David Collingwood, British educator and keen observer of the human race, emailed the following from his holiday villa in southern France with permission to post.
"If you feel that you’d like to publish this, you have my full authority. Here, in la Vaucluse, it is a comfortable 30 degrees Celsius: I write in the shade of olive trees at the table in our Provençal garden; ahead is the unmistakeable outline of Mont Ventoux; around, thousands of cicada chirrup merrily; above is the cornflower-blue sky beloved of Cézanne; and by my right arm is a glass of chilled rosé. What could be better? No wonder I wax lyrical today. Warmest good wishes and bisous." - David
The high profile story here, as, one would hope it is over there, is the maliciously-leaked (confidential) correspondence of Kim Darroch, the British Ambassador to the USA.
intellectual of the Midlands, shares an insight.
He did what all ambassadors do: he assessed state and actions of foreign governments and advised his government accordingly. As an ambassador quite rightly expects his correspondence with his government to be confidential, he must be blunt and honest, rather than diplomatic.
Right, Ambassador Kim Darroch.
That a potential British Prime Minister - Boris Johnson - would refuse to give his full support to a British ambassador, beggars belief.
That a nation’s leader - President Trump - would lower himself by resorting to social media to question the judgement of any ambassador is shocking.
No gentleman would admit to reading another’s correspondence: he would distance himself from such behaviour. Thus, the best, and correct, response to Sir Kim’s (leaked) reports would have been not to respond at all. The alternative would have been for Mr Trump to have condemned the criminal and treacherous behaviour of the perpetrator of the leak.
Without naming specific prime ministers and presidents, I look back with nostalgia to times when the leaders of both our nations at least made a pretense of dignity and courtesy, behaving in a manner befitting their high office. - David Collingwood
A good and true note. The sorry affair shows the disgrace the President of the United States, and shines yet one more light amongst so many on the barometer of the fevered condition of declined England, which is the creature Johnston.
ReplyDeleteIt is 24 C in Normandy, the rose is welcome here as well, and the birds are sleeping on their nests this aft6ernoon.