Tag: John Kerry

Becoming an Expert of Foreign Affairs

Foreign Affairs is a big part of the job of President of the United States. Everyone can agree on that fact. Thus every candidate for president wants to prove he has the knowledge to do the job. So former Florida Governor Jeb Bush going overseas this week to prove his foreign policy credentials.

I traveled overseas to London and Paris is 2012. You cannot begin to know and understand those countries in a one week trip even if you met the prime minister of the U.K. and the president of France. You cannot begin to appreciate their perspective of the world. Realizing that those are two nations that do have strong ties to America, their leaders may still hold views that are substantially unacceptable to the United States. How can we expect countries with cultures that are extremely different to understand America’s viewpoint? You can’t!

So here we have Jeb Bush, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, former Texas Governor Rick Perry, and other GOP presidential candidates trying to prove that they can effectively deal with the complications of foreign affairs.

The current Secretary of State is John Kerry. He previously served in the United States Senate, and was chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Even with that resume he has struggled to cope with the challenges that this office holds.

So Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, and the others wanting to be president will be telling us that they can do what Hillary Clinton and John Kerry could not do. Make the world better for America.

Believe that? Can I sell you the Brooklyn Bridge?

A Super Power Proves Its Strength

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry Makes a Fool of Himself and the United States

This video has an indistinct sound track

The White House imposed asset freezes on seven Russian officials, including Putin’s close ally Valentina Matvienko, who is speaker of the upper house of parliament, and Vladislav Surkov, one of Putin’s top ideological aides. The Treasury Department also targeted Yanukovych, Crimean leader Sergei Aksyonov and two other top figures.

The EU’s foreign ministers slapped travel bans and asset freezes against 21 officials from Russia and Ukraine.

Somehow I don’t think that’s much of a problem. Not from the least threatening Secretary of State in American history. Hillary Clinton was more threatening in her sleep than John Kerry is after four cups of coffee and three Belgian snubs.

But still John “Unbelievably small strike” Kerry took the time out to reassure Vlad that America was not threatening him.

John Kerry, “We hope President Putin will recognize that none of what we’re saying is meant as a threat. It’s not meant as a – in a personal way. It is meant as a matter of respect for the international multilateral structure that we have lived by since World War II and for the standards of behavior about annexation, about secession, about independence and how countries come about it.”

“So we very much hope that President Putin will hear that we are not trying to challenge Russia’s rights or interests, it’s interest in protecting its people, its interests in its strategic position, its port agreement. None of those things are being threatened here. They can all be respected even as the integrity of Ukraine is respected, and we would hope that President Putin would see that there is a better way to address those concerns that he has that are legitimate, and we hope he will make that decision.”

Those are the words of the Secretary of State (Secretary of Foreign Affairs) of the one claimed super power in the world.  The United States apologizes to Russia for taking a minimal action.  It’s an action so small that no one will notice that it happened.

Is it any wonder that the world holds contempt for the United States?