Last year as pretend conservative and pretend Catholic Doug Kmiec relentlessly apologized for Barack Obama, the running joke became that he was desperately seeking a token ambassadorship. Well, now he has one.
Obama will nominate Douglas Kmiec, a Pepperdine University law professor and former head of the Office of Legal Counsel under President Reagan, to be ambassador to Malta, a small island nation in the Mediterranean just south of Italy.
Nothing against Malta, but I cannot help but wonder if Doug will have to invest in t-shirts that say “I sold my soul and all I got was this lousy ambassadorship!”
In the year 60 AD, St. Paul landed on Malta and converted to the Governor there to Christianity. Wouldn’t it be nice if the same thing happened to Doug during his stay?
July 2, 2009 at 9:40 pm
Bum voyage.
July 2, 2009 at 10:30 pm
Life permanently in the Bahamas.
an island in the Mediterranean rent free for four years.
Just wondering what we could get…
July 2, 2009 at 11:24 pm
Small post for a small man.
Don't let the church door hit you on your way out.
Seriously, it was difficult to watch how much Kmiec shilled for the [d]Ear Leader, ignoring Catholic teaching. And every time he was interviewed regarding Obama, I half expected him to whip out the incense and start worshiping at the mention of the president's name. After all that, he gets a pat on the head for a job well done.
…I can live with that.
July 2, 2009 at 11:51 pm
I don't gather Malta would like Doug Kmiec's view of Catholicism, and especially his stance on abortion. Abortion is illegal in Malta and it's known to be a very predominantly Catholic country. Malta may not have much significance in American diplomacy, but let's just hope Malta
July 2, 2009 at 11:52 pm
…isn't wrongly influenced. (sorry, hit enter too soon)
July 3, 2009 at 3:50 am
The Knights of Malta used to be real knights… I don't think they would have taken kindly to Mr. Kmeic.
When I first read this I thought it was a joke. Malta is such a tiny country, I didn't even know there WAS an ambassador there.
July 3, 2009 at 1:32 pm
Maybe it'll do him so good to get a better feel for the whole "Catholic" part of being Catholic.
…or maybe he'll just hand out pamphlets on how awesome abortion is.
Either way, looks like Obama's run out of favors to grant.
July 3, 2009 at 2:26 pm
Gee, I feel bad for Malta.
-Nikki
July 3, 2009 at 11:43 pm
What was that line from "A Man for All Seasons"?
"Richard, It profits a man nothing to give up his soul and gain the whole world–but for Wales?'
Doug, But for Malta?
July 4, 2009 at 12:03 am
Here's the clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLIsqYKDqY8&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Frichleonardi.blogspot.com%2F&feature=player_embedded
July 4, 2009 at 8:46 am
With the title, I seriously thought this was a joke, like one of those weird scenarios from Irony Land that you guys sometimes make up. But it looks like with Obama jokes come true. I can't belive this.
Actually there is queer logic to this: what better than an apostate Catholic to be ambassador between a Catholic country and an apostate (present company excepted) one?
– "… but for Wales" – ha, ha! Actually, don't ditch Malta, it's one of the sanest places on the planet.
July 4, 2009 at 9:25 pm
Malta is now independent of the the UK (since 1964), though still a member of the Commonwealth and the EU.
The country has been independent of the Order of Malta since 1798, though the Order maintains quite a bit of non-governmental structure in Malta, the "most Catholic of Countries"
John Powers, KM
July 5, 2009 at 11:40 am
"…but for Malta?" Exactly my first reaction, too!