We're trying so hard for a "Maltese Falcon" pun, and it just ain't workin'

She might not be a declared presidential candidate yet, but former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton already has one man campaigning to be her vice president. 

Former Ambassador to Malta and law professor Douglas Kmiec wrote in a lengthy Facebook post that he is seeking public office, both as Clinton’s possible vice presidential candidate and as an independent for Congress.

Kmiec has an interesting past that includes an undiplomatic end to his diplomatic career:

The Obama administration’s ambassador to Malta has resigned following a State Department report that blasted him for spending too much time speaking and writing about his Catholic beliefs—to the detriment of his actual work, Politico reports. In a resignation letter sent to Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and the LA Times, Douglas Kmiec struck a defiant tone, saying, “I doubt very much whether one could ever spend too much time on this subject.” 

He accused the department’s inspector general of having a “flawed and narrow vision of our diplomatic mission.” The inspector general’s report had blasted Kmiec for his “uncharacteristically light” schedule, and his “friction with principal officials in Washington.” Kmiec is a socially conservative Republican, but backed Obama in the 2008 campaign (a sin that caused one church to deny him communion). Also, he once killed a nun in a car crash.

Last time Waldo can remember anyone going straight for the No. 2 slot was in 1972, when former Massachusetts Governor Endicott Peabody pitched himself as "the number one man for the number two job." He came in fourth at the Democratic Convention. Kmiec, as did Peabody back in the day, calls his effort "quixotic."

Ain't politics fun?

It is not the case that the Maltese US Embassy takes up half the island.