Pompeo and Circumstance

Donald Trump famously called Hillary Clinton our worst Secretary of State ever without ever explaining why.  This was before Trump became President, and if I had to tell you who the worst Secretary of State was before 2017, it would be a guess.  But Mike Pompeo has made the choice for worst Secretary of State ever clear.  He is, and by a wide margin.

Some people will nominate Pompeo's immediate predecessor, Rex Tillerson, as our worst Secretary of State ever, largely because Tillerson had no practical diplomatic experience upon entering the office and proved to be inept at managing the State Department.  But Uncle Rex - who had some diplomatic skills by virtue of being a CEO of a multinational company - was a well-meaning man who, due to his lack of government experience, didn't know what he was doing.  As a former congressman and CIA director, Mike Pompeo knew exactly what he was doing as Secretary of State, and hardly with good intentions.  He isolated the U.S. from the European Union, screwed up the country's response to COVID on the international level, insulted our allies when it came to handling China, and fumbled the ball on relations with North Korea (after Trump first fumbled it himself). This past week, Pompeo, among other things, labeled the Houthis in Yemen as terrorists - despite insistences from humanitarian organizations that banishing the Houthis will lead to more starving in the Yemeni civil war - and also labeled Cuba a terrorist-supporting state, which makes it difficult or the incoming Biden administration to restart relations with the island nation . . .apparently they have to go through Congress to undo Pompeo's designation.  (Republicans have long dismissed Cuba as a pariah, and their attitude has only made a pariah out of the United States.)  Pompeo even declared Iran to be harboring al-Qaeda, even though Iran is governed by a Shi'a theocracy and al-Qaeda is rooted in Sunni Islam.

Pompeo did none of this out of principle but rather out of ideology and political ambition.  Pompeo wants to run for President in 2024.  Even if Biden can reverse Pompeo's last-minute foreign-policy moves, a 2024 Republican presidential candidate - like Pompeo - can use it against him and declare him to be "soft" on terrorism or whatever.  Biden can explain his reversals of policy, but detailed, nuanced explanations satisfy no one in American politics.   

And if Pompeo can find a way to bar the U.S. under Biden from rejoining the Paris Agreement and the World Health Organization between now and Wednesday, he'll do that too.

Trump may be going, but Trumpism isn't.  His supporters will remain a dominant force even if Trump's Senate impeachment trial ends with a conviction and a disqualification against him from ever seeking office again.  Pompeo is clearly one of Trump's most devoted disciples.  The idea of a President Pompeo should be enough to make your stomach do more backflips than Simone Biles, and it's already had the same effect on me.  

Should you be afraid of Pompeo?  Very afraid.