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.

Comments

[Iam4thiscountry]

it says they are barred from attending. isn't it going to be televised? Can they prohibit them from watching it on TV or see cllips of it on the News Channels? And yes, it will be all over every news channel everywhere. This is the dumbest thing I have every heard of. We have 5 months left of Bush and it worries me what he might do next.

[macforme]

Two things come to mind...
A) can anyone tell me this State Dept rule was pulled out of the bag when JFK was in Berlin???
B) Why is the rule not also: no State Dept employee can go to a McCain speech???
Lindy
Reelect President Obama in 2012 committee !!!!!

[neverfm]

If you expect pettiness from the Bush administration, just be prepared for the same or WORSE if McCain gets elected!! One blogger mentioned some law about embassy personnel not attending such events. Laws never stopped this administration from doing anything in the past 8 years; why now??
McCain's "brain farts" are getting too frequent these days. I, for one, do not want him to control our government.

[FOXYLADY]

HOW IGNORANT AND ARROGANT OF OUR GOVERNMENT TO DISALLOW GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES IN GERMANY FROM ATTENDING OBAMA'S SPEECH!! THIS IS JUST MORE PROOF OF THE STUPIDITY AND HYPOCRACY OF THIS PRESENT REPUKE ADMINISTRATIION AND IT'S EMPLOYEES.­..........­..........

[Vermontah]

We're all angry. No need to shout.

[bushlies]

Why is it that every day George W. Bush seems to do SOMETHING that makes me hate him even more than I already do?

[CandeeKis]

Same here. When I think he has me hating him 500% he does something else that makes me hate him more. Its amazing. What a puke he is.

I also have to wonder how 'legal' this 'ban' is - or is it simply more intimidation from the top?

[drumz]

That's easy, it's because you are paying attention.

[lizr]

If I worked in the State Dept I'd go with a bag over my head :)

Screw them with their petty control trip.

[mari2JJ]

Actually this disgusting behavior was meant to decrease the attendance. However, did you miss all those State Department folks among those thousands. It was just silly unless it is the general rule. So, when Bush went to Germany and felt up the lady leader with that big hug, were state department employees banned form any of HIS meetings. I think not. Bush must be insanely jealous of the big crowd Obama got so he pulled a tantrum stunt like this.

[MadJeffersonian]

Funny. They didn't seem to care when all the Powerpoint presentations were going around the various government departments; or the numerous emails going through the White House servers; or when government release touting new programs were released to coincide with Repug candidate campaign stops. The Bush Crime Syndicate has politicized everthing! Gotta go...my order of Freedom Fries with W ketchup just arrived.

[Davwbaird]

McCain has no prospect but total and absolute defeat.

[nomorebombs]

absolutely correct you are..

[msolzman]

I'm 100% with Shel3364 on on not being able to wait for November. However, I'm still afraid of the damage "W" will do or attempt to do from election day up to the day President Obama takes office in January.

[demfriend]

Bush sounds more like a dictator whose whole desire is to limit the free speech the workers might hear so that they might not be able to change their way of thinking and seeing the world. Funny though to try to limit what can be seen without trouble on the TV or internet even if they are forbidden in body from attending. Mccain would be just another bush doing the same things. Now what is it called when a countries leader forbids the citizens of that country from seeing and hearing another who offers different views? I know the word for it is not FREEDOM.

[KevinFitzz]

Horse schiza! Why couldn't they attend on their own time? Or do state officials not have their own time?

[naschkatze]

I think it was 7 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in Berlin when Obama gave the speech. You'd think the US embassy and other services would have been closed by them.

[BeyondPopper]

This is by no means an endorsement of this latest criminal act by the Bush crime syndicate, but the answer to your questions is: no.

I am a retired career diplomat, and can tell you that it doesn't matter whether you are in the office or not; as a diplomatic representative, we are always on duty.

That still does not excuse this abuse of power, nor explain that the embassy and its officers would be and would have been for months, deeply involved in the arrangements for the visit of three U.S. Senators, regardless of their party or political status.

My response would have been to attend. If anyone then says that they saw me at the rally, I would then simply say that my accuser must have been violating instructions as well. Otherwise, how would he have seen me? I would then have stated the simple fact that attending such an event is really part of my official duties, and challenge them to show that it is not. That would be an interesting proceeding!!

[NewsCorpse]

Alternative headline for this article:

Bush Imposes Zombie Mandate on Administration Sycophants.
Blind loyalty is the order of the day - well, everyday for BushCo.

[Rohinton84]

HOW IS BUSH GOING TO STOP AMERICANS FROM LISTENING TO SEN. OBAMA 'S SPEECH?
ROSIE

[jdcapshew]

When Obama is elected in November and the Democrats control all 3 branches of government, the temptation will be to kick those SOB Republicans when they're down. They certainly deserve it. I just hope the Democrats act with some restraint and class that most Republicans have lacked for the last 8 years.

[patti1203]

"When Obama is elected in November and the Democrats control all 3 branches of government"
----------­----------­----------­----------­----------­----------­----------­----------­----------­----------­----------­----------­----------­-

The 3 branches of government are:
THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH
THE JUDICIAL BRANCH

The democrats wont be controlling all 3 branches of the government. They might control the white house, the senate and congress. But thats all 2 branches. The president may put judges up for nomination to the Supreme Court, but he wont CONTROL the court...

And you are of age to vote... Scary

[adl]

probably an innocent mis-type..­.chill out.

[aasesq]

Patti1203, I know that you think that you're smart, but have you ever heard of a small paper back book called "The Elements of Style". You need to buy it to shore up your writing skills.

[lisakaz2]

Maybe but actual criminals need to be punished.

[naschkatze]

It's going to take us a while to get the judicial branch back. I'm not talking about the DOJ but the federal judiciary system which is packed with right wing for life judges.

[whatfreshhellisthis]

I notice that one poster says that Federal Government employees are in 24-hour a day jobs, and that they are prohibited from all political activities.

Having just retired after 30 years as a Federal employee, I wonder where this erroneous information comes from. In truth, except for members of the Armed Forces and a few other jobs (CIA, FBI, etc), Federal employees are not on duty around the clock.

And as for political activities, Title 5 of the US Code explains what political activities are permissible for Federal employees, and it would be absolutely legal for employees to attend Obama's speech, though only on their own time, i.e., after hours or on leave. An order not to attend is an infringement of the employees' rights.

[rosodigital]

I think what they mean is that most federal employees are on salary, and like soldiers you are on call 24 hours a day. this is untrue in the sense that most government employees will ever get a call in the middle of the night to come to work, but any salaried position would qualify as a 24 hour on-call job.