The Other McCain

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Obama’s Millionaire ‘Green’ Ambassador to Finland Mocks Critics in Holiday Card

Posted on | December 15, 2013 | 44 Comments

Bruce Oreck is a lawyer who got rich from his family’s famous vacuum cleaner business. He is an environmentalist who gave about a quarter-million to Democrats in the past two decades and who “bundled” about a half-million in contributions to Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign. Oreck was rewarded with the ambassadorship to Finland:

In 2003, Ambassador and Mrs. Oreck founded the Zero Carbon Initiative which is committed to implementing both experimental and off-the-shelf technologies in the built environment, not just to reduce but to offset greenhouse gas emissions.

Why Finland? Does the name “Fisker Karma” ring a bell?

“Green” parties are a major force in Scandinavian politics, and the Fisker Karma — designed in Denmark and built in Finland — was one result of such environmentalist enthusiasms. Unfortunately, the company burned through more than a billion dollars, built fewer than 2,500 cars, losing $35,000 on each one it built, and did so with the help of a huge loan from Obama’s Department of Energy:

In September 2009, Fisker won a $529 million loan from the Energy Department to develop the Karma and build a second model in the United States. The financing came as part of a broader Obama administration effort to shore up employment in the recession-ravaged auto industry and improve the fuel efficiency of the U.S. auto fleet by extending government loans to so-called green-energy initiatives.
A month later, Fisker agreed to buy an idle General Motors factory in Delaware for about $20 million. The government loan approval was a welcome relief for Fisker, which was hurting for cash by late that summer and eager to raise more money from investors, according to an email from [Fisker executive Barney] Koehler.
“We are oversubscribed in this equity round with the Energy Department support — and nowhere without it,” Koehler said in an August 2009 email to Energy Department officials.
The announcement triggered a flood of investor interest in Fisker. The company raised some $600 million before it ever sold a car.

Tundra Tabloids has provided extensive coverage of Bruce Oreck’s ambassadorship to Finland for the past four years, and has suggested that Oreck is exploiting his post to develop business contacts with Finland’s “green technology” sector.

So last Christmas, Oreck — who is, among other things, an amateur bodybuilder — sparked controversy by sending out a Christmas card in which he displayed his muscular left bicep. And this year, Oreck decided to mock his critics by sending a card with a photo of himself posing with four naked men in a Finnish sauna. Eric Dondero at Libertarian Republican says this is all over the news in Finland:

Alyssa Newcomb of ABC News says this is “hilarious.”

Perhaps you disagree. She’s @AlyssaNewcomb on Twitter.

 

Category: Corruption, Environmentalism, Finland, Scandal, Uncategorized

Comments

44 Responses to “Obama’s Millionaire ‘Green’ Ambassador to Finland Mocks Critics in Holiday Card”

  1. MrEvilMatt
    December 15th, 2013 @ 10:14 am

    Obama’s Millionaire ‘Green’ Ambassador to Finland Mocks Critics in Holiday Card: Bruce Oreck is a lawyer who g… http://t.co/WoQG1PX8wP

  2. CHideout
    December 15th, 2013 @ 10:14 am

    Obama’s Millionaire ‘Green’ Ambassador to Finland Mocks Critics in Holiday Card: Bruce Oreck is a lawyer who g… http://t.co/0tKgZySE5j

  3. jwbrown1969
    December 15th, 2013 @ 10:14 am

    Obama’s Millionaire ‘Green’ Ambassador to Finland Mocks Critics in Holiday Card: Bruce Oreck is a lawyer who g… http://t.co/LoMSXHD1zn

  4. Lockestep1776
    December 15th, 2013 @ 10:14 am

    Obama’s Millionaire ‘Green’ Ambassador to Finland Mocks Critics in Holiday Card: Bruce Oreck is a lawyer who g… http://t.co/1aCywAArpQ

  5. Resista38176897
    December 15th, 2013 @ 10:14 am

    Obama’s Millionaire ‘Green’ Ambassador to Finland Mocks Critics in Holiday Card: Bruce Oreck is a lawyer who g… http://t.co/CxeVIhScnw

  6. Citzcom
    December 15th, 2013 @ 10:14 am

    Obama’s Millionaire ‘Green’ Ambassador to Finland Mocks Critics in Holiday Card: Bruce Oreck is a lawyer who g… http://t.co/8C6yYDofiW

  7. rsmccain
    December 15th, 2013 @ 10:18 am

    Obama’s Millionaire ‘Green’ Ambassador to Finland Mocks Critics in Holiday Card http://t.co/nqA1frf2DU Hat-tips @ericdondero @KEGS59

  8. rsmccain
    December 15th, 2013 @ 10:28 am

    U.S. Ambassador + 4 Naked Men = Happy Holidays From Finland! http://t.co/nqA1frf2DU #tcot

  9. Threedonia
    December 15th, 2013 @ 10:34 am

    Did he order a Lapland Dance?

