KRUGGEL -- You have to be grossly tone deaf and ignorant as a diplomat to say something like that in the nation you are speaking to
U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstr is dumb, and I have no problem writing that down. Why would I write that? My first reason is that it is true. Ambassadors have a unique role in politics. They aren't elected, but they are national representatives, nevertheless. They are accorded a high degree of diplomatic immunity. They speak for their government. They speak to the state they are posted to. Let me repeat those two key points. One of their duties is that not only do they speak for their government, but they also gauge and understand the people they are speaking to on behalf of their government. A good ambassador, a good diplomat, is sensitive to the mood of those people he or she speaks to. Their job is to grasp the nature of the people in a country. Hoekstr is missing the part completely. He made some comments that Canadians aren't happy with the United States, and they are downright unpleasant about it. Our anti-American sentiment upsets him. “ I'm disappointed that ...