According to the Vancouver Sun, the US has yet to appoint a new ambassador to Canada and it’s not likely that one will be sent north from the country of exceptionalism anytime soon either.
The most recent ambassador was David Jacobson, a former Obama fundraiser, whose qualifications for the job basically boiled down to having raised a significant amount of cash for Pres. Obama’s war chest.
However, he finished his four-year term in June and has gone on to other deserved rewards for his toadyism (currently he is the vice-chairman of BMO Financial Group), leaving Canada ambassador-less as it heads into the murky waters of trying to maintain sovereignty in the face of a super-power neighbor that views it as a 51st state.
Ambassador positions are appointed and in the US are purchased via one’s fund-raising abilities for the winning POTUS candidate.
In 1975, former POTUS Richard Nixon testified before a grand jury about the practice of “selling” ambassador positions to the highest bidder, aka “fundraiser”, and said that it was a common practice, but that he tried to also appoint those who were qualified for the job as well. He also said that this was what he assumed most presidents did and went on to cite an example from the Truman era:
“Perle Mesta wasn’t sent to Luxembourg because she had big bosoms,” Nixon said of the Harry S. Truman appointee. “Perle Mesta went to Luxembourg because she made a good contribution. But I may say she was a very good ambassador
It was rumored that the Canadian position was slotted for Caroline Kennedy, daughter of the late Pres. John F. Kennedy, but she held out for Japan.
So who will our next ambassador be?
Well, Anna Wintour, editor of Vogue and inspiration for boss from hell in the novel, The Devil Wears Prada, could be heading our way now that London and Paris are off the table. But odds are better that the Ottawa residence of the American ambassador will be sans ambassador for the immediate future.
Does the US State Department feel that Canada doesn’t need any special handling? That we are “sympatico” on all fronts? Or maybe this is just another rap on the knuckles for Ottawa, which has been curiously stubborn about giving into the White House of late and indeed, seems to be thumbing its nose a bit with talk of joint military exercises with China and declining to provide any material support in Syria.
Given that we are currently eight months, and counting, since the FATCA IGA signing was “imminent” with multiple signs from Obama that he is not going to consent to the KeystoneXL and the disinclination of the Canadian government to give in on allowing American police to run amuck within Canadian borders, one can only speculate about this latest development. And whether it is good or bad for Canada really depends on which side of the border the beholder is standing on.
