Photo: Secretary of State Antony Blinken (official) | Stephen Colbert’s guest on his show on May 18th was the USA Secretary of State Antony Blinken. After discussion on world events, Mr. Colbert revealed that he had dug up a “secret” about Secretary Blinken – he plays guitar (left-handed) and has for years. He has been in many bands and goes by the stage name of Ablinken (say it fast and it comes out “Abe Lincoln”!) Secretary Blinken finished off his interview by being invited to sit-in with the house band who just happened to have a left-handed guitar on hand!
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From Wikipedia:
Antony John Blinken (born April 16, 1962) is an American government official and diplomat serving as the 71st United States secretary of state since January 26, 2021. He previously served as deputy national security advisor from 2013 to 2015 and deputy secretary of state from 2015 to 2017 under President Barack Obama.
During the Clinton administration, Blinken served in the State Department and in senior positions on the National Security Council from 1994 to 2001. He was a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies from 2001 to 2002. He advocated for the 2003 invasion of Iraq while serving as the Democratic staff director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 2002 to 2008. He was a foreign policy advisor for Joe Biden’s 2008 presidential campaign, before advising the Obama–Biden presidential transition.
From 2009 to 2013, Blinken served as deputy assistant to the president and national security advisor to the vice president. During his tenure in the Obama administration, he helped craft U.S. policy on Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the nuclear program of Iran. After leaving government service, Blinken moved into the private sector, co-founding WestExec Advisors, a consulting firm.
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Blinken attended the Dalton School in New York City until 1971. He then moved to Paris with his mother Judith and Samuel Pisar, whom she married following her divorce from Blinken. In his confirmation hearing, Blinken told the story of his stepfather, who was the only Holocaust survivor of the 900 children of his school in Poland. Pisar found refuge in a U.S. tank after making a break into the forest during a Nazi death march. In Paris, Blinken attended École Jeannine Manuel.
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Blinken is fluent in French and speaks without accent like a native speaker. He plays guitar and has three songs available on Spotify by the alias ABlinken (pronounced “Abe Lincoln”).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antony_Blinken
May 19, 2022| Interesting Bits| Barb Dye