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Comment by chiefalchemist | Hacker News Reader

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I disagree slightly on the guitar clip. Blinken's side hustle as a musician is pretty well known, and when I saw this reported at the time I took it as a morale-raising gesture for his Ukrainian hosts, rather than an attempt to sway Americans. I can't really judge his effectiveness as a diplomat, because skill and success in that field is often not apparent until years later.

He's there on our dime.

Our dimes are financing that conflict.

Put down the guitar and get to work.

There are other ways to boost morale.

It not a good look. I don't care how much some PAC paid for that puff piece. It's not a good look.

I think it is is a good look. Blinken spends almost all his time in meetings, he's one of the busier secretaries of state in recent decades, it seems to me (I say 'seems' as I have not quantified how much he travels or how many people he meets). Diplomacy often involves building relationships with foreign populations as well as diplomats and political leaders. I don't think it's reasonable to suggest he's engaging in personal frivolity; it's clearly an aspect of his diplomatic outreach even though I'm not personally moved by it.

It’s not a good look for you, maybe.

Your arguments would be a lot better without the on taxpayer’s dime reference. It is common for people to engage in leisurely activities. Being Secretary of State ought not mean that they can’t have fun and obviously wherever they go there will be taxpayer expense. It’s not that much money and isn’t worth quibbling over.

Who paid for the flight? And meals, etc. No one has suggested he can't enjoy himself. But playing rock star in the context of an event that's costing taxpayers BILLIONS is not a good look.

Just because such elite shenanigans have been normalized doesn't mean they're ok. The socket puppet media leading the spin doesn't make it ok. He could have - and should have - done better.

If your complaint is the billions in aid to Ukraine then argue against it. Brining up the cost of the flight and other costs that are multiple orders of magnitude less makes you seem like a partisan hack who lacks consistency in your beliefs. This is especially so given the amount of golfing on taxpayer dime Trump did during his Presidency.

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