COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Thursday, November 30, 2006

This is Your State Department

Kendall Myers, US State Department official, has added further disgrace to the State Department with his derogatory comments made at a lecture in Washington DC two days ago. About the relationship between the US and the UK, he said:
"There never really has been a special relationship or at least not one we've noticed."

"As a State Department employee, now I will say something even worse: it has been from the very beginning very one-sided."

"The State Department and the American Embassy in London, by God they'll be pushing the special relationship till the end of time."

"The last prime minister to resist American pressure was Neville Chamberlain who was a much more brilliant figure in British diplomacy [than Winston Churchill]."

"We typically ignore them and take no notice. We say, ‘There are the Brits coming to tell us how to run our empire. Let's park them'. It is a sad business and I don't think it does them justice."
The State Department repudiated Myers' comments but do you believe them?

8 comments:

  1. This "diplomat" should be fired for not having enough sense to resign.

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  2. Does anyone believe that Myer's statements are not representative of the State Department's actual views? That Myers crime is openly (insensitively) saying what everybody there at State really thinks?

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  3. fellowpeackeeper won rather convincingly. He has specified it be donated to charity and it has been sent to save darfur.org. I will post the thank you note when I get it.

    12:50 AM, December 01, 2006

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  4. Neville Chamberlain a more brilliant diplomat than Winston Churchill...

    I am speechless.

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  5. 2164th wrote, "This "diplomat" should be fired for not having enough sense to resign."

    He thought his resignation would have too much "Ugly American" flair, be undiplomatically dramatic, and lack a certain British tact and reserve.

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  6. Thank you for your article, really helpful material.

    ReplyDelete