You guys know that I try my best to stay out of the day to day political bickering and
focus more on big ideas and the philosophies which are behind all the fighting.
This doesn't mean I'm completely ignoring the issue of the moment, be it North Korea,
the gun debate, or the general state of Trumpism, but focusing on why people believe what they
believe is more valuable to me than adding fuel to the fire of whatever the story of
the day might be.
Toss in a healthy dose of political gridlock and we seem to have lots of people who are
yelling but very few people who are doing.
There's one issue happening in American politics right now which is a great example of the
stagnation we face but that is totally flying under the radar..
Right now dozens of countries, some of them key strategic allies, don't have US ambassadors
because the senate has refused voted on their confirmation.
Accordingl to the rules right now, the senate needs 30 hours of debate time to confirm an
ambassadorship.
You can imagine with all the nonsensical waste in DC how impossible it would be to spend
30 hours debating each of the new ambassadorships when a new administration comes in.
We'd be talking about literally thousands of hours of debate for a branch of government
which can't agree which flavor of yogurt should be served at the capital hill commissary.
Back in 2014, when the Democrats controlled the Senate, then majority leader Harry Reid
used what is known as "the nuclear option" to get many Obama appointees through the senate.
In effect, Harry Reid changed the rules so that a simple majority, rather than a 60 vote
super majority, would be enough to confirm ambassadors, federal judges and other positions.
Though I was firmly on the Left at the time and had no issue can I remember with the Obama
appointees, I was against Reid using such a drastic tactic.
To me, if you changed the rules when you're in power, it's incredibly obvious and probably
quite deserved when those same rules will be used against your team when you're not
in power.
You can righty blame Republicans for not voting on the Obama appointees in 2014, just as right
now you can rightly blame democrats for not voting on Trump appointees in 2018.
This is exactly why people rightfully hate the political machine in Washington.
It either does nothing or it changes the rules to suit itself while usually leaving the people
its supposed to serve far behind.
The Republicans, now led by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, could use what is known as
the Nuclear option right now, just as Reid and the Democrats did back in 2014.
For whatever reason, McConnell refuses to do so.
Some are saying he has such an old school affinity for the rules of the Senate, that
he doesn't want to stoop to what Reid did.
In a certain way this seems like a principled position, but at this point in American politics,
I wonder if clinging onto the old ways, while your your idelogical opponents chisel away
at those very institutions at every opportunity makes much sense at all.
Another wrinkle to this story: is that highest ranking ambassadorship we have open, Germany,
has been offered to former US spokesman for the UN, Richard Grennell.
Richard is the longest serving UN spokesman in history, working for four different US
ambassadors.
He's also served several other positions in the government, as well as worked for a few
other high level campaigns.
By every measure he is supremely qualified and I've seen plenty of people on both sides
of the aisle praise him as the type of person we need more of in politics.
Richard and I have become friends over the past few years and I can personally tell you
that he's decent guy who truly wants to serve his country.
Oh, and there's one other piece to this: Richard happens to be gay.
You may remember back in 2012 he was briefly a spokesman for the Romney campaign until
the media decided to attack a openly gay man for daring to work for the Republican candidate
Mitt Romney thus causing Richard to step down from the campaign because he didn't want to
be a distraction.
Apparently although Romney felt it was just fine to hire a gay man, and Richard felt it
was totally ok to work for Romney the media just wouldn't let it be.
Gay conservatives like Richard, much like black conservatives like Larry Elder or women
conservatives like Nikki Haley, challenege the orthodoxy that the Democrats must own
all of these groups.
I mention Richard's sexuality not because it is important or even relevant unless you
play the identity politics game as so many do.
In effect, the Democrats are blocking an extremely qualified, openly gay man from serving his
country.
Aren't the Democrats and Lefties supposed to be for gays?
Isn't that part of their intersectional word view?
Immutable characteristics often trump qualifications if you subscribe to this line of thinking.
Shouldn't this also mean supporting gay people who's political positions you might disagree
with because you believe in their ability to think for themselves?
Or perhaps the so-called tolerant side isn't really pro gay or pro-any minority, they are
actually on pro those who believe as they do.
Now obviously you know I don't think anyone should be confirmed because of their sexuality,
nor should their sexuality matter in the least when it even comes to being nominated in the
first place.
I just think that this particular case is interesting on so many levels.
We have the gridlock of Washington, with Democrats refusing to vote on Trump nominees.
We have a majority leader in McConnell that refuses to use his option to confirm nominees
even though the previous Senate leader Reid did exactly just that.
We have dozens of qualified candidates waiting to due their civic duty and we have just as
many countries waiting for our ambassadors to move their and get to work.
Caught in all of that mess in a good man, Richard Grennel, who I happen to know personally,
who doesn't want extra credit for being gay, but just wants to get to work.
How can you make a difference in all this?
Call your local Senator and ask the assistant at their office why they aren't voting on
these nominess.
And You can also call Mitch McConnell at his DC office by calling (202) 224-2541.
Actually, I'm gonna give him a call right now...
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