Unqualified Person of the Week: Named South African Ambassador

Lana Marks

No idiot of the week today, but certainly someone appointed to a position with ZERO experience. As with others, our "leader" has now appointed Lana Marks, a handbag designer who happens to be a member at his resort, to the position of  U.S. ambassador to South Africa. It's a blatant example of it's "Not what you know, it's who you know," and why in the world that woman would even consider the job is unfathomable.
  It's another Betsy DeVos situation. SIGH  

 Here's the story:

Trump Names Mar-A-Lago Member And Handbag Designer As Ambassador

President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced his intention to nominate Lana Marks, a luxury handbag designer, as the U.S. ambassador to South Africa. She is also a member of the president’s exclusive Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, multiple outlets reported.

HER LACK OF EXPERIENCE 

Marks has no prior diplomatic experience. She was born and raised in South Africa and, according to the White House, speaks Afrikaans and Xhosa, two languages spoken in the nation.

The post, which requires Senate approval, has been vacant since former Ambassador Patrick Gaspard resigned in 2016. 

HER HANDBAGS 

Marks launched her eponymous handbag label after she was unable to locate a red alligator handbag to match the suit she planned to wear aboard the royal yacht Britannia for Queen Elizabeth II’s birthday celebration in 1984, according to her website. Her accessories brand specializes in bags cut from “exotic” materials including alligator, ostrich and lizard. They typically retail for five-figure sums ― although one red-carpet creation was priced at $400,000 ― and she counts among her fans celebrities such as Madonna, Helen Mirren and Sarah Jessica Parker, according to her site.

HISTORY OF NOT PAYING PEOPLE, LIKE YOU KNOW WHO

But Marks is also known for stiffing those who work for her, the Palm Beach Daily News reported last month when rumors of the impending appointment cropped up. She has been accused of underpaying attorneys, accountants, landlords and employees, the outlet stated, and is involved in a legal battle with her siblings over the care of their elderly mother.

OTHER RESORT EMPLOYEES GIVEN GOV'T ROLES 

Trump has granted administrative roles to other Mar-a-Lago members, naming friend (and huge supporter) Robin Bernstein as ambassador to the Dominican Republic last year. Bernstein was confirmed in July. Three other Mar-a-Lago insiders have been instrumental in shaping the Trump administration’s Veterans Affairs policies, ProPublica reported in August.

SOURCE: Trump Names Mar-A-Lago Member And Handbag Designer As Ambassador