Kennedy rejected by the Pope.

Caroline Kennedy, Obama's choice to become the U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican, has been rejected by the Pope. Kennedy was rejected because she is a pro-choice Roman Catholic.

This is an interesting conundrum.

We, obviously, cannot allow foreign governments to reject ambassadorships based on political stances they do not like. No Communist nation would have had a U.S. Ambassador during the Cold War. And yet, James Joyner at OTB makes this salient point: The Vatican is not really a country at all.

...despite the legal fiction to the contrary, the Vatican isn't really a country; it's a church with a big yard.

A very big yard, indeed. Nevertheless, we did not send an ambassador to Vatican City at all until 1980.

What Obama has done is chose a practicing pro- choice Roman Catholic to be the nation's representative to her church which is pro-life. It is an odd and thoughtless choice. Vatican City is a theocracy - but it isn't really a nation in the usual sense. If a "pro life" government in Mexico or Brazil had rejected Kennedy for the same reason it would be unacceptable. However, this choice is tone deaf - and, once again, puts Caroline Kennedy on the short end of the "job" stick. Obama's attempts to pay off Kennedy for her early support have been a farce.

The Vatican is not clean here. They most certainly would have accepted a pro-choice Protestant. Obama can't be forced to dig around for pro-life Democrats to fill the seat. I suspect the Holy See is as concerned with P.R. than "life." Kennedy is a member of the quintessential Catholic family in America. Accepting THIS pro-choice Catholic would raise the profile of pro-choice Catholics everywhere. She had to be rejected.

She belongs in Ireland. This is the obvious choice. Or has head of the National Endowment for the Humanities.