Granted, it’s not as if this is a new practice or solely the practice of Democratic administrations, not by a long shot. But I don’t recall seeing so many grossly ignorant nominees put their gross ignorance on display so readily.

First, there was Norway.

Then Sen. Max Baucus, who is not a donor per se, but certainly benefits from a sort of chummy patronage in his nomination to the China ambassadorship (and should know better than to drop the ball in a Senate hearing).

Now, Argentina. This is nothing a backpacking trip or a perusal of Wikipedia, at the very least, couldn’t solve. These guys are super-rich! Take an educational tour before you take questions in front of the Senate:

But, really, who’s going to stop them? What price is there to pay? The Secretary of Defense gave one of the most woeful confirmation performances in the history of confirmation performances and the entire press corps decided it was the height of obstructionism to suggest that meant anything about whether he was fit for the position and took to the fainting couch when he had to wait a week to be confirmed.

So, who’s worrying about an ambassador to a Latin American country of emerging importance? I hope the ambassador enjoys his first visit.