Y’all. This is TOO FUNNY. I have three different sources for this, and they’re all great. I’m saving the best for last and will explain why when we get there. (I think I pulled a muscle laughing!) Anyhow, so US embassies have sent letters to contractors in their host countries demanding they certify that they do not run any diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs that violate President Donald Trump’s executive order against race- and sex-based preferences. I’m sure that’s going over well, and it only gets better from here!
According to a certification form sent out by the US embassy in Denmark and seen by CNN, all US Department of State contractors must also agree that such confirmation is “material for purposes of the (US) government’s payment decision. “
You have GOT to be kidding me! Are we demanding that other COUNTRIES do this? I think they have it backward. *We* have to follow the rules of *their* country, that is, where our embassy is located. We *cannot* demand they follow ours. It just doesn’t work that way.
Firms in other European countries, like France, Denmark, and the Netherlands, have also reported they have received the US request, prompting one Danish official to call for a unified EU response. The Belgian government said in a statement that it was investigating “the legal consequences” for the companies that had received the letters. “The question is not only a matter of principle but also of legal relevance: The US Embassy must comply with Belgian law in its actions. If contracts are terminated merely because a company is committed to diversity and inclusion, this could constitute a violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations,” the statement said.
WHAM. *We* have to comply with *their* laws. So Trump can’t force other countries to comply with our regulations. It really DOESN’T work that way! So allow me to copy over another quote for you and then we’ll get to the part I’m sure *ahem* you’ve been waiting for!
Danish Industry, an organization representing around 20,000 companies in Denmark, said “it will be challenging for Danish companies to navigate” the Trump administration’s movement against diversity and inclusion. “But I trust that our values will remain,” Kinga Szabo Christensen, a director at the group, told CNN.
“At Danish Industry we believe that an inclusive work culture with diverse perspectives is crucial to stay innovative and competitive,” she said. “We encourage Danish companies to continue to have high ambitions when it comes to creating inclusive workplaces, where every talent can thrive.”
Again, we are back to having to comply with their rules. Gee, ya think? Just because Trump is a d*ck over here, doesn’t mean he can be a d*ck over there. I’d love to know who gave him the idea he could do this, because it seems a little too well planned out to just be one of his wild ideas. But whoever it is, they need to be slapped good and hard. This idea is completely backwards to force it overseas. I’m not involved in law, and even *I* know you can’t do that! Okay, okay, onto what I’ve been promising is the best one.
The city of Stockholm, Sweden, plans to defy a demand from the US Embassy that it eliminate its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs. It turns out that those Swedes don’t think they have to follow executive orders from the president of the United States, even when it’s an order that’s on letterhead and everything. Maybe Trump’s ambassador to Sweden should have gotten it notarized first.
Jan Valeskog, Stockholm’s councilor for city planning, called the request “bizarre” and “completely absurd,” explaining that the US government could go stick its head in a pig if it expects to impose Trump’s order on US agencies in his city.
“We absolutely do not intend to do that, it is the opposite of everything we stand for. It’s contrary to everything we stand for. They should withdraw these strange things,” Valeskog told the Swedish outlet Dagens Nyheter. (Google translation)
And now you know … the rest of the story! (Bonus points to anyone who recognizes that line!) But seriously, now, who the hell thought this could be done? “We are not lawyers, but we’re pretty sure that before Trump, US embassies didn’t make a habit of trying to force American presidential whims onto foreign companies doing business in their own countries.” Right? The rest of the civilized world continues to be completely puzzled by what’s happened to America. I think that America is puzzled by what America is doing, too. Thanks to Kathleen for the URLs! And Thanks for sticking with me!
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Or my thinking, the simplest answer would be for them to not have any contractors, since none of them can meet the requirements.
Not sure who you mean by “them” — the U.S. or the E.U. countries. But for Trump, to do that would be like cutting off his nose to spite his face, because the American embassies need all kinds of contractors to maintain themselves and conduct business, and for the E.U., countries, that is business that the contractors of many different kinds want and need. In my view Trumpolini doesn’t have any cards to play here, and if he tries his usual trick of retaliating with something completely unrelated (as he did, for example, with the governor of Maine), he’ll just get his ass into another sling.
What I meant by “them” was the contractors themselves simply refuse to do business with our embassies, instead of complying with the requirements.
Yup! That’s my thinking also. Stick your face in a pig is a pretty big HELL NO. 😉
Trumpolini heh, heh, heh, AWESOME. Yes, contractors want to work with the embassies but they’re not going to with this nonsense. It needs to quietly fade away before, yes, Agent Orange gets his ass into another sling. Wouldn’t that be lovely to see, though?
None of them can *or will* meet the requirements. What an uproar that would cause because there would be no services! Good stuff!
Paul Harvey.
Yesssssssss! *dingdingding* you got it! It just came out when I was writing, so I used it! 🙂 🙂 🙂