Their view: Ambassadorship used as reward for Obama cronies

Conservative columnist Michelle Malkin wishes everyone a Merry Crony-mas and says it's time to pass out the goodies. Here's a snippet from a recent column:

While President Obama's lips champion the middle class, his administration's old hands are preparing to lavish rewards on the creme de la campaign creme: His wealthiest political donors.

Several media outlets reported last week that the White House is considering fashion doyenne Anna Wintour for a possible appointment as U.S. ambassador to Great Britain or France.

The rumored short list also includes Obama campaign finance chairman Matthew Barzun and investment banker Marc Lasry. The three share one common, er, "qualification:" Each raked in more than $500,000 for Team Obama 2012.

Wintour held multiple million-dollar fundraisers for Obama in Hollywood, New York, London and Paris — raking in the fourth highest amount for the Man of the (Glamorous) People. Wintour's $40,000-per-plate dinners attracted Hollywood's biggest leftist celebs.

She went further than just passing around the fashion plate, though. Before Election Day, the fashion world buzzed over the British-born Vogue editor's behind-the-scenes campaign to intimidate designers into spurning GOP women. Such Chicago-style diplomacy will fit in perfectly with the brass-knuckle-wielder-in-chief.

If Wintour snags the plum British ambassadorship as rumored, she will succeed another top Obama bundler known as "the vacuum cleaner." Chicago lawyer and banking mogul Louis Susman (who worked for Salomon Brothers and retired as a Citigroup vice chairman in February 2009) had no diplomatic experience. But he vacayed and sashayed with the Kennedys and the Kerrys in Hyannis Port and Nantucket, siphoned up a total of $240 million for Democrats over the past several decades, and bundled upward of $500,000 for Team Obama.

Ambassadorships have long been used as patronage rewards for deep-pocketed donors, of course. Clinton did it. The Bushes did it. And Hopey McChangey immediately followed suit.