Round one to the Foggy Bottom Klan

Yes, it's true. The Bush Administration has signed the deeply flawed, much contested and largely unpopular Memorandum of Understanding that restricts the importation of many forms of Chinese art and artifacts into America. Personally, it was a disappointing event for me. No, I don't collect or deal in anything Chinese. In fact, Chinese coins are not particularly popular in the U.S. collector market and will be missed by a relatively few collectors of ancient coins. Why was it disappointing? Because as a person who values personal property rights very highly, I have become disillusioned with the political party that once carried that banner with pride. The Chinese request for import restrictions was flawed from the start and was opposed by a bi-partisan list of legislators including Senators Kit Bond (R) of Missouri and Charles Schumer (D) of New York, both of whom received the ACCG "Friend of Numismatics" award for intervening with the State Department on this issue. They did, in fact, kill action on the MOU back in 2005 when it was being deliberated. But, now that everyone on the White House team is packing their treasures and mementos in Washington, the bureaucrats get to rule the roost and Bush's 11th hour appointee Goli Ameri has been quite happy it seems to sign, smile and skate. It hard to believe that a political appointee with only months on the job would sign a problematic international agreement on the way out the door without any apparent reservation or renewed discussion. Sure, Ms. Ameri can go back to Portland and hang a bunch of impressive photos on her office wall, but her real legacy in Washington is that she helped perpetuate the usurpation of the U.S. Government by mid-level bureaucrats. I'm not sure if it's ironic, or maybe just typical, that Ms. Ameri's predecessor Dina Powell did esentially the same thing with the Cyprus MOU as she was slipping out the door to begin her new job at Goldman Sachs. Are these two at fault? Well probably not, even though one would hope for a bit more political savvy in a high profile job like theirs. They were manipulated by the sharpest bureaucrats the world has ever seen—the Foggy Bottom Klan. The outcome is hardly a major setback for the ancient coin collecting community, but the revolving door of political appointees at ranking State Department positions is indeed a major impediment to fair government and service to the people. I hope that Secretary of State Clinton gets a better handle on it. Whoever Secretary Clinton appoints to replace Ms. Ameri at the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, one thing is certain. They will hear more about Cyprus and China—from both sides, I'm sure.