Why is there no American Ambassador to Singapore?
Democratic Party’s intransigence and Deep State shenanigans are stifling American success.
Scott Adams, famed Dilbert cartoonist and political pundit, posed a great question on his most recent podcast: Why is there no American Ambassador to Singapore, the enormously wealth city state that is host the historic peace summit between the United States and North Korea?
The position of ambassador to Singapore has been vacant since Kirk Wagar resigned in January 2017. Stephanie Syptak-Ramnath is currently heading the embassy, serving as charge d’affaires, ad interim and acting United States ambassador to Singapore until one is appointed.
As of March 1, 2017, there were 32 countries that still did not have an ambassador. Some of these nations are key allies or strategic regional partners. The list includes Belgium, Egypt, and Ireland.
Singapore’s businesses are tremendously successful, and are looking to invest in the United States.
A city-state island with a population of 5.6 million people, Singapore is the financial center of Southeast Asia. It was the pick of top US officials like secretary of state Mike Pompeo and White House chief of staff John Kelly, as a country that is diplomatically neutral, highly secure, and well practiced at pulling off sensitive events.
The US and Singapore have had friendly relations for almost half a century. More than 30,000 Americans live in Singapore, 4,200 American businesses operate in the city-state, and the free trade agreement between the two countries supports 215,000 American jobs abroad. The regional headquarters for US companies Airbnb, Google, and Facebook are all in Singapore.
The US is Singapore’s largest foreign investor. US companies have invested more than $180 billion in Singapore, with total investment to the nation reaching $228 billion in 2016. And since signing a bilateral trade agreement in 2004, US and Singaporean trade has increased by more than 60%. The US has a $20 billion trade surplus with the small, Southeast Asian country.
The lack of an ambassador to Singapore is directly tied to the Deep State hoax that the Russian collusion story has been revealed to be. In February of this year, K.T. McFarland, a former deputy national security adviser, has asked for her nomination to that post to be withdrawn.
Her confirmation process had dragged on for months as senators questioned her role in the Russian issue that has dogged the Trump administration.
Ms McFarland, 66, is the second ambassador-designate within a week to drop out of a key post.
On Tuesday, Dr Victor Cha, a Georgetown University professor and senior adviser at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, was dropped as the ambassador-designate to South Korea. He had apparently disagreed with the White House’s approach to the Korean peninsula.
The last Ambassador to South Korea was Mark Lippert and Marc Knapper, formerly Deputy Chief of Mission under Lippert, is serving as Chargé d’Affaires ad interim in the absence of an ambassador. The Trump administration plans to nominate Admiral Harry Harris, the head of the US military’s Pacific Command, to the post of ambassador to South Korea.
I would urge my politically active friends to contact their congressional representatives about fast tracking ambassadorial appointments, placing those for South Korea and Singapore on top of the stack.
The era of slow-walking President Donald Trump’s appointments, in hopes he will not finish his time in office, is now over. It is clear that the deep state tactic is not working, and the shenanigans are stifling successes in both foreign policy and the domestic economy and will end up harming this nation if it continues.
DONATE
Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.
Comments
They caught the last one chewing gum.
Gum Chewing
The Senate Dems can get pretty upset if she didn’t bring enough for everybody.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFNDzAg6pKc
You can chew gum in Singapore…..you just can’t buy gum in Singapore….and god help you if you do not dispose of it properly!
After the subway was built knuckleheads where putting their gum in the doors so they wouldn’t close properly, ergo the chewing gum ban. A side benefit was no gum to clean off the sidewalks. Singapore is an ULTRA clean place.
As a former permanent resident in Singapore it was no problem bring gum into the city state. Singapore is also the SAFEST place on earth and most felonies are punishable by “Death by Hanging”, as is possession of a gun….I wrote GUN, NOT gum…..LOL!
Ah, if only the US would adopt SOME of the gun laws of Singapore. As I said, SOME.
Per the Arms Offences Act, Cap 14, Statutes of the Republic of Singapore, gun ownership and possession is allowed, but it’s VERY strictly controlled. The UNLAWFUL possession or carrying of firearms is punishable with a term of not less than 5 years and not more than 10 years.
Any person who unlawfully carries any arm shall be punished with imprisonment for a term of 5 to 14 years.
Aggravated penalties apply if the offender of the above 2 provisions was previously convicted of a scheduled offense; such an offender is subject to imprisonment for a term of 5 to 20 years.
Committing any scheduled offense while armed is punishable with imprisonment for life.
