Democrat Senators Did Poor Job in Confirming Disgraced Ambassador Cynthia Stroum

Cynthia Stroum served as the United States Ambassador to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg from December 7, 2009 to January 31, 2011, when she resigned after (source)

...an internal State Department report released Thursday, less than a week after she quit, Stroum's management of the U.S. Embassy in the tiny country was abysmal. The report says her tenure of about one year was fraught with personality conflicts, verbal abuse and questionable expenditures on travel, wine and liquor.

The Luxembourg embassy "has underperformed for the entirety of the current ambassador's tenure," said the report, which was prepared last fall before she resigned abruptly. "At present, due to internal problems, it plays no significant role in policy advocacy or reporting, though developments in Luxembourg are certainly of interest to Washington clients and other U.S. missions in the NATO and EU communities."

Stroum resigned effective Jan. 31, just days before the scathing report from the State Department's inspector general was made public...

...The report paints a picture of a corrosive atmosphere at the small embassy, with the ambassador running roughshod over staff, threatening to read their e-mails, largely concerned about job-related perks and involved in improper purchases.

The situation was so bad that the inspector general recommended that the State Department dispatch medical personnel to Luxembourg to test the stress levels of embassy employees. It said at least four staffers quit or sought transfers to Iraq and Afghanistan during her tenure, unusual steps for diplomats assigned to a modern, Western European capital.

"The bulk of the mission's internal problems are linked to her leadership deficiencies, the most damaging of which is an abusive management style," the report said. "She has followed a pattern of public criticism of colleagues, including (deputies), who have not performed to her satisfaction."

Cynthia Stroum was a political appointee who was nominated for this position because of her extensive fundraising efforts on behalf of Barack Obama when he was running for President in 2008. When he won his election, Obama rewarded many supporters like Stroum with positions in our government, as is our custom. Although I do not fault Obama nor his continuation of appointing to political positions key supporters of his campaign, I do fault him for picking a poor nominee, although not greatly, because her resume was solid and she likely seemed like a decent pick, and it looks more as if this was simply a reward and not a personal pick of Obama's.

Mostly I lay blame for this international disaster at the feet of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which is supposed to check and vet and provide oversight to the President's nominee's for offices. They failed in their duties to do their proper due diligence on this issue.

As you can see from the following video of her confirmation hearings before the Senate, from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday, October 08, 2009, which begins discussing nominations at the 11:00 minute mark, Democrats supported and believed in Cynthia Stroum. Senator Cantwell from the state of Washington gives the first speech in support of her (15:00-17:00) and vouches for her. Cynthia Stroum begins speaking herself at the 30:00 minute mark, and in her testimony she thanks Obama, cries, and speaks about why she is going to be a great ambassador. The bulk of the time she talks about cancer research and money laundering. She finishes at the 34:00 minute mark. As far as I was able to figure out, she was only asked one softball question at the 64:00 minute mark about how the people of Luxembourg feel about how they are doing in Afghanistan (where they contribute 9 troops and some money), which is done at 66:00. She was later confirmed with no further discussion, hearings, or testimony.

The Democratic members of the 111th Senate Foreign Relations Committee that fail in their duties and did a poor job in confirming the poor nomination from Democrat President Barack Obama. Hold the following Senators responsible for voting for and confirming this poor nominee: Democrats John Kerry (Mass., Chairman), Christopher Dodd (Conn.) Russ Feingold (Wis.), Barbara Boxer (Calif.), Bob Menendez (N.J.), Ben Cardin (Md.), Bob Casey (Pa.), Jim Webb (Va.), Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.), Ted Kaufman (Del.), and Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.).