Obama nominates fundraiser to Paris post

[MADem]

31. Precisely.

Other nations do it, too--they choose someone who is LOYAL to the leader, who knows how to charm, who has a certain draw because they're either famous, or connected, or whatever. And money always helps, because without it, you can't throw a good party.

A great example from abroad is Bandar Bush. A smart guy, make no mistake, but he didn't get any of his postings because he was the smartest guy in the room. He got his postings because he was the child of a Royal and a concubine, basically, and he had the sunniest personality going--he was a charmer from infancy. Plus, he was "down with the brown" and he made the Saudis look way more diverse than they actually were. Anyone talking to him KNEW that if they wanted to get a message to the King of SA, he was the conduit.

When he left his ambassadorship, he basically ran the Saudi national security-intel game.