Any person who uses or attempts to use any arm shall be guilty of an offense and shall on conviction be punished with death.
A person convicted of using or attempting to use any arm while committing or attempting to commit any scheduled offense shall be punished with death, regardless of whether he intended to cause physical injury to any person or property. His accomplices present at the scene of the offense who may reasonably be presumed to have known that that person was carrying the arm shall be punished with death, unless such accomplice can prove that he took all reasonable steps to prevent use of the arm.
Trafficking in arms is punishable with either death or imprisonment for life. Any person proved to be in unlawful possession of more than 2 arms will be presumed to be trafficking in arms until the contrary is proved.
While I don’t care if a law abiding mentally healthy person owns 1 or 100 guns, including FULLY AUTOMATIC ASSAULT WEAPONS, I do believe we should take DRACONIAN actions against gang shooters and murderers, especially those who commit terrorism or mass murders. For law abiding CITIZENS, after a reasonable AND affordable background check, permits, if any, should be issued on a SHALL ISSUE basis expeditiously.
Singapore is a fascinating place. It has all the trappings of a free country, and yet it is not. If one is not paying attention one can easily mistake it for a free country, but if one listens closely not just to what people are saying but to what they’re not saying a different picture emerges. In a country where one cannot speak freely, people learn to not-speak very loudly.
In Singapore the government’s big fear is race riots, such as they had in the 1960s, Malays vs Chinese. So anything that could stir up racial or religious tension is forbidden. That includes any criticism of any religion, particularly Islam, or anything that suggests SIngaporeans are not one big happy united nation. For instance when discussing WW2, one must never mention that most Malays were collaborators. One may only mention those Malays who fought bravely for Singapore, and leave loudly unsaid the fact that most didn’t
That is true. But it is not a secret. It is actually openly stated (on the goal of not stirring the pot on racial and ethnic tensions). Plus Singapore is a predominantly Chinese city surrounded by Indonesians and Malays who resent them.
True, but it is not a totalitarian State, but one bound by extremely strict and organic laws. It has 16 political parties and a fair judiciary that strictly enforces those laws, but does not create law or quilt, unlike some judges in Hawaii and California.
The Singapore judiciary may very well be fair. I have no reason to suppose it isn’t. But it is not independent, which is a fundamental requirement if it is to be seen to be fair. The same people routinely rotate between stints as prosecutors and as judges. (I used to know a judge there.)
In terms of oppression of free speech, it’s not worse than what the Great Britain has become.
The governments of America, Israel, Austrailia and few other Western nations do not persecute for speech. At least not officially, anyway.
But there was that traitorous weasel obama and and his equally corrupt accessories – like lois lerner:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/legalnewsline/2018/01/04/victims-of-irss-tea-party-bias-and-taxpayers-must-see-lois-lerners-testimony-lawyer-says/#595d7d43ad5d
We came very close to losing it all. Thank you, hillary klinton: but not for your being a corrupt loser, we’d be done.
That may well all be true, but what does it have to do with Democrat’s attempt to sabotage the Trump administration?
Milhouse, you know not of which you speak.
And it is the “Democrat” Party. They really aren’t all that democratic.
Since when has the party of slavery, rebellion, segregation, lynchings, the Klan, disdain of the Constitution, disdain of the right to free speech, high taxation on the productive, champion of government confiscation of property, appeasement ever been democratic, illegal immigration and voting, and fascist/socialism ever been truly democratic?
EB, Singapore has been ruled by the PAP, Peoples Action Party, since independence. We called it the Pay And Pay party, because you paid for everything including the many fines for breaking any of the rules. If you say, “I’m haVing a Fine Day”, it means you probably got a fine for something. ,)
“…will end up harming this nation if it continues.”
As if the opposition cares about harm to this nation. They are perfectly fine turning this nation into a sh!thole if it meant they stayed in power indefinitely.
I’d like very much to know what Adm. Harris has had to say (or not say) about Barracula’s “Green Navy”, and whether he’s in line with pronouncements from top Navy brass that global climate change is our greatest threat.
This has less to do with the democrats than with the corrupt, feckless rats of the GOPe.
They are to the Senate what Sessions is to the Justice Dept.
McConnell And Chao: As Corrupt As The Clintons:
https://www.redstate.com/joesquire/2018/03/19/mcconnell-chao-corrupt-clintons/
Mitch McConnell is a never trumper, so I’m sure he’s dragging his feet as well.
If we’ve managed without an “official” ambassador for this long, why so sure we need one.
Could it be that it sends the impression to a nation that we don’t take them seriously?