488 views

44 secs S

Watch
- Search Videos
  
  Advanced search »
- Submit a New Video
Discuss
About
- Try clicking on the various channels to see videos posted to that channel - if you're into music you can click the Music channel to get more music sifts - go on and explore! Use the "hotness" when you have opened the channel link to get videos that have gotten a lot of votes, or use "newness" to have a look at the new sifts.
  When browsing sifts you like, have a look at the Related Posts list to see other related videos, click the tags under the video title to see more sifts tagged with the same tags or have a look at other sifts from the same user in the More Posts By list. If the sifted video is in a play list, have a look at the play list to see other interesting videos the Sift users have linked together.
  Enter the Sift Lounge to chat with online sifters about anything and everything, or read interesting posts in the Sift Talk forum.
  The Top New Videos list is always full of interesting, current videos. It is always recommended that you have a look through the Top New Videos, but also have a look at these:
  - Upcoming Unsifted Videos - active video submissions that neither are published to the front page nor archived to the submitter's personal queue
- Have you seen a really funny, surprising, scary, interesting, cute or in any other way extra good quality video?
  Post and share it here - VideoSift is the best video aggregator on the Web, where we share, discuss, promote, and interact with the best videos out there on the web. Post it here, and share it with the large community of video-interested users. And - you are guaranteed to find more very good videos here already!
  Mind you, we only share videos you discover that someone else has made; if you "self link," by posting a video you have made, have posted or have interests in, you risk the ban hammer - read the posting guidelines before posting. The sift is NOT for promoting your own videos - it is for sharing videos others have made.
  Submit a Video Now »
Login

Congressman Mistakes US Government Officials for Foreigners

submitted by Ickster

1 decade 3 months ago

From MSNBC:

An ‘intensely awkward congressional hearing’

In an intensely awkward congressional hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday, freshman Rep. Curt Clawson misidentified two senior U.S. government officials as representatives of the Indian government.

The two officials, Nisha Biswal and Arun Kumar, are Americans who hold senior positions at the State Department and Commerce Department, respectively. Although both Biswal and Kumar were introduced as U.S. officials by the chairman of the Asia and Pacific subcommittee, Clawson repeatedly asked them questions about “your country” and “your government,” in reference to the state of India.

The video is hard to watch, but it’s also hard to look away.

Clawson, who won a special election this year to replace Trey Radel, kept talking to the U.S. State Department officials as if they weren’t U.S. officials. “I’m familiar with your country; I love your country,” the Republican lawmaker said, apparently unaware of the fact that they’re from the same country. “Anything I can do to make the relationship with India better, I’m willing and enthusiastic about doing so.”

The Foreign Policy report added, “Apparently confused by their Indian surnames and skin color, Clawson also asked if ‘their’ government could loosen restrictions on U.S. capital investments in India.”

Clawson added, ”Just as your capital is welcome here to produce good-paying jobs in the U.S., I’d like our capital to be welcome there. I ask cooperation and commitment and priority from your government in so doing. Can I have that?”

After an uncomfortable pause and befuddled looks, Biswal, the American official from the U.S. State Department, told the Florida congressman, “I think your question is to the Indian government.”

Kudos to Biswal for showing great restraint. If I were in her shoes, a variety of other responses might have come to mind.

But here’s the kicker: Clawson didn’t apologize. He apparently didn’t even realize that he’d made a mistake. After Biswall gently tried to set him straight, the GOP lawmaker simply said, “OK, let’s see some progress.”

Yes, some progress would be helpful, wouldn’t it?