This has been a tough week for American diplomacy. First and foremost, the very notion that hyperactive adult disorder sufferer Rudy Giuliani could take it upon himself to play diplomat (or, as one CNN pundit called him, "international man of mystery") in Ukraine was bad enough. No, I take that back. That the President of the United States would send his voluble personal lawyer on a mission to usurp the Senate-confirmed US Ambassador to Ukraine - why use a pro when you have such a gifted amateur? And of course the rest will be history. That was bad enough.
Then we had this: POTUS threatening with execution (in so many words) legally-protected whistle blowers in front of an audience of diplomats and staff of the US Mission to the United Nations. Some reacted with nervous laughter at the image of McCarthy era lists of suspects ("I have here in my hand a list) within the State Department.
But it's not just a fever dream of those momentarily in the august presence of the Commander in Chief. No, McCarthyism appears to be back at the State Department, as the Washington Post reported on this weekend of Impending Impeachment talk. While most of the world assumed that Hillary Clinton's State Department tenure was a matter for the history books, in Trump World, she remains a clear and present danger, and all those State Department staffers whose reports wound up on her desk are now sweating the "up-classification" (a new term for this retired Foreign Service Officer) of their previously unclassified communications.
It's a pressure tactic, of course, but one that has a potentially career-ending bite: lose your security clearance for ex post facto "transgressions" and you are rendered useless in Washington and at overseas American embassies.
It's only the latest twist in what could be termed Trump's war on American diplomacy. We know that he has, from the very beginning of his presidency, considered himself "the only one who counts" in matters of state. "Rex, don't waste your time" on North Korean affairs, when Trump took on that portfolio all for himself.
When Putin ordered the reduction of hundreds of US diplomatic staff in Russia in 2017, Trump welcomed the move, thanking the Russian president for "saving the US a lot of money." Never short of ideas on how to accommodate Vladimir Putin, Trump then offered up the former US Ambassador to Moscow for interrogation.
Then, in his infamous telephone conversation with the Ukrainian president, Trump opined that the recently recalled US Ambassador to Ukraine, career American diplomat Marie Yovanovitch, would "go through some things" - surely one of the most threatening things a US president ever uttered, until, that is, his execution chatter at the USUN gathering.
So, where does all this leave us? The coming days will see a parade of State Department officials appearing (or not) before House Committees investigating the Ukraine affair. Some of those summoned are career officers, others are political appointees. American diplomacy, if not on trial, will be the focus of Trump critics and Trump loyalists alike.
One thing is certain: for those people who have faithfully served their country, under Democratic and Republican administrations alike, staying on at State in this atmosphere is increasingly problematic. It seems like a lifetime ago when - on September 18 - career Foreign Service Officer and Deputy Assistant Secretary Elizabeth Fitzsimmons penned her "Love Letter" to State in the New York Times. Subtitled "Why I stay. Yes, even now," you have to wonder how long she and others will persevere when reputations are being sullied for being in the service of this administration.
Gerald Loftus
US Foreign Service Officer, retired