His ambitions flightless, Brown lands amongst kiwis

WASHINGTON — We already knew former Sen. Scott Brown isn’t afraid to pick up and move when it serves his political ambitions. But his next post will take him nearly 10,000 miles away — and seemingly into political oblivion.

What exactly does the U.S. ambassador to New Zealand do, anyway?

Yeah, I don’t know either. But Brown, who is likely to win easy confirmation from the colleagues he briefly worked with in the Senate, will soon find out.

Brown burst onto the national scene when he bested former Bay State Attorney General Martha Coakley in the race for the late Ted Kennedy’s U.S. Senate seat in 2010, only to lose it to Elizabeth Warren in 2012.

Two years later, Brown tried to launch a comeback by moving to New Hampshire in failed bid to unseat Sen. Jeanne Shaheen.

He went on to become an early supporter of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. Yesterday that loyalty was rewarded not with a Cabinet position — Brown wanted Veterans Affairs — but rather a post in a land far, far away where movies about hobbits are filmed.

He’ll have no problem winning bipartisan Senate confirmation. Even Warren tweeted yesterday: “You have my support & I’m sure you’ll make the people of MA proud.”

But what qualifies him to be the chief U.S. diplomat in New Zealand?

The folks at the Pacific island nation’s top newspaper are apparently scratching their heads, too. In a headline, the New Zealand Herald described Brown as “a former nude model who supports waterboarding.”

Being from Massachusetts, which has produced many actual and would-be diplomats, doesn’t hurt. Former Secretary of State John Kerry served as the nation’s top diplomat. Former U.S. Rep. Margaret Heckler and EMC founder Richard Egan were ambassadors to Ireland. The late Gov. Paul Cellucci was ambassador to Canada and former Mayor Raymond L. Flynn was ambassador to the Holy See. Former Gov. Bill Weld was tapped to be ambassador to Mexico, but his confirmation stalled.

But maybe qualifications aren’t that important. There’s no language barrier. And the last ambassador in the post was Mark Gilbert, an MLB outfielder-turned-Goldman Sachs exec appointed by former President Barack Obama. He was never even a Cosmo centerfold.

But at the end of the day, Brown got what he wanted — a seat in the Trump administration. That seat just happens to be located on the other side of the planet.