US Ambassador David Huebner Joins Blogosphere

The latest US ambassador to jump into the blogosphere is our man in New Zealand and Samoa, David Huebner.

Kia-ora … Talofa … Hello

I hope to use this space to share my thoughts and experiences in New Zealand and Samoa, as well as to convey a sense of the two Embassy's work here.

I look forward to hearing from you via email or through the contacts page, since conversations are far more interesting than monologues.

From “To blog or not to blog – that is the question.” Read full entry here.

If he were 23 today, would Descartes pronounce, “I blog, therefore I am”? If we do not blog, are we not?

Although I do admit to having certain inchoate hunches, I will not presume to offer final answers to those questions, at least not yet. In the meantime, it couldn’t hurt to share thoughts and experiences from time to time, so I will forge ahead.

Of course, my intention had been to start sharing thoughts and experiences from the day that I was sworn in (December 4, 2009), but technical and capacity challenges held things up a bit. There may also have been a good bit of pure procrastination, but self-interest often clouds self-reflection, so I can’t really confirm or deny that point credibly.

In any event, we are now ready go, and I hope that some of what follows will inform, inspire, challenge, motivate, or merely amuse you. That’s my goal, and I think it is a pretty good one. Let’s see how it turns out.

Photo from Ambassador Huebner's blog

From Flashback: The Swearing-in. With a sweet and charming photo of the proud mothers.  Read the full post here:

The Vice President, a fellow coal-cracker from Northeastern Pennsylvania, made the event particularly memorable with his quick wit, generosity of spirit, and kind words. He is a prince of a man with a sharp intellect and an electric presence. He certainly charmed my Mother, a life-long Republican and no-nonsense skeptic of all things political.

 "Duane, Dora, Joe, Liz and me."
Photo from Ambassador Huebner's blog

In many respects it was a day for Mothers. In the aftermath of the ceremony, I received a surprisingly large number of emails and notes from around the country and from as far away as New Zealand and China about my Mother and Mother-in-Law, whose friendship, easy grace, and delight at the proceedings seemed to strike a chord in the blogosphere.

Family is clearly and naturally family, whatever its complexion and diversity. As my young but wise cousin Erin says, that’s as it should be. (You’ll have to watch the video above to catch the full reference.)

Those who attack other people’s families do not understand in the least what family is.

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