US ambassador to Germany eyeing Rumsfeld's Pentagon job

[Champ]

BERLIN (AFP) - The US ambassador to Germany said he would "seriously consider" replacing Donald Rumsfeld as US defense secretary if President George W. Bush (news - web sites) won re-election next week and asked him to fill the post.


Asked in an interview with German public radio Bayerischer Rundfunk about speculation he would succeed Rumsfeld at the Pentagon (news - web sites) if Bush won the vote Tuesday, Ambassador Daniel Coats replied: "First I will wait to see what happens in the election and then I will do what best serves my country.


"I have a long-standing interest and experience in defense issues and foreign policy," he said according to a German transcript of the interview.


"If the opportunity arose to contribute in this area and the president asked me then I would seriously consider it."

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1521&ncid=696&e=1&u=/afp/20041029/pl_afp/us_vote_rumsfeld_germany

[noamnety]

1. Coats is awful

"Women's, Gay Rights Groups Object to Coats
The Washington Post also reports that groups representing women and gays in the military "expressed alarm" Tuesday over president-elect Bush's potential nomination of former Sen. Daniel Coats (R-Ind.) as secretary of defense. Coats, among the "most conservative" members of the Senate, served on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Elected in 1989, Coats became the Republican "point man" for social issues involving the military, opposing the lifting of the ban on abortions at U.S. military facilities overseas, speaking out against gender integration, especially in bootcamps, and arguing against the Clinton administration's attempt to lift the ban on allowing openly gay people to serve in the military. Michelman said that Coats "has been, and is, one of the fiercest opponents of women's rights in general, and specifically a woman's right to choose." Bush advisers see any change of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy toward gays in the military as unlikely, but the Republican party platform "promised to revisit the question of gender integration," with particular attention to bootcamps (Ricks, Washington Post, 12/20). Feldt added that Coats has a "0% voting record on scales" (Cabinet Watch press conference, 12/21)."

http://report.kff.org/archive/repro/2000/12/kr001222.1.htm

"We're not as worried as the gay groups, but almost," said retired Navy Capt. Lory Manning of the Women's Research and Education Institute, a nonprofit group on women's issues. But, she added, "of all the nominees I've heard of so far, he's the only one who makes my hair stand on end."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A28784-2000Dec19¬Found=true

[grytpype]

2. If Bush gave Coats a good job like Amb. to Germany...

... then Coats is a Bushist and a big time contributor to the Bush Evil Empire.

We need to enact a program of deBushification.

[PSU84]

3. Dan Coats?? No way!

He's a reactionary.

[w4rma]

4. This guy is ambassador to Germany, now and relations with Germany could

not be worse. Why does he think he would do a better job as defense secretary when he has done nothing to help relations between the U.S. and Germany in his current job?

[bif]

5. Kerry would never appoint him

n/t

[Kellanved]

6. Worst Ambassador ever

Even before the Iraq thing, Coats missed no opportunity to make a royal ass out of himself.
Most importantly was that he tried to be a Christian missionary. Be it appointments on Sundays or the Chancellor not using the Christian oath of office - Coats was sure to criticize it in public.
Also, at first he refused to learn German (now he speaks a few words, but it doesn't sound as if he has a grasp of the actual language.).

Less important, but equally strange was his replacing the Embassy's theme: instead of a classy high quality design with the State Department's seal, invitations are now printed on high-gloss American Flags.

[Bandit]

7. This guy is a right-wing nightmare.........A few of his votes

Voted YES on ending special funding for minority & women-owned business. (Oct 1997)
Voted YES on prohibiting same-sex marriage. (Sep 1996)
Voted NO on prohibiting job discrimination by sexual orientation. (Sep 1996)
Voted YES on Amendment to prohibit flag burning. (Dec 1995)
Voted YES on banning affirmative action hiring with federal funds. (Jul 1995)
Voted YES on limiting death penalty appeals. (Apr 1996)
Voted YES on limiting product liability punitive damage awards. (Mar 1996)
Voted YES on restricting class-action lawsuits. (Dec 1995)
Voted YES on repealing federal speed limits. (Jun 1995)
Voted NO on mandatory prison terms for crimes involving firearms. (May 1994)
Voted YES on rejecting racial statistics in death penalty appeals. (May 1994)
Voted YES on education savings accounts. (Jun 1998)
Voted YES on school vouchers in DC. (Sep 1997)
Voted YES on $75M for abstinence education. (Jul 1996)
Voted YES on requiring schools to allow voluntary prayer. (Jul 1994)
Voted NO on national education standards. (Feb 1994)
Voted NO on approving a nuclear waste repository. (Apr 1997)
Voted YES on do not require ethanol in gasoline. (Aug 1994)
Voted YES on transportation demo projects. (Mar 1998)
Voted NO on reducing funds for road-building in National Forests. (Sep 1997)
Voted NO on continuing desert protection in California. (Oct 1994)
Voted YES on requiring EPA risk assessments. (May 1994)
Voted NO on limiting the President's power to impose economic sanctions. (Jul 1998)
Voted NO on limiting NATO expansion to only Poland, Hungary & Czech. (Apr 1998)
Voted YES on $17.9 billion to IMF. (Mar 1998)
Voted YES on Strengthening of the trade embargo against Cuba. (Mar 1996)
Voted NO on ending Vietnam embargo. (Jan 1994)
Voted NO on favoring 1997 McCain-Feingold overhaul of campaign finance. (Oct 1997)
Voted YES on Approving the presidential line-item veto. (Mar 1996)
Voted YES on banning more types of Congressional gifts. (Jul 1995)
Voted NO on increasing tobacco restrictions. (Jun 1998)
Voted YES on banning human cloning. (Feb 1998)
Voted YES on Medicare means-testing. (Jun 1997)
Voted NO on medical savings acounts. (Apr 1996)
Voted YES on allowing Roth IRAs for retirees. (May 1998)
Voted NO on allowing personal retirement accounts. (Apr 1998)
Voted YES on deducting Social Security payments on income taxes. (May 1996)
Voted YES on welfare block grants. (Aug 1996)
Voted NO on eliminating block grants for food stamps. (Jul 1996)
Voted YES on allowing state welfare waivers. (Jul 1996)
Voted YES on welfare overhaul. (Sep 1995)