[noemon]

The US ambassador to Panama has resigned from his post on principle, writing in a resignation letter to the State Department that he can no longer serve the Trump administration.

John_D._Feeley.jpg (9.54 KiB) Viewed 1927 times

The US State Department confirmed the departure of John D Feeley, saying he decided to “retire for personal reasons, as of 9 March this year”.

Mr Feeley wrote in his resignation letter: “As a junior foreign service officer, I signed an oath to serve faithfully the President and his administration in an apolitical fashion, even when I might not agree with certain policies.

“My instructors made clear that if I believed I could not do that, I would be honour-bound to resign. That time has come.”

The State Department learned of his plans on 27 December, Reuters reported – well before the Washington Post reported Donald Trump had referred to “s***hole countries” in a meeting about immigration.

Haiti, El Salvador and unspecified African nations were said to have been among those discussed with the President at a briefing with congressional leaders.

Mr Trump has denied he used that language but admitted speaking in a “tough” manner during the Oval Office meeting on immigration reform and the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programme.

Mr Feeley was one of the State Department’s Latin America specialists and among its most senior officers.

According to a Spanish copy of the notice of Mr Feeley’s resignation, tweeted by Univision News, the Barack Obama appointee has been in public service for 35 years, in the US Marine Corps and State Department.

The notice said he held an “unbreakable” belief in the need for close ties between American countries.

Under-secretary of State Steve Goldstein said Mr Feeley’s departure was not a response to the President’s reported comments.

“Everyone has a line that they will not cross,” he said. “If the ambassador feels that he can no longer serve ... then he has made the right decision for himself and we respect that.”

The Trump administration has taken a tougher stance on immigration from Latin America, most notably with moves to expel hundreds of thousands of immigrants from El Salvador, Haiti and Nicaragua who benefited from temporary protection status after natural disasters.

Mr Trump’s alleged “s***hole” comments on Thursday led to outraged responses from Haiti and the African Union. The AU said it was “alarmed” by the nature of the President’s remarks while Haiti’s government criticised “these insulting and reprehensible statements”.

El Salvador’s foreign minister said he had sent a formal letter of protest in response to the reports.

On Twitter, Mr Trump twice denied having used the word “s***hole”.

But Democratic senator Dick Durbin, who was present at the DACA meeting, claimed he had used it “repeatedly”.

Independent

[Suntzu]

I'm sure he will be missed and will be hard to replace.

[annatar1914]

I'm sure he will be missed and will be hard to replace.

I wonder if he was a holdover from the Obama Administration?

[Zagadka]

I'm sure he will be missed and will be hard to replace. :roll:

Yea... how dare he make a protest... the monster...

[Igor Antunov]

So...the shithole comments were fake news, invented by a democrat aide, fed to lying media. What now? Will he un-resign?

[annatar1914]

So...the shithole comments were fake news, invented by a democrat aide, fed to lying media. What now? Will he un-resign?

It's better than he not, people like him don't belong in the crucible of politics or public responsibility. And the nerve of him saying that his position was ''apolitical''! It's all political, anymore.

[foxdemon]

So...the shithole comments were fake news, invented by a democrat aide, fed to lying media. What now? Will he un-resign?

It isn’t fake news. He said that shithole countries are exactly that.

So there are two problems here.

1/ some countries are shitholes

2/ Trump told the truth.

Trump needs to learn that a world leader can’t just blurt out the truth. World leaders need to follow protocol and endeavour to be diplomatic. Their staff have the job of supporting them in this. Now, though Haiti is a shithole, as a world leader one can’t stay that. If one does not want people from shithole countries abusing one’s nation immigration policies, then one needs to do something effective behind the scenes. Telling the truth will achieve nothing.

[Zagadka]

No, the problem is that our President and his loyal minions have the mental maturity of a 4th grader, and it is fucking embarrassing.

[Crantag]

No, the problem is that our President and his loyal minions have the mental maturity of a 4th grader, and it is fucking embarrassing.

Well said.

I did admire the effort at rationalizing.

I've found most right wingers are less creative.

[foxdemon]

@Zagadka @Crantag What is wrong with you guys? Trump has been lying out his arse constantly. He finally tells the truth and you are all over him like a rash. Do you want him to be a liar or do you want him to be honest?

[Zagadka]

I want him to have an ounce of decorum deserving the most visible public office on the planet?

There is a reason teachers aren't allowed to throw slurs at students, however dumb they are. Take that and expand it a few times exponentially.

By far the best thing about Obama was his public speaking. That is one charming ******. Trump is (almost literally) the negative of him.

[Igor Antunov]

Obama put people to sleep with his pauses and singular repetitions. if if if chew soap. He spoke like a litigation attorney. Would rather listen to nails on blackboard.

