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Monday, July 31, 2017

755 Diplomats

It's a variation of an old joke:

What do you call the expulsion of 755 American diplomats from Russia?
Answer:  A good start.

Vladimir Putin announced that Russia is expelling 755 US diplomatic personnel from the country.  That still leave about 500 who will work in our embassy.  Who knew we had over 1000 people working in the Moscow embassy?  What were these people doing?  Why does the US possibly need all of these employees?

Think of it this way:  if the USA pays each of these people $60,000 per year, Putin just saved the American taxpayers about four and a half million dollars per year.  America will now have the same number of people working in Moscow that the Russians have in Washington.

I truly get a kick out of the folks in the media who think the action by Russia is outrageous.  They seem to have lost their minds.  Congress slaps big new sanctions on the Russians and they respond by ousting some diplomats.  That's a rather mild response if you ask me.  What did these fools expect?  This is not some fraternity hazing where the Russians are supposed to get paddled and then say, "please may I have another."

I find it hard to believe that the USA needs over a thousand employees in the Moscow embassy.  Maybe we could make do with only 500.  I certainly hope so.

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