Carlos Pascual, a veteran diplomat who had been U.S. ambassador to Mexico since 2009, was forced to resign recently because of leaked embassy cables that bluntly described the shortcomings of Mexico's efforts to control its drug cartels.
His criticism was absolutely true, as anyone who lives close to the border can attest.
The cables were in the trove of material passed by WikiLeaks to certain news media.
Pascual wisely pushed to retool American aid in Mexico's drug war to place greater emphasis on improving judicial institutions and civic involvement than on weaponry and violent raids.
Pascual's assessments decried Mexico's interagency rivalries and called the Mexican army "risk averse."
The truth hurt Mexican President Felipe Calderon, who complained to Dr. Kidglove on a visit to Washington.
For added titillation, some accounts of his dismissal alluded to Pascual's recent dating relationship with the daughter of a leader of the principal rival party to Calderon's.
"Don't tell Momma I'm a journalist; say I play the piano in a whorehouse."
