butts and their children's children's butts and realize that right now the gravity of the interrelated crises in which we find ourselves embroiled leaves us with no other option than to BEGIN to clean up the mess...
Literature and films depicting an oppressive, ravaged future ("Soylent Green," "Blade Runner," "1984," "The Handmaid's Tale," "Brave New World") and countless others have become prescient.
And baby, that ain't no fear mongering. But it should be a WAKE UP call...
He can't. NO ONE can. It takes a lot longer to clean a mess up than it takes to make one, and this one was 8 years in the making. And Americans want everything now now now. When Obama can't clean it up in a year, the neocons will say "see there...a black man can't run this country."
Arsewipes all of them.
The Bush/Chaney regime really scares me! What scares me even more is McCain winning and carrying out the same old policies.
Interesting. I could understand the idea of wishing to remain neutral, in which case the interested parties would (like military personnel) have to attend on their own time, out of uniform, and with no identifier which would link the individual to a unit. I must admit, I’m not quite sure how a visiting foreign national (American State Department Employees) serving in a foreign nation – outside of the embassy (and its sovereign territory) is suspect to the laws and protections of the United States if they serve in an official capacity; say as an ambassador or such. I know the military uses an agreement of forces with Germany, but there is the interesting sub argument beneath that that service members belay some of their constitutional rights to the discretion of the military anyway. Very interesting. Regardless, this may serve as a significant backlash, as everyone will now be watching like a hawk to insure those same standards are applied if McCain ever makes similar visits.
This administration has already violated this idea during previous elections. Remember the PowerPoint presentations to fed employees here on how they could help the GOP?
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