FSO Confesses to Being a Romantic Fool

 

\Well, well, well. What he did for love? Where have we heard those lyrics before? 

Kiss your job goodbye 

Your last day is tomorrow

Wish her luck, but none to you 

Now you've got the shove

So we're rid of, what you did for love 

Oh, dammit, now I've got that song stuck in my head. 

As is more than obvious from the video above, yet another male FSO has shown extremely poor judgement in the serious matter of his obligation to report continuing contacts with persons from criteria countries. 

Not like that's never happened before, but this one keeps talking about it to women he's just met who are wearing wires. That's a double whammmy. First he compromises himself via-a-vis the Chi-Coms, and then he falls right into a trap set by one of the sillier anti-government activist groups. 

This sad news makes me wonder yet again whether the State Department wouldn't be better served if it went to exclusively female embassy staffing in those hostile countries where the local intelligence services like to run sexual entrapment games on western diplomats. 

Women FSOs have not been 100 percent immune to that approach, it must be admitted, but they nevertheless seem nowhere near as foolish as their male counterparts. 

Until the day comes that we raise an order of celibate monks to do diplomatic work in places like China, female FSOs might be our safest bet.

DSS Doing Immigration Enforcement, Not a Big Stretch From Visa/Passport Fraud

“Similarly, the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) has assigned approximately 600 special agents, or about 24% of its workforce, to assist in these operations, despite their usual focus on passport fraud and the protection of diplomats.” https://t.co/Hx0ccCEp2g

— TSB (@TweetingTSB) August 8, 2025

 

Did the U.S. Institute of Peace Have a Secret Escape Route?

Conspiracy theorists have stumbled upon a good one here. https://t.co/0DDmGMHF6M

— TSB (@TweetingTSB) May 3, 2025

Who owns that property at the other end of USIP's odd enclosed walkway, and what did that property used to be used for? 

It's a strange Washington DC tale that connects not just two buildings but the founder of modern oceanography, the location of scientific timekeeping, World War II history, and the Cold War. 

I'm waiting anxiously to see what the conspiracy freaks will make of it all. 

The Real Reorg - Which Posts Should Be Closed?

“Neither does [reorganization] involve rhetoric that accuses our diplomats of being ineffective, lacking accountability and concern for American interests.” The problem is, of course, that the voters are not of one mind about what those interests are. https://t.co/jpXJtL4UZj

— TSB (@TweetingTSB) April 24, 2025

Now that all the journalists, commentators, public policy analysts and barristas - those last two categories overlap - have gotten tired of chasing their tails around and around over last week's preposterous phony reorg plan leak, finally we have the real thing released by the SecState himself. 

Bottom Line Up Front, as we're told to say in memos, State is looking at a 15 percent reduction in force and the closure of a not-yet-defined number of overseas missions. 

The first round of voluntary deferred resignations reduced the ranks a bit already, and a second round was initiated last Friday by a late afternoon email from the new M-DR. In addition to that, I know that some PSC contractors were let go, as were probationary employees. 

How many more reductions will be needed to hit the 15 percent goal? Beats me, but I've seen estimates as low as 700 and as high as 2,500. 

Now, what about the closure of some embassies and consulates? Which ones will go? Lists have floated around for weeks but to the best of my knowledge nothing official has been released. 

Moreover, and much more interesting to me, how will that decision to close a post be made? Instead of publishing a list, whoever is in charge should instead identify rational criteria for making that choice. Such an approach would be fair and be seen as fair, and could be defended before Congress and our various special interests. It might even make sense to the public.  

For instance, how many reporting cables did a post send last year? How many visas issued? How many ACS cases handled? How many desk positions does it support? At some tiny posts all of those figures are in the single digits. 

Objectively and empirically, some overseas posts are not worth the considerable costs to keep them open. And their regional bureaus back in DC know that better than anyone. 

None of this is new, of course. Back in the Clinton administration days the Department reevaluated its overseas presence and identified 20 or 25 posts that could be closed, according to the official history of those years. 

That happened back when VP Al Gore was nosily 'reinventing government' as his ticket to succeeding Clinton in 2020. The reinvention worked out about as well as Gore's political future did. OTOH, they reduced the size of government by about 400,000 positions, or around twenty percent.

I say, always take the long view. We've been here before, and we'll be here again. Government never really gets reinvented. If you want to have a career that lasts a considerable time you've got to roll with the punches. 

  

 

DOGE Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, The View From State

Please read The Inside Story of DOGE's State Department Reforms by Peter Van Buren. 

PSCs and LES have been the hardest hit by The Trumpening 2 up to this point, but just wait for the RIFs and FAM revisions! 

His bottom line from this excellent article:

Everything is in flux at present and no one should make any decisions based on this or any other article. But what is clear is that this time Trump means business. Unlike the small-scale RIF which took place at State during the Clinton administration, this time it’s for real, a seemingly determined effort to downsize the State Department both at home and abroad while at the same time likely increasing the authority of political appointees. It is both a paradigm shift and a power shift away from a more-or-less independent State Department (and other agencies) toward a concentration of power higher in the executive branch.

The Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration is bound to take most of the hit, but there will probably be some effect on every office that isn't doing public safety, law enforcement, or immigration enforcement. 

If you aren't in one of those functional areas, brace for impact. 

Hungarian Foreign Minister Has Some Advice For Us

FM Szijjártó: The @statedept should not interfere with our domestic politics, especially not based on biased, one-sided information. pic.twitter.com/zdDP26DWGL

— Zoltan Kovacs (@zoltanspox) March 22, 2023

The U.S. Congress directs that State create those human rights reports which so annoy the sensitive and high-strung foreigner. 

That's why they are done. But doesn't anyone in charge think about how incredibly insulting it is when we interfere with the internal affairs of sovereign nations? Counterproductive, even. 

Isn't there a Prime Directive about not interfering with other cultures and civilizations? There should be.

The State of American Diplomacy in 2023, House Foreign Affairs Committee Hearing Today

 

You can read The Hon. Antony Blinken's opening statement here, in which we learn we are at yet another "inflection point," if you will pardon the umpteenth time that strange phrase has been rolled out.

State Department Voted An Ideal Employer

The State Department was voted the fourth overall most favored employer out of 150 blue chip corporations and public agencies. Also the first and second most ideal employer for two particularly discerning subsets of voters.

Here the press release from PA:

The Department of State placed in the top five “ideal employers” in an annual poll of professionals conducted by Universum Communications. This first-ever U.S. Ideal Employer survey was based on the responses of more than 10,300 professionals.

The Universum ranking of ideal employers is based on professionals’ responses to questions about their career expectations, how they perceive companies as employers, and what they associate with those employers. The survey took place from November 2010 to January 2011.

Out of 150 employers, the Department of State ranked:

• first as ideal employer among senior professionals (8+ years of experience)
• second as ideal employer among military/veterans
• fourth as ideal employer among young professionals (1-8 years of experience)

To view all the rankings, visit: IDEAL Employer Rankings Professional Surveys United-States.

Taking a quick look at the entire list, I see that I have worked for one or another of them (State, the World Bank, and the U.S. Army) ever since I was a callow youth. Evidently I have been fortunate in my employers, and that undoubtedly contributes to my generally optimist outlook on life.