Claims extracted
21
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
14%
3 of 21 hedged
("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans strongly right
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
70/100
Washington Examiner's corrections and
hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Some past and present diplomats are upset that the State Department has removed the flags of all the countries and territories in which the United States has diplomatic relations, replacing them with American flags.
asserted
States → remove → flags
“It’s so much worse than ‘America First,’” former peace processer Aaron David Miller quipped.
asserted
Miller → ’ → First
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Deputy Chris Landau are correct that the primary job of the State Department is to represent the U.S.
asserted
job → represent → U.S.
Other flags can be decorations, but the fact that Miller and other diplomats see them as more highlights a problem the same diplomats are at pains to deny.
asserted
diplomats → see → pains
Secretary of State George Shultz famously would ask ambassador-nominees to find their country on a globe, and woe to anyone who did not point to the U.S.
Rubio and Landau should go further, though.
asserted
Rubio → ask → U.S.
Entering the robust, marble building is akin to entering the State Department.
asserted
Entering → enter → Department
Security officers ensure guests have appointments and then have them wait until protocol officers or other diplomats can receive them.
asserted
officers → ensure → them
In the meantime, guests can tour an exhibit of Ukrainian drones and other weaponry that features prominently in the war against Russia.
asserted
that → tour → Russia
To see military ordnance or models in a foreign ministry might strike Americans such as Miller as somehow antagonistic to diplomacy.
uncertain
see → see → diplomacy
American diplomats see themselves as a culture apart.
asserted
diplomats → see → culture
Time spent abroad can lead to detachment from the society they represent.
asserted
they → spend → society
Even within the State Department, a cultural chasm exists between foreign service officers and the Department’s civil service employees.
asserted
chasm → exist → officers
While pundits and press embrace the honor of diplomats who resign, they seldom ask why there appears to be such a trend toward a single party among those who do.
asserted
who → embrace → those
Ukrainians understand that their diplomats are part of not only a whole-of-government approach but also a whole-of-society approach.
asserted
diplomats → understand → society
Perhaps it is time for Rubio and Landau to take lessons from Ukraine’s foreign minister and use the spacious State Department lobby not to display flags — a single American flag should suffice — but rather American weaponry, maybe even an F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
asserted
flag → take → flags
Alternatively, as President Donald Trump seeks to promote American industry, why not make the State Department lobby a rotating display of industrial might and goods?
uncertain
lobby → seek → might
Rather than other nations’ flags, Rubio could direct every U.S. state, Puerto Rico, and Guam to prepare a one-week display to change every Sunday throughout the year.
uncertain
Rubio → direct → year
The Pentagon need not display the flags of other NATO members or countries with which it has status of forces agreements.
asserted
it → display → agreements
The Commerce Department does not need to display the flags of countries with which the U.S. has free trade associations, so the idea that the State Department should fly other flags is at best arbitrary.
asserted
Department → need → flags
Symbolism matters and can shape an institution’s culture.
asserted
Symbolism → matter → culture
Freedom from institutional groupthink should be celebrated, not devolve into knee-jerk partisan criticism.
Michael Rubin is director of policy analysis at the Middle East Forum, a distinguished fellow at India’s Usanas Foundation, and a contributor to Beltway Confidential.
asserted
Rubin → celebrate → Confidential
The Aporia
