Obama nominee dies awaiting confirmation

[Landslide Lyndon]

A sickening story that really shows what kind of exceptional assholes the newest generation of Republicans are.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/07/opinion/an-obama-nominees-crushed-hopes.html?smid=tw-nytopinion&smtyp=cur

In early 2014, after decades of government and nonprofit work that reflected a passion for public service, Cassandra Butts got a reward — or so she thought. She was nominated by President Obama to be the next United States ambassador to the Bahamas.
The Senate held a hearing about her nomination in May 2014, and then … nothing. Summer came and went. So did fall. A new year arrived. Then another new year after that.

When I met her last month, she’d been waiting more than 820 days to be confirmed. She died suddenly two weeks later, still waiting. She was 50 years old.

...

At another point Senator Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican, put a hold specifically on Butts and on nominees for the ambassadorships to Sweden and Norway. He had a legitimate gripe with the Obama administration over a Secret Service leak of private information about a fellow member of Congress, and he was trying to pressure Obama to take punitive action. But that issue was unrelated to Butts and the Bahamas.

Cotton eventually released the two other holds, but not the one on Butts. She told me that she once went to see him about it, and he explained that he knew that she was a close friend of Obama’s — the two first encountered each other on a line for financial-aid forms at Harvard Law School, where they were classmates — and that blocking her was a way to inflict special pain on the president.

[TDAS04]

Awful. 

[user12345]

"Congressional Republicans are such obstructions that people die waiting for them to take action" sounds like a pretty good attack line for this November.

[NewYorkExpress]

Behavior like this should be against Senate rules... of course when Trump wins we'll put a hold on Omarosa's nomination for Secretary of the Treasury.

[publicunofficial]

Tom Cotton sounds like such an asshole. Good to see confirmation of that.

[SATW]

My condolences to her family, but the accusations of "republicans has b ebul meaniez" are once again ridiculous.

[Vosem]

So Obama nominated a close personal friend to a sensitive diplomatic position and Senate Republicans are the bad guys? K, let's go with that

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

So Obama nominated a close personal friend to a sensitive diplomatic position and Senate Republicans are the bad guys? K, let's go with that

1. Should presidents never appoint anybody they're personally close to? If so, where would a president start in assembling a team he trusted?
2. Explain what's sensitive about our relationship with the Bahamas, because I've never heard that before.

[Indy Texas]

So Obama nominated a close personal friend to a sensitive diplomatic position and Senate Republicans are the bad guys? K, let's go with that

Just put your blue avatar back up, Vosem, for Christ's sake.

Other personal friends who presidents have appointed:

James Baker - George H. W. Bush's Secretary of State had known him for over 30 years and the they became particularly good friends when Bush provided support to Baker as he dealt with the death of his wife and Baker returned the favor by managing Bush's various campaigns

George Herbert Walker, III - George W. Bush's Ambassador to Hungary who happened to be his cousin

And just how sensitive a position is the Ambassador to the Bahamas? It has always been a cupcake posting for friends/donors/etc and always will be, no matter what party is in charge. Are you worried Communist Cuba is going to invade The Atlantis Resort?

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

So Obama nominated a close personal friend to a sensitive diplomatic position and Senate Republicans are the bad guys? K, let's go with that

Just put your blue avatar back up, Vosem, for Christ's sake.

Other personal friends who presidents have appointed:

James Baker - George H. W. Bush's Secretary of State had known him for over 30 years and the they became particularly good friends when Bush provided support to Baker as he dealt with the death of his wife and Baker returned the favor by managing Bush's various campaigns

George Herbert Walker, III - George W. Bush's Ambassador to Hungary who happened to be his cousin

And just how sensitive a position is the Ambassador to the Bahamas? It has always been a cupcake posting for friends/donors/etc and always will be, no matter what party is in charge. Are you worried Communist Cuba is going to invade The Atlantis Resort?

Like seriously... How much hay do you wanna make about every federally-appointed government position?

[Maxwell]

My condolences to her family, but the accusations of "republicans has b ebul meaniez" are once again ridiculous.

Well Republicans shouldn't stupidly hold up nominations for positions they are imminently qualified for.

[Classic Conservative]

For a second I thought it was Garland, but sad RIP.

[RaphaelDLG]

I have absolutely no love for the Republicans, but this is really more the Constitution's fault/due to Senate rules than anything else.  

It's a two party, zero-sum, divided government, super majority system where the two parties have every incentive to screw each other/publically shame each other and zero incentive to cooperate most of the time.  Republicans are just a lot better than the Democrats at the screwing and shaming.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

I don't see why my party has to be so asinine to block the position of Ambassador to the Bahamas, but the fact that she was in poor health is a sign that she probably wasn't fit for the appointment anyway. If I were POTUS, I'd follow the British royal tradition of banishing political rivals to the Bahamas. That's what they did with the Duke of Windsor in WWII.

Of course, since the Bahamas are freaking awesome (one of two foreign countries I've been too and vastly superior and safer than Mexico), I guess it has become a reward. But then again, not everyone imprisoned in the Tower of London was in the dungeons either.

