May 5, 2017 4:00pm by David Farrar

Boston Globe on US Ambassador Brown

The Boston Globe writes:

Well played, future Ambassador Scott Brown. You gambled, and you won big.

Your prize: Paradise on Earth. …

Would President Trump reward you for your loyalty, or cast you aside like Rudy Giuliani or Chris Christie? At first, it seemed to be going badly. He passed you over for VP. Then, after his inauguration, it looked like he might put you in charge of Veterans Affairs, a post you really wanted and might even be good at. Even Warren endorsed you for the job. Despite that — or maybe because of it — Trump chose somebody else.

But it’s now abundantly clear that, even though you lost, you won. I mean, who would want to be Trump’s VP right now, answering for his crazy tweets, racing after him when he leaves a signing ceremony without actually signing anything? Or visiting the North Korean border, apparently to stare at our foes with menace? True, there’s a chance the VP will be president at some point. And you really would rock that leather bomber jacket Mike Pence looked a little silly in. But being attached so closely to Trump’s White House, or to a management nightmare like the VA, is no recipe for success, much less happiness.

And now look at you, in line for what is surely the most heavenly job a president can bestow: ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa. My homeland may revoke my Australian citizenship for saying this, but New Zealand is probably the most beautiful country on the planet. Have you seen the “Lord of the Rings’’ movies? The two islands are positively jammed with gorgeousness: emerald hills and impossibly blue seas; snowy mountains and dramatic volcanoes; many sheep and very agreeable people.