Berlin US ambassador under discussion as Rumsfeld's successor

[ze_dscherman]

Quick abstract from German Spiegel online magazine, original title
"Rücktrittsgerüchte: Berliner US-Botschafter für Rumsfeld-Nachfolge im Gespräch":

Rumours about resignation: Berlin US ambassador under discussion as Rumsfeld's successor

German "Focus" magazine claims that diplomatic sources tell that Condoleeza Rice asked Daniel Coats, US ambassador in Berlin, Germany, if he would like become successor to Rumsfeld. Coats is said to have accepted.

A spokesperson of the embassy said that, according to his knowledge, Coats would remain in Berlin until after the elections. Coats had been discussed as secretary of defense, but Bush decided for Rumsfeld instead.

German source:
http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,301040,00.html

Edited: Title too long

[seventhson]

1. Who IS Daniel Coats ?: good place to start looking: link

http://ontheissues.org/Senate/Daniel_Coats.htm

former rethug senator from a battleground state.

Rightwinger:

example:

Voted YES on ending special funding for minority & women-owned business. (Oct 1997)
Voted YES on prohibiting same-sex marriage. (Sep 1996)
Voted NO on prohibiting job discrimination by sexual orientation. (Sep 1996)
Voted YES on Amendment to prohibit flag burning. (Dec 1995)
Voted YES on banning affirmative action hiring with federal funds. (Jul 1995)

[starroute]

2. Lots of information on this guy

Short bio: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/6087.htm

Rundown of voting record when he was in Congress: http://ontheissues.org/Senate/Daniel_Coats.htm

He sounds like a typical right-wing Republican, but it's hard to tell what his exact affiliations are. Anybody know?

[seventhson]

3. More here:

http://www.disinfopedia.org/wiki.phtml?title=Daniel_R._Coats

Dan Quayle's boy

[hedda_foil]

5. Since Quayle is PNAC ...

This doesn't look overly hopeful. Any info on whether he's an Armageddonist?

[seventhson]

14. Hi hedda!

:hi:

been a while

[Tansy_Gold]

7. Dan Quayle's clone is more like it

eom

[BJ]

8. He was dumped for Rummy because he was too controversial.

[mia]

22. Why would Bush pick someone who is anti-gay now?

Tuesday, January 2, 2001
Bush Nominees Mixed on Gay Issues

"A full set of Cabinet picks gives a clearer picture of the Bush administration, but the new team's varied positions leave gay rights out of focus...

One hopeful sign is that Bush passed over former Senator Dan Coates, once considered the frontrunner for the post, partly because of Coates's vocal opposition to gays in the military."

[seventhson]

9. The law firm he worked for is a Carlyle lobbyist as well

http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:ilwCP9CsDuMJ:isuisse.ifrance.com/stopcarlyle/lobbyingcarlyle.htm++%22Verner,+Liipfert%22+CIA&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

But also has dems working there (what else is new - they all sleep together)

[starroute]

4. Make that a right-wing Christian Republican

"Third, the Coats collection is also very important because it provides a profile of a Christian in politics. For example, there is a video of a speech by Coats on the importance of Christians in politics and information is also available on organizations such as Operation Rescue, Focus on the Family, and the Christian Coalition. The strong influence of Coats’ faith is evident in his legislative activities, becoming the foundation for his most important legislative agenda, The Project for American Renewal."

http://www.wheaton.edu/learnres/ARCSC/collects/sc98/content.htm


The libertarian-type right-wingers don't seem to like him much, because of his inclinations towards legislating morality.

He also doesn't seem to have been particularly associated with military issues.

[hedda_foil]

6. Wow! Talk about synchronicity.

You answered my question while I was posting it!