  10. rdsanchezjr
    December 15th, 2013 @ 10:50 am

    RT @rsmccain: U.S. Ambassador + 4 Naked Men = Happy Holidays From Finland! http://t.co/nqA1frf2DU #tcot

  11. BruceC
    December 15th, 2013 @ 10:52 am

    I’ve been to Finland many times and been in the sauna several times. Maybe I am missing something but this does not seem offensive to me. One caveat is that I have not seen the previous card.

  12. BruceC
    December 15th, 2013 @ 11:00 am

    I read the commentary by Dondero and he is just incorrect. Culturally in Finland it is universally accepted that groups of heterosexual men sauna together. Think football party with steam. This would not be a homoerotic scene to the typical Finn. Apparently some Americans see a message here that I doubt most Finns (to whom Oreck is America’s ambassador) would see.

    This whole thing seems to be in the “fake” outrage category.

  13. Church_On_F1
    December 15th, 2013 @ 11:01 am

    Obama’s Millionaire ‘Green’ Ambassador to Finland Mocks Critics in Holiday Card http://t.co/LmCwIkXT1l

  14. BruceC
    December 15th, 2013 @ 11:05 am

    RSM may very well be correct about Oreck using his post for financial gain. He probably is. I guess since I’ve been to Finland so many times I just see an unoffensive attempt at humor by the Ambassador.

  15. tenncommentator
    December 15th, 2013 @ 11:07 am

    RT @rsmccain: Obama’s Millionaire ‘Green’ Ambassador to Finland Mocks Critics in Holiday Card http://t.co/nqA1frf2DU Hat-tips @ericdondero …

  16. LibertyPhysics
    December 15th, 2013 @ 11:08 am

    RT @smitty_one_each: TOM Obama’s Millionaire ‘Green’ Ambassador to Finland Mocks Critics in Holiday Card http://t.co/F8h0oI1lYR #TCOT

  17. FenelonSpoke
    December 15th, 2013 @ 11:23 am

    This has nothing to do with the card, which I consider puerile (and yes, you can have childish humor even if the joke involves men and their unclad torsos) but not offensive. My questions is: Did Obama appoint ANYONE as a ambassador who speaks the language of the country they’re assigned to, or was it all based on political favors? The only person I can think of is the Ambassador to Libya who spoke the language. Poor Christopher Stevens. Instead we have this fool and Caroline Kennedy.

  18. Threedonia
    December 15th, 2013 @ 11:35 am

    When Bush was elected in 2000 he appointed Texas State Senator Teel Bivins as Ambassador to Sweden. He was my State Senator at the time. Very rich Republican, never been to Sweden. He’s a great guy and a friend of Bush. Certain stations are basically window-dressing — Scandinavian ones, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Spain and others. Some — China, Russia, Middle Eastern countries are where POTUS (should anyway) put the real diplomatic heavyweights. It’s a longstanding phenomenon. I wager Finland is seen as one of those posts.

  19. BruceC
    December 15th, 2013 @ 11:35 am

    In fairness, not many people outside of Finland speak the Finnish language. But you are right in that ambassadorships are traditionally patronage posts, at least for less influential countries. I would not compare this to the Ambassadorship to Japan where an ambassador with more professional experience would be called for.

  20. M. Thompson
    December 15th, 2013 @ 11:48 am

    There’s really three kinds of Ambassadors.

    The first is the important ones where the appointee has some actual weight and would be a senior politician/trusted confidant. An example would be Walter Mondale going to Japan in the early 1990’s, or G. H. W. Bush in China in the 1970’s.

    The second is the professional Foreign Service Officers, who get sent to important places that aren’t glamorous, or just need a steady hand. Bruce Laingen, who was part of the Iran Hostage Crisis is an an example of this sort.

    The third is the political appointees who are getting the results of the spoils. They are essentially figureheads, and there is a professional FSO who runs the actual day to day operations. of the Embassy.

  21. FenelonSpoke
    December 15th, 2013 @ 11:52 am

    Did Ambassador Bivins send out a Holiday card with buffed men too?

    Fatuous, but Oreck clearly cleaned up the
    foolish segment. Too bad he couldn’t have said “Merry Christmas” and nixed the men or his bicep (from last year). This administration is a joke, when it’s not corrupt or clueless.

  22. Matthew W
    December 15th, 2013 @ 12:00 pm

    Is the “Happy Holidays” season usually connected to beefcake or partial nudity?

