Gage Skidmore/Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0
Audio By Carbonatix
After dismantling the U.S. Agency for Global Media and getting slapped by a federal judge for doing so without having any actual authority, two-time election loser Kari Lake is onto bigger and better things. Or maybe smaller and less prestigious things. It depends on your perspective.
Earlier this month, President Donald Trump nominated Lake to be the next U.S. Ambassador to Jamaica. The former Phoenix newscaster doesn’t have any obvious connection to the country, other than having vacationed there on repeated occasions, and her history in the public eye evidences a distinct lack of diplomatic tact. But who knows, maybe the post will fit her like a glove. Maybe it’s not, as many in the political realm see it, an obvious demotion to get a troublesome Trump acolyte out of his orbit.
For Phoenix New Times readers, though, it appears to have been welcome news. Posts of the story on Facebook and Instagram generated more than 1,000 comments, many of them mirthful. Some Lake defenders waded into the fray, but for the most part, readers were content to crack jokes. And more than a few expressed their sympathies with Jamaica.
Said Instagram user bluej1801:
My apologies to the good people of Jamaica.
Added user Little.glimmers:
What a kick in the crotch to Jamaica, sheesh.
User Trejondunkley appeared to take the news hard:
As a Jamaican Arizonan, I just gotta ask what I personally did to deserve this.
User Ciao_sasa had an alternate idea:
Mars would be better.
On Facebook, Atom was thinking along similar lines:
OK, and hear me out, but have we considered somewhere more exotic and maybe further away?
For Troy, the first reaction was perverse curiosity:
Can’t wait to hear her patois.
Jim seemed to recognize the reality of the political machinations at play:
Donald is slowly moving her to Antarctica.
Along those lines, James made fun of Lake’s avowed enthusiasm for the job, although he made a horrible pun in the process:
“Hey Marco, I’m making Kari Lake an Ambassador to a Caribbean Island!”
“Oh, Jamaica?”
“No! She WANTS to go!”
Maria had a question, though:
But she is the Governor of Arizona.
On the other hand, Matthew was confident in Lake’s ability to pull double duty:
She will also keep her job as the Director of the Department of Frivolous Lawsuits.
Lake still has to be confirmed for the position by the Senate, which is no sure bet. But it will mean a confirmation hearing, and likely means many more jokes.