Also it seems trumps non existent shithole comments had nothing to do with this ambassadors actions; http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/20 ... mment.html

fake news layered upon fake news. By the end of the year nobody on earth will believe anything any of these rags put out.

[LehmanB]

Its time for democrats to accept the democratic system and accept that rightists can be their bosses.

[Zagadka]

The president is not the boss of the people.

But hey, as long as we accept things like the right did Obama.

[Suntzu]

I want him to have an ounce of decorum deserving the most visible public office on the planet?

There is a reason teachers aren't allowed to throw slurs at students, however dumb they are. Take that and expand it a few times exponentially.

By far the best thing about Obama was his public speaking. That is one charming ******. Trump is (almost literally) the negative of him.

I don't want a president with decorum, I want one with balls! Would any sane person prefer an immigrant from Haiti over one from Norway?

[blackjack21]

I wonder if he was a holdover from the Obama Administration?

He was. So no big deal. He probably got a job offer and used the opportunity to try to make a political point. Exactly who cares about the US Ambassador to Panama?

No, the problem is that our President and his loyal minions have the mental maturity of a 4th grader, and it is fucking embarrassing.

It's hilarious. Haiti is a shithole.

[Zagadka]

It's hilarious. Haiti is a shithole.

Yes, it is. I don't think anyone would possibly deny that, especially Haitians.

But grown ups live in a world where words have meaning. For instance, I am prevented from saying a lot of things I think because I am an admin here. My being an admin on a forum should not exceed the level of language of the president. Teachers have students that they know are morons, but for some strange reason, it usually works out better if they don't scream it at them.

There are reasons people come here from Haiti and not from Norway. When you figure out how to address dealing with Haiti beyond name calling, lemme know.

[Finfinder]

It's hilarious. Haiti is a shithole.

It was a cash cow for the Clintons and the Clinton foundation after the 2010 earthquake.

[annatar1914]

He was. So no big deal. He probably got a job offer and used the opportunity to try to make a political point. Exactly who cares about the US Ambassador to Panama?


It's hilarious. Haiti is a shithole.

Yes, this is a stupid and pointless typical exercise of the MSM and the Elites who they shill for. Again, they don't truly understand President Trump yet, and I doubt if Liberals ever will. Sure Trump is a Plutocrat along with the rest of the Oligarchy that runs this world, but unlike many of them (who simply exist in their wealth like a fish lives in the water that is invisible to it) Trump (I'm convinced) is a Objectivist Ideologue. In other words, he's found both the primary worldview that fully tries to justify an complete Capitalist system and world order, and one in which someone like himself can be a hero as in Rand's novels.

He has no Liberal guilt about who he is or what he is trying to do, as a businessman hobbled by ''Statist'' regulations or by ''altruism'' towards others-which by no means does that say he isn't personally giving and generous.

And neither will Trump be concerned about this twit of a US Ambassador. I may oppose Trump for my own reasons, as I'm definitely a Statist and even a Socialist, but I delight in the destruction of the degenerate Liberals and their phony Elitist guilt and hypocrisy.

[Tainari88]

@Zagadka @Crantag What is wrong with you guys? Trump has been lying out his arse constantly. He finally tells the truth and you are all over him like a rash. Do you want him to be a liar or do you want him to be honest?

Oh Foxdemon, how little you know how politics should be done....you see Senor Foxdemon, the reality is people want a dude who plays his role appropriately. In other words, who knows how to lie when it is necessary and to tell the truth when it is necessary. This requires a level of sophistication and a lack of total narcissism that Trump doesn't possess currently. It is about how to represent in a way that is not too obvious. Just for the sake of propriety.

Now, you should know Foxdemon, that just because you got a dude in the White House that is not the best actor for the role, one must go on...the show must go on. Even with a low quality performer doing the deeds.

I for one, find all his hijinx and so on quite great. He doesn't watch his words with care....he tells the truth according to his brain that filters all things through his particular brand of twisted distortions of reality.

Soon, he shall say again such great things like, "I am the least racist person you have ever interviewed in your life." "I love women, I give them jobs. One of those jobs is getting on their knees and blowing me in the oval office. That is one of the perks of the presidency and Clinton showed me how." Etc and so forth. He is a man of diplomacy, tact, culture, manners, personal integrity, humility, respect and truly believes America's strengths are all its diverse nationalities, races and peoples who come together and make American great again. By realizing that the only nations worth respecting are WHITE! The only people worth respecting are white!

Foxdemon tell the truth.....You agree with that don't you? As a conservative Aussie you agree that only white people and white nations are superior and better and the others are all 'just not good enough'.

Be true to your conservatism and tell the truth. You agree with the man...Trump.

Big wink.....You fox from down under....