Mike Pompeo was always the White House’s man in Foggy Bottom, not the other way around. His words and actions are a reflection of that reality, never mind the spin. And as the impeachment inquiry heats up, Mr. Pompeo has also become more insulting to folks with brains (see Mike Pompeo Insults Reporters Who Ask Questions He Doesn’t Like #OhGoodness!). And now he’s gone on to accusing Ambassador Bill Burns of auditioning for his job in a future Warren administration.
Ambassador Burns who served honorably over three decades as a career diplomat recently penned a piece on “The Demolition of U.S. Diplomacy” Not Since Joe McCarthy Has the State Department Suffered Such a Devastating Blow. Ouch! Instead of addressing the valid criticisms, Mr. Pompeo, you know, a servant of the people, did the lazy route and just called it “crazy.”
This could be the tipping point in Foggy Bottom when it comes to Swagger Mike, as he is reportedly known, and how many more folks still want to take a selfie with him. “One Team” is a joke when one can protect oneself but seemingly unable or unwilling to protect one’s people. And being an insufferable and embarrassing exemplar of behavior … well, what is there left to say? Except that State Department folks are extremely lucky they have a shinny new professional ethos to gaze and exhibit, and a “One Team” Award with glass statuettes.
Also see Pompeo Unveils “New Professional Ethos” For @StateDept One Glorious Day, Touts “Enormous” Success; @StateDept Bureau Junks Professional Ethos Big Time (Who Wanna Tell Mike?).
WATCH: Bill Burns' response to claims by @SecPompeo that he's eyeing a possible role as Secretary of State in a future @ewarren administration: "No…my concerns are about the hollowing out of American diplomacy," he told @margbrennan pic.twitter.com/7MgDytXDbJ
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) October 20, 2019
Choosing these words deliberately:
Pompeo’s slur on Bill Burns is despicable and should be held against him on the “permanent record.”
(Interview I did w Burns early this year: https://t.co/zMMHwEwJtw )
Compare Burns's views with Pompeo’s descent into lackeydom. https://t.co/EiS54p6c0E
— James Fallows (@JamesFallows) October 21, 2019
13:00 mark. Pompeo says: "That's crazy. I think Bill Burns must be auditioning to be Elizabeth Warren's Secretary of State." https://t.co/In0Y8YlE7u via @ABC
— Diplopundit (@Diplopundit) October 21, 2019
In which Pompeo again refuses to stand up for Amb Yovanovitch and slanders former @StateDept Deputy Sec Bill Burns, finest diplomat of his generation. How contemptible. Now tell me about your “ethos” again. https://t.co/2JR23nIS3D
— Laura Kennedy (@AmbKennedy_ret) October 20, 2019
Guttersniping. Bill Burns isn’t looking for a job. He has one: leader of the @CarnegieEndow. But he is coming to the defense of Foreign & Civil Officers that are the heart of U.S. diplomacy & whose service, expertise, & courage Pompeo scorns. https://t.co/Iyi3JTU5Ex
— Strobe Talbott (@strobetalbott) October 20, 2019
All who know Bill Burns trust his selfless commitment to the Foreign Service and State Department. Mike Pompeo has lost all credibility as a leader of our career diplomats with this grossly unfair charge. https://t.co/97CGxrHUKR
— Nicholas Burns (@RNicholasBurns) October 21, 2019
Trump’s scorched-earth tactics, casual relationship with truth, and contempt for career public service bear more than a passing resemblance to the playbook that Roy Cohn wrote for Joseph McCarthy, writes William J. Burns.https://t.co/269nBkU7uW
— Foreign Affairs (@ForeignAffairs) October 15, 2019