Poland says US ambassador's letter won't spoil good ties

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press


Updated 6:52 pm CST, Wednesday, November 28, 2018



Photo: Czarek Sokolowski, AP

FILE - In this Sept. 6, 2018 file photo, Georgette Mosbacher stands next to an American flag after receiving her credentials as new United States ambassador to Poland in Warsaw. Moshbacher has triggered anger on social media on Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2018, with a letter allegedly sent to Poland's prime minister that takes his government to task over its treatment of a U.S.-owned independent television station.


WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The Polish government said Wednesday that a letter from the U.S. ambassador that took it to task over its treatment of a U.S.-owned television station and misspelled the prime minister's last name won't spoil "very good" bilateral ties.

The letter from Ambassador Georgette Mosbacher to Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki circulated in Polish media Tuesday, drawing angry comments from politicians and ordinary Poles who found its tone and the mistakes disrespectful. But some praised Mosbacher for defending media freedom.

Mosbacher wrote to express "deep concern" over the right-wing government's criticism of TVN, a Polish broadcaster owned by the U.S. company Discovery. TVN is seen in Poland as being critical of the conservative government.

Government spokeswoman Joanna Kopcinska said in a statement that Poland and the U.S. enjoy "very good relations and one incident will not change that."

Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/world/article/Poland-says-US-ambassador-s-letter-will-not-spoil-13427353.php

[sandensea]

1. Ex-wife of Reagan Kitchen Cabinet grandee Robert Mosbacher. She looks good.

Well, in a way.

[Judi Lynn]

2. Amazing! I decided to look up info. regarding her former husband, the Reagan Sec. of Commerce,

as I couldn't quite remember who he was. Nearly had to stick my fist into my mouth to keep from screaming! What a pointless top of the food chain Republican!

From his Wikipedia:

Robert Adam Mosbacher Sr. (March 11, 1927 – January 24, 2010) was an American businessman, accomplished yacht racer, and a Republican politician.



Mosbacher was born in Mount Vernon, New York, to Gertrude (née Schwartz) and Emil Mosbacher.[1] His grandparents were German Jewish immigrants.[2] After graduation, he went to Texas where his father had some oil investments and entered the oil business himself. He befriended future president George H. W. Bush in Texas.[3]

Sailing as a member of the Knickerbocker Yacht Club, Mosbacher led the team that won the Scoville Cup and the Midget Yacht championship for under-15 racers in 1940 on Long Island Sound.[4] He went on to win the Southern Ocean Racing Conference championship in 1958 and the Mallory Cup, also in 1958.[5] Mosbacher later appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated, on May 18, 1959, with his brother Bus Mosbacher, for a feature article titled Kings of the Class-Boat Sailors.[6][7] The article called Bob Mosbacher "the unquestioned master of fleet racing".

. . .

Mosbacher was a charter member and past Chairman of the All American Wildcatters Association, and served on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the American Petroleum Institute. He was former Director of Texas Commerce Bank and also of New York Life Insurance Company. Mosbacher was a former President of the American Association of Petroleum Landmen, as well as a former chairman of the Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association.[citation needed]

In 1989, Mosbacher received an honorary doctoral degree from the University of Houston. He was Trustee Emeritus of the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies, and President of the Board of Odyssey Academy, a public charter school located in Galveston, Texas.[1]

. . .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mosbacher


Thank you very much for putting this information in perspective, sandensea! Makes me feel even more rancorous toward Republicans. What on earth ARE they good for, anyway?

(Loved the video clip, although it was a little scary. Can't imagine how they did that. It definitely does answer some questions one might have about the Mrs.' face!)

[sandensea]

3. From my favorite dystopian movie, Terry Gilliam's 'Brazil'

The title is a little nonsensical, as the movie had nothing to do with the South American country (although it does bear some resemblance to Argentina's experience with its last dictatorship).

But the idea of a near-future totalitarian regime which exists solely to serve a ruling clique, while increasingly resorting to terror against people in general, is indeed not that far from what many of these Republicans would like to see if they could.

Brazil, incidentally, was almost not released at all even after it was made, as Universal Studios felt it couldn't possibly make money (its artistic value be damned).

Indeed it was intended to be released in 1984, in honor of Orwell's famed novel; but was ultimately not released until the following year.

Ultimately, the studio's misgivings proved to be a self-fulfilling prphecy: the movie was given little by way of ad buys and a fairly limited release. So it did in fact lose money.

But it became a legend in its genre, and is widely known and remembered even now.

As for the Universal head who almost nixed it, Frank Price: he bet all his chips on - of all things - Howard the Duck, a cartoonish action/fantasy film (if one could call it anything) that's remembered not only as one of the worst high-budget films ever made; but it lost millions as well.

Price was fired fortwith, and the headlines read: 'Duck cooks Price's goose'

Oh, well.

Thanks for your well-researched reply, Judi. A crony trough-feeder like Mosbacher would have almost certainly been at home in the Cheeto White House, so it's hardly surprising to see his widow there.