The State of the State Dept.

[BadgerMom]

And now, after the SOTU address, The Atlantic has weighed in with an article on the state of the State Department.

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/03/state-department-trump/517965/

In short, it's not pretty. There is no leadership. In fact, many slots are still unfilled. There is little work to occupy career diplomats. There is no direction given. It seems as though morale is awful.

I felt the worst line in the entire piece was this:

“This is probably what it felt like to be a British foreign service officer after World War II, when you realize, no, the sun actually does set on your empire,” said the mid-level officer. “America is over. And being part of that, when it’s happening for no reason, is traumatic.”

Traumatic. That's what it feels like for plain old citizens, too.

[PsychoBabble]

1. Facinating. Sad. True.

[blm]

2. It's going better than Putin could have hoped. Now he has Congress, too.

A bonus.

[leftstreet]

3. DURec