Keeping this on topic and DR related...
I know you guys talked about the ex Nuncio and the current us ambassador in off topic. I am not there yet.
The Vatican ambassador Archbishop Jude Thaddeus Okolo was born in Nigeria and served as a priest there. He was elevated to Archbishop in 2008 when he was appointed Nuncio (ambassador) to Chad and the Central African Republic. One could reasonably assume this man would not be up to the minute with the latest trend regarding the acceptance of openly homosexual couples in public society. It was his personal party to honor the president of the republic. Nobody forced him to cancel his little soiree. The brits are diplomatic leaders. They said no thank you. we won't go to a party where you exclude gay people. Others followed suit.
In the 1960's my friend's grandpa had a jewelry business. A lebanese american. at his home he had invited several jewish friends and colleagues to meet with his long time friends and fellow lebanese jewelry traders. They surreptitiously spoke in arabic asking how he could do business with Yahudis. He politely and quietly told them to leave his house and their business relationship was over. This man created an small empire lasting generations. He was brave and courageous. Individual actions matter.
The Brits and the French have an outsized influence on on the diplomatic community. they are always the best party invite to get. these people know each other and float above us in a rarified sphere of privilege. they know the rules of the game. Nuncio/Ambassador Okolo is merely a little behind the times. By all accounts he is an honorable man. May he will learn a lesson about being polite to people who are different than oneself.
Now, regarding the appropriateness of appointing brewster...DR is not saudi arabia. most dominicanos don't give a you know about gay stuff. They might make fun of gays a little. But that''s just they way they are. Not PC. They aren't gonna beat up their cousin who is gay. They are gonna protect him. and try and get him to go with a girl. Only the elites who have a vested interest in maintaining social control are the ones trying to manipulate this. DR will evolve on this topic. Twenty years from now it will be entirely different. in the meantime, Brewster was a reasonable choice.
"As an aside, diplomatic courtesy requires that the sending state ascertain if the proposed ambassadorial appointee is acceptable to receiving state. The acquiescence of the receiving state is showed by its granting of an agr?ment to the appointment. The Obama administration would not have released this nominee’s name had it not received the approval of the Dominican Republic."
The Dominican Embassy in Washington told The Cable:
“The Dominican Republic is a democracy with a vibrant media and a wide diversity of opinions on every conceivable topic,” the statement read. “However, it is the position of the Government of the Dominican Republic that a person?s sexual preference is strictly a personal matter and it looks forward to working constructively with Mr. Brewster in his official capacity once his nomination is approved by the US Senate.”
Officially In: James
Arguing that the Dominican Constitution only recognizes different sex marriages and that the husband of US ambassador James Brewster is registered in the Ministry of Foreign Relations as a "dependent" and not a spouse, Papal Nuncio Jude Thaddeus Okolo did not invite Brewster's husband, Bob Satawake, to a planned cocktail reception for diplomats in honor of President Danilo Medina. The event had to be cancelled when fellow ambassadors caught on to what had happened and chose to not attend. In a 22 January letter to Okolo, who is the dean of the diplomatic service, British ambassador Steven Fisher reportedly explained he would not attend, indicating that the decision not to invite the US ambassador's husband was unjustified discrimination against a member of the diplomatic corps. He had suggested to Okolo on 18 January that all be included in the in