[SteveRogers]

So Obama nominated a close personal friend to a sensitive diplomatic position and Senate Republicans are the bad guys? K, let's go with that

If Republicans had a problem with that, they could have voted "No."

but the fact that she was in poor health is a sign that she probably wasn't fit for the appointment anyway.

If that was an issue, Republicans could have voted "No."

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

So Obama nominated a close personal friend to a sensitive diplomatic position and Senate Republicans are the bad guys? K, let's go with that

If Republicans had a problem with that, they could have voted "No."

but the fact that she was in poor health is a sign that she probably wasn't fit for the appointment anyway.

If that was an issue, Republicans could have voted "No."

I agree. I think we need to quit holding up nominees and just vote them up or down. Mitch McConnell has other ideas, apparently.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

That reminded me of this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-usmvYOPfco

[Maxwell]

McConnell obviously thinks he's playing three dimensional chess when in reality he's playing checkers with his dog and is just moving his pieces back and forth so that the game doesn't go anywhere.

[Taco Truck 🚚]

the fact that she was in poor health is a sign that she probably wasn't fit for the appointment anyway.

Do you not know what "died suddenly" means... or do you just enjoy being disrespectful to the dead for petty partisan reasons?  What exactly did this woman do to you?  Are we really going to say f-cked up stuff like that over an ambassadorship to the Bahamas?!

So Obama nominated a close personal friend to a sensitive diplomatic position and Senate Republicans are the bad guys? K, let's go with that

WTF?!  Now an ambassadorship to the Bahamas is a "sensitive diplomatic position"?  You and CharimanSanchez are unbelievable.  Don't you guys ever take a break?  You could have just read the article if you didn't know anything about diplomatic positions.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

The American system of appointing ambassadors is a long standing bipartisan affair.  Obama didn't invent it and there was absolutely nothing wrong with this nomination.  If you and Sanchez bothered to read the article multiple Republicans admitted as much.

[Landslide Lyndon]

I don't see why my party has to be so asinine to block the position of Ambassador to the Bahamas, but the fact that she was in poor health is a sign that she probably wasn't fit for the appointment anyway.

She didn't have health problems you awful human being. She was diagnosed with leukemia a month ago and died a few days later.

[Santander]

This might sound bad, but isn't it better to block a patronage minor Ambassador nomination than a Supreme court nomination?

[Maxwell]

This might sound bad, but isn't it better to block a patronage minor Ambassador nomination than a Supreme court nomination?

They block both and everything else.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

Just put your blue avatar back up, Vosem, for Christ's sake.

I thought you didn't want anyone who doesn't support Trump to be Republicans

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

the fact that she was in poor health is a sign that she probably wasn't fit for the appointment anyway.

Do you not know what "died suddenly" means... or do you just enjoy being disrespectful to the dead for petty partisan reasons?  What exactly did this woman do to you?  Are we really going to say f-cked up stuff like that over an ambassadorship to the Bahamas?!

So Obama nominated a close personal friend to a sensitive diplomatic position and Senate Republicans are the bad guys? K, let's go with that

WTF?!  Now an ambassadorship to the Bahamas is a "sensitive diplomatic position"?  You and CharimanSanchez are unbelievable.  Don't you guys ever take a break?  You could have just read the article if you didn't know anything about diplomatic positions.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

The American system of appointing ambassadors is a long standing bipartisan affair.  Obama didn't invent it and there was absolutely nothing wrong with this nomination.  If you and Sanchez bothered to read the article multiple Republicans admitted as much.

I'm wondering if you bothered to read my post in which I accurately described the Bahamas as a luxurious backwater or did you just start clutching your pearls right away?

[Vosem]

So Obama nominated a close personal friend to a sensitive diplomatic position and Senate Republicans are the bad guys? K, let's go with that

1. Should presidents never appoint anybody they're personally close to? If so, where would a president start in assembling a team he trusted?

No, but that shouldn't be the only qualification.

2. Explain what's sensitive about our relationship with the Bahamas, because I've never heard that before.

You wouldn't rather America be represented by a professional diplomat in one of her neighboring states?

So Obama nominated a close personal friend to a sensitive diplomatic position and Senate Republicans are the bad guys? K, let's go with that

Just put your blue avatar back up, Vosem, for Christ's sake.

Once Trump loses or dies or something.

Other personal friends who presidents have appointed:

James Baker - George H. W. Bush's Secretary of State had known him for over 30 years and the they became particularly good friends when Bush provided support to Baker as he dealt with the death of his wife and Baker returned the favor by managing Bush's various campaigns

George Herbert Walker, III - George W. Bush's Ambassador to Hungary who happened to be his cousin

...so what?

And just how sensitive a position is the Ambassador to the Bahamas? It has always been a cupcake posting for friends/donors/etc and always will be, no matter what party is in charge. Are you worried Communist Cuba is going to invade The Atlantis Resort?

Erm, it's a poor nation right on our border whose economy is in large part dominated by tourism from the United States, whose main import and export partners are the United States. You don't think they'd rather the American Ambassador be someone who can represent the country rather than a pretty face?

The general practice of appointing donors to ambassadorships, whichever party does it, is a horrible one that needs to diaf. Even if Tom Cotton did this purely out of spite, it's still the right move.