SI
SI
discoversearch

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor.  We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community.  If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.
Politics : View from the Center and Left
 Public ReplyPrvt ReplyMark as Last ReadFilePrevious 10Next 10PreviousNext  
To: Lane3 who wrote (556)6/9/2005 8:08:22 AM
From: Dale Baker  Read Replies (1) of 541599
 
Let's not fall into the trap of dismissing someone on the other side of the argument because you spun their POV out to an extreme.

I am a pragmatist at heart. While you see the best road to pragmatism as piecemeal actions, I see it as formulating plans that can pass on a larger scale and have a national impact. Arguing abstract principles that will never see the light of day strikes me as a parlor game.

Both points of view have merit. Both have their limitations. I respect where you are coming from (my ideal is to buy my own little island somewhere and make my own rules, like many folks dream of).

As for your agency, the pay-all-or-none argument was foolish in the context of how government works. Anything Congress doesn't fund goes bye-bye, period. Saying otherwise was silly absolutism.

In that case I would want to see a pragmatic evaluation of what each part of the agency cost, what its actions accomplished and - if it was deemed worthwhile - what would be needed to convince Congress to provide full funding.

FWIW, I left government service because my agency, the US Information Agency, was so gutted by budget cuts that it was folded back into the State Department in 1999. Mnay of the most effective public diplomacy practitioners either opted for more traditional State Department jobs with more prestige or left the diplomatic corps altogether.

Now everyone is running around wondering why we don't have an effective program to spread our message abroad. Duh.
Report TOU ViolationShare This Post
 Public ReplyPrvt ReplyMark as Last ReadFilePrevious 10Next 10PreviousNext  

HomeMailHotSubjectMarksPeopleMarksKeepersSettings
Terms Of UseContact UsCopyright/IP PolicyPrivacy PolicyAbout UsFAQAdvertise on SI
© 2025 Knight Sac Media.  Data provided by Twelve Data, Alpha Vantage, and CityFALCON News