The Boi from Troy writes about the swearing in of Roland Arnall as Ambassador to the Netherlands by Condoleeza Rice

Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice swore in California businessman Roland Arnall to the post of Ambassador of the Netherlands on Monday, February 27th.

Roland Arnall takes on the position of Ambassador in a very important country to the US on the global war on terror. Bravo to the elder statesman, California Congressman Tom Lantos, who seems to keep getting it right after over 10 terms in Congress. Democrats, scorned at the fact that Arnall had switched his political contributions from Ds to Rs had tried putting the kibosh on the nomination, trying to link the man to the business practices of the company he founded decades ago. But one Democrat on the Hill stood out and in support of the nomination, even if it was not popular with his party: Tom Lantos.

I have known both Roland Arnall and Tom Lantos for more than 20 years. Roland Arnall is a successful businessman who has built up a major financial institution. He is brilliant, tough and will be a great representative for the United States. He is the right man for that post at this time when Europe is right in the midst of the GWT.

Tom Lantos (D – San Mateo) is an immigrant from Hungary and has served his country well in his long service in the House of Representatives. Tom is no way a party hack or a partisan Democrat. As Roger Simon says, “…another case of [Lantos] rising above the interminable partisan game-playing and selfishness that pollutes our democracy.”

Tom is a proponent of internet freedom, and together with Chris Cox (R-CA) introduced the Global Internet Freedom Act (H.R. 48).

If only we had more Democrats like Tom Lantos in the Congress we might not only get more done, but we would also enjoy civil discourse in the country even when we disagree with the other party.