Howard Baker To Step Down As Ambassador to Japan

[doxieone]

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBTC4JUG2E.html

Howard Baker to Step Down as Ambassador to Japan

By Nancy Zuckerbrod Associated Press Writer
Published: Dec 7, 2004






WASHINGTON (AP) - Howard Baker, the former Senate majority leader, plans to step down as ambassador to Japan.
Through a spokesman, Baker told The Knoxville (Tenn.) News- Sentinel "it is time to come home."

Two Republican officials, speaking on condition of anonymity Tuesday, confirmed Baker will leave the post. Tom Schieffer, the U.S. ambassador to Australia, is a possible replacement.


(snip)

[maddezmom]

1. another one bites the dust

[Lostnote03]

2. They need him in Ohio!!!!!n/t

[leesa]

3. Exactly. Whenever this muck oozes to another locale, you can bet

something sleazy and just barely 'legal'...with a few judicial pay-offs...is about to occur.

[SharonAnn]

4. Maybe, but he's from Tennessee and his wife is from Kansas.

Howard Baker was the Tennessee Senator who said "What did the President know and when did he know it?"

His wife is former Kansas Senator(?) Nancy Kassenbaum.

[Godhumor]

5. Oddly enough

I had Thanksgiving dinner with this man 3 years ago during my first year on the JET Program (I accepted the invite mainly because they were serving mashed potatoes, and you can not find those anywhere in Japan), as well as 50 other JETs. I looked around the embassy, saw where the Japanese surrendered to end WWII, and ended up mingling with very casually dressed marines.

The invite was strange as well; Baker requested that JETs from his state of Tenn. and his wife's state of Kansas be given preferred status over us other folk (i.e. they got the first invites), and he mainly talked to only those teachers. While mingling with the marines his undersecretary, who was incredibly inebriated, invited us to go out with him and the marines to pick up Japanese girls at bars (This was a 60+ year old man, mind you.).

No real point to the story, but I just wanted to share a personal experience. Thankfully, we avoided talking about politics the whole night, as that would have probably ended up with me being thrown out or shot (I was not a big fan of Baker's during the Reagan years.). I also was able to have only one helping of mashed potatoes; the biggest bummer of the night.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

6. First thought:

Trouble's brewing elsewhere.
:think: