A Little Bit State Department, a Little Bit 'The View'

By Al Kamen
Friday, August 17, 2007

It's good the "surge" has finally gotten things under control in the Middle East. That's given Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and public diplomacy undersecretary Karen Hughes plenty of time to kill doing other things -- like gushing over baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. in an in-house digital media interview on Monday.

Hughes hit the first softball from the interviewer, State Department aide Heath Kern, who asked Hughes how Ripken's appointment as special envoy came about.

"Cal and I both have a shared . . . " Hughes began, " -- Is it okay to call you Cal?" The trio, perched on a couch, all laughed. "You're a Hall of Famer and I'm calling you by your first name, but -- "

"What else would you call me?" Ripken asked, to more laughter.

Kern bored in on Rice with a breathtakingly trite one: "Do you see sports having the ability to bring people of competing interests together?"

"Oh, absolutely," Rice said. "I'll bet he'll find people who want to be Cal Ripken in Pakistan" -- a notion so goofy they all laughed yet again. Although in truth the Waziristan Orioles are having a pretty good year, even without a solid middle reliever.

The country's top diplomats stayed on message throughout. Hughes: "We're just grateful that someone of Cal Ripken's stature . . . " Rice: "We're just delighted that somebody of Cal Ripken's stature . . . "

The bona fide icon took it all in stride. Though Ripken probably won't spend a lot of time in Syria, in October he'll be off to China, where baseball has a toehold, and will surely be a hit in places such as South Korea and Japan and Mexico. Then there's baseball-crazy Cuba. Well, maybe not. Or Venezuela. Also kinda iffy.

Don't miss the remarkable video, prominently featured on the State Department's home page ( http://www.state.gov) in recent days.

As for Diplomacy . . .

Speaking of diplomacy, the State Department said yesterday that career diplomat Patrick Syring, indicted in federal court here Wednesday on charges that he threatened Arab American Institute President James Zogby and other employees there, has retired.

Syring allegedly sent e-mail and voice-mail messages during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon last summer cursing, accusing Zogby of being anti-Semitic and saying: "The only good Lebanese is a dead Lebanese. The only good Arab is a dead Arab. The United States would be safer without you."

A department spokesman said that "Syring has chosen to retire from the State Department," which he did last month.

Zoellick, the Early Riser

It was only a matter of time before the top brass at the World Bank started grumbling about new boss Robert Zoellick. Zoellick, as would be expected, still gets glowing reviews from just about everyone for his intellect and drive.

And, in contrast to his predecessor, Zoellick has thus far brought in no outside "muscle," opting instead to work directly with the surprised and grateful career folks. (Persistent rumors that he would eventually bring in his former chief of staff at the State Department, Assistant Secretary of Commerce Christopher Padilla, are not true. "I am not leaving the Commerce Department," Padilla said in a written statement in response to our query.)

But, it's those daily meetings Zoellick demands with senior officials at 8:30 a.m. sharp. And it's not even that the meetings are virtually at sunrise by bank standards. It's that Zoellick comes in having already pored over the clips from around the world and then starts calling on attendees by region to explicate and strategize on developments in their areas. Quelle horreur!

Standards of Conduct

Meanwhile, word at the bank is that about 90 senior officials have yet to submit their required financial disclosure forms for last year. (About 1,100 senior folks are obliged to do so.) As former president Paul Wolfowitz says in the current issue of the bank's Annual Integrity Report, the bank must "promote the highest standard of conduct amongst our staff." And "it is vital that the World Bank operate in an open and transparent manner." So please get those forms in.

The report, which came out in February, is not to be found on the shelves in the bank's bookstore but on the please-take-for-free kiosk outside on the sidewalk.

Queen Condi's Navy

Kurt Volker, principal deputy assistant secretary of state for Europe, a.k.a. P-DAS, is being talked about at the State Department as a possible ambassador to NATO.

Volker was one of three National Security Council aides, called Baby DASes, whom Rice let jump ahead of more experienced Foreign Service officers in June 2005, when she moved from the NSC to Foggy Bottom. (Volker wrote her briefing papers for the transition.)

That move prompted the head of the American Foreign Service Association to complain publicly about the "damaging impact of this controversy on professionalism, morale and esprit de corps" because promotions seemed to be based on loyalty.

Volker joined the NSC after being deputy director in the private office of a former NATO secretary general and being a deputy political counselor in the embassy in Budapest.

Another Baby DAS, Matthew Bryza, is said to be eyeing a fine posting as ambassador to Cyprus. His last posting before joining Rice at the NSC was deputy to the special adviser to the president and secretary of state on Caspian Basin energy diplomacy.

And the third Baby DAS, Mark A. Pekala, also in the Europe bureau, had been at the NSC, then was the No. 2 in the embassy in Tallinn, Estonia, before joining Rice at the State Department. He's just landed a fine posting as No. 2 in the huge embassy in Paris. It may not be Rome, but it's pretty nice anyway. Besides, he's there and doesn't have to worry about confirmation.

"First they become baby DASes and now they turn them into baby ambassadors," one detractor said.

How did that Gilbert and Sullivan tune go? "I polished up the handle so carefully that now I am the ruler of the Queen's Navy."

Rove's Greatest Regret

For those without computers who were unable Wednesday to link to the video of outgoing White House aide Karl Rove's"greatest regret" -- the "MC Rove" rap routine at the Radio and Television Correspondents' Association dinner in March -- here's a photo that illustrates why he feels that way.