[seventhson]

12. He was on the intelligence and other military type committees

I believe. He was also in the army for a few years.

from disinfopedia:

As Senator, Ambassador Coats was a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, serving as Chairman of the Military Personnel and Air/Land Forces Subcommittees. He also served on the Senate Select Committee for Intelligence and the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee. In the Senate, he joined with Democratic Senator Joseph I. Lieberman in advocating and authorizing a number of defense reform and transformation initiatives.

[starroute]

17. Coats statement from 1995 on his religious basis

"There is something terribly wrong in America today, when our children in school learn everything about condoms, and nothing about the Ten Commandments. Now, you're going to hear most of the Republican presidential candidates. They're going to address issues that are important. I would like to give you one piece of advice: listen carefully to their words, but also carefully weigh their actions. The Scriptures have instructed us, 'by their fruits you shall know them.' I've invested a very significant part of my life — more than I ever intended — in the issue and career of politics. I believe, for me, it's a Biblical mandate. The next step in the Republican revolution is to ... fund the indispensable, irreplaceable role played by faith-based institutions in renewing American society."

http://www.buildingequality.us/ifas/fw/9510/roundup.html

[peterh]

21. What’s next….

Gen. Boykin moving into the Joint Chiefs and a cross erected in the middle of the Pentagon?
:eyes:

[Kellanved]

19. yes

He complained publicly about political meetings in Berlin being scheduled on Sundays and about Schröder swearing his oath of office without the religious formulation "so help me god".

[starroute]

11. Rundown on his positions

Yeah, it's NewsMax, but it's a pretty good summary:

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2000/12/20/171906.shtml

- Strongly anti-gay (see also http://www.gaymilitary.ucsb.edu/PressCenter/press_rel10.htm)

- Anti-abortion. "Coats' moral code has also dictated his opposition to allowing abortions to be performed in Defense Department hospitals, even if female service members are willing to pay for the abortions."

- Major Clinton critic. Accused Clinton's 1998 missile strikes against al Qaeda of being wag the dog politics.

- "In 1994 Coats tried to warn the Pentagon off committing ground troops to Bosnia. 'This is a quagmire,' he said on CNN's 'Crossfire.' 'I think we are forgetting the lessons of Somalia.' "

[starroute]

13. Here's an interesting piece from 2002

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A11748-2002May13¬Found=true

Crusader a Boon to Carlyle Group Even if Pentagon Scraps Project
By Walter Pincus, Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 14, 2002

Whatever the fate of the Army's multibillion-dollar Crusader mobile artillery system, it has already helped provide an ample return for some of Washington's most prominent power brokers.

Retired Army generals, including a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, received six-figure payments after being placed on the board of United Defense Industries Inc., the Arlington-based company that has been developing the Crusader. Former Sen. Dan Coats (R-Ind.), the late former Rep. Marvin Leath (D-Tex.) and other lobbyists shared in more than $1 million that United paid in each of the past three years to promote the Crusader and other weapons systems it was developing and producing.

But the biggest winner has been the Carlyle Group, the Washington investment firm headed by former Defense Secretary Frank C. Carlucci and other stars of past administrations, Republican and Democratic. Since purchasing United in 1997 for roughly $173 million in cash and $700 million in borrowed funds, Carlyle has reaped more than $400 million in dividends and capital gains from United, according to government filings.

[lebkuchen]

10. Coats made terrible 1st impression on Germans when ambassadorship began

He was arrogant and lacked cultural sensitivity. The Germans would be glad to get rid of him.

On edit: Can't find the article when Coats first moved in, but found this in some chatroom...

....In Washington, State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said
“we are not aware of the group” and added that he could provide no further information on it.
As the United States debates whether to launch military action against Baghdad, Germany has emerged as one of the most vocal opponents among U.S. allies — leading to a rare overt spat with Washington.
Last week, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder ruled out Germany sending troops for an “adventure” in Iraq that he said could wreck the international anti-terror coalition and spark turmoil across the Middle East.
In comments published Tuesday, the U.S. ambassador to Germany, Daniel Coats, criticized Schroeder for the comments. He said he told Shroeder’s aides during a meeting at the Berlin chancellery that the German leader’s stand was “not appropriate.”
The Bush administration is “disappointed,” Coats told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper.

http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:tMqUyYSYQMEJ:www.megastories.com/discus/messages/27/1108.html%3F1037757329+Daniel+Coats,+US+ambassador+to+Germany,+offends+Germans&hl=en

and this...when Susan Sontag won a peace prize in Germany and Coats was a "no show" to the commemoration.

