As part of his effort to re-organize American Diplomacy -- an effort that seemed to support Trump's goal of eviscerating America's diplomatic service -- in mid-2017 Secretary of State Rex Tillerson sent to all State Department employees an on-line survey. I remember it being quite tedious and frustrating. It seemed very "one size fits all," with the same questions being posed to employees regardless of rank, position, or time-in-service. So an intern on his first month in the building got the same survey as a Senior Foreign Service officer with 35 years of overseas service. This approach seemed entirely consistent with the Trump administration's scorn for professional experience.
The survey promised anonymity, but the first few questions focused on rank, time in service, type of position, etc. With this information (and perhaps with information regarding the computer from which the survey was sent) it would be very easy for someone to identify the person filling out the survey.
Perhaps due to my frustration with the whole thing, when I got to the final section, I was ready to vent. The final page had a mostly blank screen, with one question at the top: "Is there anything else you would like to say to Secretary Tillerson?" Indeed there was.
I wrote:
"Donald Trump is dangerously unqualified. He lacks the experience, temperament, and character to be president. He is a danger to the planet, to our country, and to our democracy. And you, of course, are now a part of this travesty."
I felt a bit better after writing that. But as I drove home that night, I realized that I had hit the send button a bit too fast. Thinking it over a bit more, I realized that I should have put my name on that statement.
No comments:
Post a Comment