US Ambassador to Malta Republican Doug Kmiec Latest to be Thrown Under Bus

When Barack Obama ran for President in 2008, he made a great show out of his spirit of bipartisanship. One of the central themes of his campaign was how his presidency would be post-partisan- how he would welcome and support Republicans within his administration and how he was friends with and close to many Republicans such as John Huntsman or Doug Kmiec. These Republicans believed Obama and trusted him and believed that he really was a post-partisan President who would bring change and hope to America, but much like Obama's grandmother or pastor or best friend Bill Ayers, once these Republicans were used as props to demonstrate Obama's 'post partisanship' they were soon thrown under the bus in the names of Obama's real objectives, which are radically leftist and deeply partisan.

Doug Kmiec is just the latest in the exodus of US ambassadors which this year already includes John Huntsman (former US Ambassador to China, resigned in April of 2011, possibly to make a run at the President himself), Carlos Pascual (former US Ambassador to Mexico, resigned in 2011 and waiting to be replaced, a casualty of a WikiLeaks cable that was critical of Mexico), and Cynthia Stroum (former US Ambassador to Luxembourg, resigned early 2011, was corrupt and a bully).

Via the Los Angeles Times:

The American ambassador to Malta resigned his post Saturday after criticism from the State Department's inspector general that he was devoting too much time to promoting better relations between religions. Douglas Kmiec, a prominent conservative constitutional lawyer and member of the Pepperdine University faculty, said in letters to President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton that he rejected the inspector general's conclusion that his advocacy was outside his official mission. Kmiec wrote that the inspector general had a "flawed and narrow vision of our diplomatic mission" and said his writings had a "highly positive effect on our diplomatic relations."

Kmiec, a devout Roman Catholic and a onetime frequent contributor to The Times opinion pages, held important legal posts under Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush. He has been a prominent figure in the antiabortion movement and in efforts to give greater latitude for religion in public life.

He was also impressed by President Obama's religious faith and interest in improving relations between religions, and he supported him during the 2008 presidential election campaign. After Obama was elected, Kmiec was appointed ambassador to Malta, a conservative Catholic island, and White House officials said that one of his roles would be to advance Obama's views on interfaith dialogue.

But the inspector general's report, issued in February, says he had an "unconventional approach to his role" and devoted much time to writing on the "interfaith initiative." It said his official schedule was "uncharacteristically light," and that he had had "friction with principal officials in Washington, especially over his reluctance to accept their guidance and instructions." Department officials spent considerable time reviewing and editing Kmiec's writings related to religion, and they barred him from organizing conferences aimed at improving relations between religions, officials said.

At the same time, the report says, Kmiec had "achieved some policy successes" and was respected by Maltese officials and embassy staff members.

The most important aspect of this report is that Kmiec was a Republican who wrote about his religion and was a religious man and that bothered the career liberal bureaucrats who habitat the State Department. Although he was doing a good job and everything liked him and he was effective, the leftists who blunder their way through foreign policy at the State Department didn't like him and spent their time censoring their boss and trying to control their bosses efforts to do a better job, and eventually got one of their own unelected bureaucrats to write an unfavorable report of him. Kmiec turned to his friend and ally, Obama, for help, and got a shrug of the shoulder as he too was thrown under the bus, and so he leaves, and once more, America is made worse off by liberals their career minions in the bureaucratic bowels of our government.

Doug Kmiec is the author of Can a Catholic Support Him? Asking the Big Questions about Barack Obama and The History, Philosophy, and Structure of the American Constitution.