US Iraq war critic gets German peace prize

Euro News

An outspoken critic of the US-led invasion of Iraq has won a prestigious German literary prize. US writer Susan Sontag has been awarded the annual peace prize of the German Book Sellers Association. In her acceptance speech, Sontag not only lashed out at Washington but also at the US Ambassador to Germany.

"I can only the more regret the deliberate absence of US Ambassador Daniel Coats whose immediate refusal of the invitation in June shows he is more interested in affirming the ideological stance and rancorous reactive ness of the Bush administration than he is in fulfilling a diplomatic duty which is to represent the interest and reputation of his and my country," she said.

[Kellanved]

20. absolutely

He behaved like a bull (elephant?) in a China store.
At least he has learned German by now, but he is a disgrace and not liked at all.

[seventhson]

15. You guys are great - an encylopedia of info in minutes

I love this place...

[leftchick]

16. Here is his photo....

He does look familiar...Here is a bit from an interview where he talks about his Faith...

http://www.successfactors.org/911/coats.html

SF: Can you describe a little of your spiritual journey?

DC: I had the wonderful fortune of being raised in a Christian family and the opportunity to get a Christian education at Wheaton College. That has all helped in laying the right foundation for my career. I have had the wonderful support of a wife who shares my faith, a loving family and relatives and spiritual friends who have been very instrumental in helping provide advice and guidance and support. It has been a wonderful journey of faith.

SF: Have there been any points in your journey where you have faced a crisis of faith?

DC: I think anybody who is honest would acknowledge that there are times when doubts creep in and there are times when we can't see the path ahead or even see light at the end of the tunnel. But I guess that is what faith is all about. It's going forward when you don't see the path as clearly as you would like. You can't see the future and sometimes your current circumstances raise real questions about where you are going. I certainly have experienced those times but God has always been faithful to see me through. I cling to the biblical promise that says, "all things work for the good of those who love Him. I can't see God's complete plan for me or the world but I am certainly happy to be one of the participants in that plan. The sustaining role of faith has been absolutely critical to me.

SF: How have you integrated your faith with your politics?

DC: It's the foundation on which I determine how to conduct my life, how I relate to the people that work for me and how I interact with others on a daily basis. When I understand that people, regardless of their background or their status, are all created by God and are equal in His sight, then that means I should treat everyone with respect and dignity. It means I not be judgmental and that is how I try to operate in all my professional and personal relationships. I think relationships are one of the most precious aspects of life. Sometimes we spend to too much time on things and functions and too little time on nurturing, fostering and developing the proper relationships with God and with people.

[salin]

18. Dan Coats is only a tad more intelligent that his predecessor in the Sen.

Dan Quayle.

He was never too popular here in Indiana, and decided not to run for reelection when very popular moderate governor Evan Bayh announced. We may elect our wingnuts in more localized elections (including congressional seats) but statewide the wingers generally lose out to moderates from either party.

If he is chosen, it will be because he would be like elevating Feith - someone who will take orders from others. He is NOT a strong leader. This would be a way for the neocons to keep running things and ensure that no real corrective actions are taken to right things in the Defense Department.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

23. Glad they're being stupid enough to wait until after the election...

...that'll keep Rummy and his associated problems in place as another major issue for the Democrats to use.

Additionally, the fact that Coats is another goose-stepper should ensure that people planning to vote against Bush will continue to do so for fear that the current policies under Rummy will just be extended.