Trump’s man doesn’t understand the word ‘no’

They say that if a diplomat says yes, he means maybe. If a diplomat says maybe, he means no. And if he says no, he ain’t no diplomat.

Well, former Senator Scott Brown didn’t get that State Department memo.

The man who boasts he is buddy Donald Trump’s pick for Ambassador to New Zealand has merrily said yes to posing naked for Cosmopolitan, shamelessly said yes to torture by waterboarding, and boldly said yes to Trump’s presidential bid long before other Republicans fell into line.

And in a major US lawsuit, it is alleged he failed to recognise the word ‘‘no’’ when he groped former Fox News contributor Andrea Tantaros on a TV set.

Approached by the Sunday StarTimes this weekend, Prime Minister Bill English would not be drawn on the matter. His office said the appointment was a matter for the United States, not the New Zealand Government.

That’s not quite correct. It’s not a matter for our Government – yet.

If we as a nation find Senator Scott Brown’s views and actions abhorrent, we can say no.

US ambassadors are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate, but they must also obtain the agre´ment (a French term) of the nations to which they are being posted. This is rarely refused. But in 2001, Samoa dragged its feet on granting agre´ment to President George W Bush’s nominee. Financier Charles J Swindells, one of the biggest donors to Bush’s election campaign, had New Zealand’s approval for the posting – but because it was a joint posting to both countries, it hung for a few days in the balance.

I spoke that tense week to Samoan Prime Minister Tuila’epa Sailele Malielegaoi, who made it clear that Samoa would not blindly follow New Zealand’s lead on rubber-stamping the controversial nomination. The question of whether Samoa had a foreign policy independent of New Zealand’s was ‘‘not as simple as you might think’’, he said.

Now, more than ever before, New Zealand must show similar independence: we should not blindly follow the US Administration’s lead.

We will never see eye to eye with many ambassadors from many corners of the world.

But what is clear is that we need not accept a US Ambassador whose stance on torture is so critically at odds with the United Nations Convention against Torture.

And we must not accept an envoy who is the subject of an allegation of sexual harassment in a live lawsuit. We should take a pause until that suit is resolved.

We have argued that those who oppose Trump’s executive actions should look for positive ways to counter them, rather than just whinging on Twitter.

If you don’t agree with his ‘‘extreme vetting’’ of refugees and other migrants from Muslim nations, get out there and support your local immigrant communities.

If you are disappointed that he has pulled out of the TPP trade deal, then put your money where your mouth is by supporting trade with the remaining 10 Pacific Rim nations – they need your business more than your charity.

And if we as a nation find Senator Scott Brown’s views and actions abhorrent, we can do more than talk. It’s not yet a done deal. There are other candidates.

It may be not the diplomatic done thing, but we can say no.