Posted on 06/16/2005 6:02:30 AM PDT by OESY
Opening a new battle with the White House, Senate Democrats on Wednesday abruptly blocked the approval of President Bush's nominee for a top public diplomacy job, charging that the administration had injected partisan politics into the drive to improve the United States' image overseas.
The nominee, Dina Powell, the White House personnel director, had been expected to win broad approval to become deputy under secretary of state for public diplomacy, to be the second-in-command to Karen P. Hughes in charge of repairing the United States' reputation, especially in the Muslim world.
But in what was to have been a routine meeting of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, the panel's ranking Democrat, objected to the approval of Ms. Powell, and her nomination was set aside. Several other nominations, including Zalmay Khalilzad's for ambassador to Iraq, were approved and sent to the Senate floor.
Democrats said Mr. Biden acted because the White House was trying to remove a major figure from the board that oversees American international broadcasting efforts, particularly the Arabic and Persian language radio and television networks aimed at countering the anti-American programming on Al Jazeera and other networks.
The board member is Norman J. Pattiz, a Los Angeles radio executive and Democratic contributor who was first appointed to the board by President Bill Clinton in 2000. His name was sent for reappointment by the Democratic leadership more than a year ago, but the White House has not forwarded it for approval. Mr. Pattiz has directed the start-up of the American networks in the Middle East, principally the television network Al Hurra and Radio Sawa....
Responding to Biden's move, Scott McClellan, the White House spokesman, said the senator's action was "unfortunate" in light of the bipartisan support Ms. Powell had for the post....
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
How pathetic.
children will be children..
The "philosophy of the stop sign".
The result of misplaced trust is the same result as stupidity. I think our RINO's weren't guilty of misplaced trust.
Maybe they are not aware that they lost the last two presidential elections and don't get to hand out the government bonbons in this area anymore.
Another woman whacked by DUmbocRATs, because they can, how nice. Now what happens?
Agree. I think if a minority is going to block appointments, or make them take 6 months to go through after extracting a little flesh, then it's time to give the Senate a deadline. One or two months to approve, or they will be recess appointed. They appointment will last til the end of the Congress, and he can do it again in January 2007, en masse, for all of them. They will serve til 2009, and their title will be the same, so who gives a rats behind about the Senate? The business of the country needs to get done.
As the Democrats disgrace themselves daily... being propped up by a complicit, socialist media, the Republican Party argues among themselves on how to gain their approval.
It makes me SICK!
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