Obama appoints Colleen bell as US ambassador to Hungary as pay back for her giving his campaign $800,000 and bundling over $2.1m in 2012
An infuriated Arizona Senator McCain urged the republicans not to confirm her stating she was unqualified and the only thing she was bringing to the table was being a producer of a soap opera.
Yes, Colleen Bell is the producer of the CBS soap The bold and the beautiful which first aired in 1987.
Senator McCain tried scuttling the confirmation saying “We’re about to vote on a totally unqualified individual to be ambassador to a nation which is very important to our national security interest, Her qualifications are as a producer of the television soap opera The Bold and The Beautiful, contributed $800,000 to Obama in the last election and bundled more than $2.1 million for President Obama’s reelection effort.”
He continued: “I am not against political appointees. … I understand how the game is played, but here we are, a nation (Hungary) that is on the verge of ceding its sovereignty to a neo-fascist dictator getting in bed with Vladimir Putin, and we’re going to send the producer of The Bold and The Beautiful as the ambassador. I urge my colleagues to put a stop to this foolishness. I urge a no vote.”
She however got confirmed without a single republican vote.
Also up for confirmation was Noah Mamet, a long time democratic fund raiser who also bundled over $500,000 for Obamas 2012 reelection campaign. He was confirmed as the ambassador to Argentina a country he admits he has never visited before.
The Democrats needed to quickly rush the confirmations before handing over the house to the republicans in January who now control the senate.
The White House on Tuesday said President Obama was confident Bell “will do an excellent job of representing the United States and maintaining the important relationship that the United States has with the government and the people of Hungary.”
Press secretary Josh Earnest said she “obviously has succeeded in the business world” and hailed the soap opera producer’s “distinguished private sector career.”
The White House spokesman insisted that Bell “was not chosen” because of her fund raising on behalf of the president, adding that Obama did not take ambassadorial selections “lightly.”
With the Russian bear posture in the east and Hungary under pressure to capitulate to Russia, one would have thought a career diplomat with extensive experience would serve US interests in Hungary better but President Obama says she can pull it off, lets hope she does.
