Undiplomatic humor

From an article in Slate about the Obama administration continuing a Washington tradition of handing out plum ambassadorial positions. (link via Chapati Mystery)

The swankiest gigs, according to former ambassadors, are the Scandinavian countries—Norway, Sweden, Finland—as well as Luxembourg and the Caribbean islands. But for the most part, any Western European country will do. Ronald Spiers, former ambassador to Turkey and Pakistan, remembers a conversation with a Navy admiral, who told him that after retiring he'd like to serve as ambassador to Spain. To which Spiers, a lifelong diplomat, responded that upon retiring he would like to command the Sixth Fleet. 'He didn't think it was funny,' Spiers says. The admiral did, in fact, become ambassador to Spain. Spiers did not become an admiral