Sometimes, buying an ambassadorship doesn't work out all that well.

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Money talks. And a lot of money screams.

The time-honored tradition of buy an Ambassadorship needs to come to an end.

Our ambassadors need to be the best, most qualified experts we can find. And Cantwell's actions here, while a time-honored tradition for BOTH parties, are inexcusable.

Cantwell needs to take responsibility, and along with Obama, apologize to the people of Luxembourg for foisting this ego-maniacal nut job on to them, a country who has been our staunch ally for a century.

Cantwell vouched for "disaster" Stroum as ambassador

Posted by Jim Brunner

Update: 1 p.m. - Added details about Sen. Maria Cantwell pushing Stroum's
nomination and Stroum's campaign contributions

Seattle businesswoman Cynthia Stroum landed a plum job in 2009 when she was named ambassador to Luxembourg, chiefly because of her political contributions to Barack Obama and other Democrats.

How'd that work out?

Not so well, the Associated Press reports:

As a supporter of presidential candidate Barack Obama, Cynthia Stroum was a superstar whose financial backing of the campaign landed her a plum diplomatic posting in Europe.

As America's ambassador to Luxembourg, the wealthy Seattle-based businesswoman was a disaster.

According to an internal State Department report released Thursday, less than a week after she quit, Stroum's management of the U.S. Embassy in the tiny country was abysmal. The report says her tenure of about one year was fraught with personality conflicts, verbal abuse and questionable expenditures on travel, wine and liquor.

And there's more:

The situation was so bad that the inspector general recommended that the State Department dispatch medical personnel to Luxembourg to test the stress levels of embassy employees. It said at least four staffers quit or sought transfers to Iraq and Afghanistan during her tenure, unusual steps for diplomats assigned to a modern, Western European capital.

Read the whole AP story for even more embarrassing details.

More:

There's got to be a better way. And running amateurs instead of professionals ain't it.
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