  23. Threedonia
    December 15th, 2013 @ 12:03 pm

    I’m not saying it’s a tasteful card, but as Obama admin bad acts go this is about 11,356 on the list.

  24. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    December 15th, 2013 @ 12:15 pm

    I am surprised how Finns get stupid drunk on Friday nights.

  25. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    December 15th, 2013 @ 12:19 pm

    U.S. Ambassadors to nice European countries are almost always pol appointees. Fortunately Finns do not expect the Ambassador to speak Finnish.

    I also find the sauna card silly but not offensive. Finns do love their saunas, so they might find it entertaining (do Norwegians like Lilyhammer BTW?)

    But remind me not to buy an Oreck vacuum cleaner anyway.

  26. FenelonSpoke
    December 15th, 2013 @ 12:22 pm

    Well, obviously, but this thread was about the card

  27. JadedByPolitics
    December 15th, 2013 @ 12:42 pm

    Obama’s Millionaire ‘Green’ Ambassador to Finland Mocks Critics in Holiday Card http://t.co/INVExTMGfj who would buy an Oreck? POS vacuum!

  28. richard mcenroe
    December 15th, 2013 @ 12:45 pm

    I have it on good authority that one Jeshua ben Nazareth was actually born buck nekkid.

  29. Alan Markus
    December 15th, 2013 @ 12:46 pm

    But remind me not to buy an Oreck vacuum cleaner

    That is my take-away from this column. Sounds like Oreck has been responsible for the “Hoovering” up of plenty of dollars already, I’m not going to add any more of mine if I can avoid it.

  30. cat_1012000
    December 15th, 2013 @ 12:56 pm

    RT @JadedByPolitics: Obama’s Millionaire ‘Green’ Ambassador to Finland Mocks Critics in Holiday Card http://t.co/INVExTMGfj who would buy a…

  31. rsmccain
    December 15th, 2013 @ 1:06 pm

    RT @JadedByPolitics: Obama’s Millionaire ‘Green’ Ambassador to Finland Mocks Critics in Holiday Card http://t.co/INVExTMGfj who would buy a…

  32. Matthew W
    December 15th, 2013 @ 1:18 pm

    Is it on a greeting card?
    I recall swaddling clothes were involved.

  33. Matthew W
    December 15th, 2013 @ 1:18 pm

    No surprise on how Finns get drunk.
    Same as I do………………
    BOOZE !!!!!

  34. Matthew W
    December 15th, 2013 @ 1:19 pm

    But it’s all connected

  35. dontfundit
    December 15th, 2013 @ 1:35 pm

    RT @JadedByPolitics: Obama’s Millionaire ‘Green’ Ambassador to Finland Mocks Critics in Holiday Card http://t.co/INVExTMGfj who would buy a…

  36. K-Bob
    December 15th, 2013 @ 1:49 pm

    I’d rather wait for Stacy’s card from Vanuatu.

  37. Cole
    December 15th, 2013 @ 2:08 pm

    Obama spends a lot of time with naked men but at least he has the sense not to put it on a Christmas card. It isn’t that the card is offensive. What is offensive is that a US Ambassador, our representative abroad, is a complete scumbag who has nothing but scorn for Americans and uses his Daddy’s millions to wreck our economy.

  38. Steve Skubinna
    December 15th, 2013 @ 3:32 pm

    I wouldn’t say the card is offensive. It is profoundly unserious, but as Threedonia notes above, in this administration it’s worth not much more than a shrug.

    And what the heck… Finland. It’s not as though he’s going to start a war with them. And if he did, would we actually notice?

  39. Winston Wins Heisman, Character Takes A Hit | Regular Right Guy
    December 15th, 2013 @ 4:04 pm

    […] Obama’s Millionaire ‘Green’ Ambassador to Finland Mocks Critics in Holiday Card […]

  40. RS
    December 15th, 2013 @ 5:36 pm

    One thing about the Finns: you’ve gotta hand it to them for dissuading the Stalin and the Soviets from attempting to extend the Iron Curtain to the border of Switzerland. The Finns fought hard enough during the Winter War and Continuation War to maintain their independence, albeit while walking a thin line to keep from ticking off the Russians.

  41. Quartermaster
    December 15th, 2013 @ 6:02 pm

    Moooaaaan! Please ban this guy! 🙂

  42. PubliusNV
    December 15th, 2013 @ 9:42 pm

    Obama’s Millionaire ‘Green’ Ambassador to Finland Mocks Critics in Holiday Card http://t.co/1u5zd8Z3cY

  43. M. Thompson
    December 16th, 2013 @ 1:03 am

    It’s living Up North, where it’s a cold, dark, and you can only have sex for so long. Hooch, even ridiculously over priced (Finland has a national monopoly like Pennsylvania or Washington), is a welcome break.

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