It’s my impression that American embassies around the world
have become very unfriendly places. I’m
ignorant: maybe they always were. Or
maybe they aren’t really that bad now.
But I have heard one horror story after another for several years now,
without any counter-balancing stories of pride.
We have been turning the embassies into fortresses, because
we have a growing number of very angry and violent enemies. Step one building a new embassy: dig a moat. For real.
But that’s not the whole explanation.
Embassies are set up to maintain government to government
communication; they aren’t tourist agencies.
But that’s not the whole explanation.
We are rejecting visa applications at a very high rate, and
maybe that sets a tone. Take a look at
some websites giving advice to people from India who want to visit America;
they are preparing for very unpleasant encounters. But I don’t really understand.
Everyone in Washington is piling on now, attacking that
dreadful Clinton woman. She responded
breezily yesterday, and started her presentation on silly secrets by bragging
about her work in Beijing. Wow. 20 years ago, she went to Beijing, and did
zip about forced abortion. Pro-lifers
and HONEST pro-choicers both oppose forced abortion in China: it is arguably
the worst human rights abuse of the century.
Previous administrations, both Democratic and Republican, had sputtered
and fussed about Tibet and forced abortion and other human rights problems; but
the Clintons let it slide. So it was
mind-boggling yesterday! When she explained
why she violated State Dept policy on e-mails, and why she chose to be
secretive about her leadership of our foreign policy, she started by directing
everyone’s attention to her debacle in Beijing!
I do not understand that lady! I’m
sorely tempted, then, to blame the shift in America’s face abroad – from the occasional
ugly American to the universal deliberate governmental-policy repulsive snotty
American – on her. I think she was a
complete disaster, not just on the abortion issue but also on immigration. I think she’s getting a free ride, after
another shocking bomb crater. But I
admit promptly: I really don’t know (yet).
First, am I right? I
have scattered anecdotes, no more. Are
our embassies repulsive and snotty? If
so, then a second question: why?