the republicans & the media have decided....john kerry

[spanone]

...who won the election????


The case for John Kerry at State
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/david-ignatius-john-kerry-as-secretary-of-state/2012/12/13/d155c436-4573-11e2-9648-a2c323a991d6_story.html?hpid=z2

ALL EYES ARE
ON KERRY FOR
SECRETARY
OF STATE
http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/13/15889703-with-rice-out-attention-shifts-to-john-kerry-for-state-post?lite

Rice’s Blunt Style Endeared Her to Obama, but Not All
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/14/us/susan-rices-bluntness-endeared-her-to-president.html?hp&gwh=EB5C10CF7C95306AFD126B808A03455E

For Sen. John Kerry, life seems like audition for secretary of state
http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/13/politics/john-kerry-profile/index.html

[chimpymustgo]

1. One of the many times what the PTB want us to think is the "invisible hand" is so OBVIOUS.

[leveymg]

2. None of this happens in a vacuum or spantaneously. The context is a shift in ME policy

in Obama's second term in an effort to avoid the full consequences of the Libya-Syria-Iran regime change program, and a renewed embrace of diplomacy that was pursued in the first year or two of the Administration. Obama's point man in that back channel regional diplomacy was John Kerry.

Not many people seem to know that context.

[chimpymustgo]

3. That may be imminent, but why the "thousand cuts" assassination of Rice?

[leveymg]

4. She volunteered to take the lead on this after State and CIA started getting heavy flack

The GOP were in a dilemma because they support the basic policy that was being carried out at the Benghazi CIA station (first called a "consulate" then a "mission&quot , so they couldn't or wouldn't address the real issues of heavy weapons and Jihadis moving from Libya to Syria, and the role of that facility in those transfers.

So, King and McVain and the other clowns focused on trumped-up charges that the State Dept., White House, and CIA had abandoned Stevens and the others on the ground. Of course, that half-ass (and unfounded) accusation conveniently ignores the fact that Stevens determined his own security, and traveled around and operated in Benghazi with only the lightest possible security. He did this because he was comfortable with all the armed militias in the area, having coordinated them in the overthrow of the Ghadaffi regime only last year.

Amid the irrelevant hubbub about Marine Corps guards, the real questions and issues were never asked, such as what exactly was the US Ambassador talking about with the Turks, and where are the 15,000 missing Libyan ground-to-air missiles that were looted after the Libyan Army was dispersed, and what actions did Stevens take with regard to the Libyan freighter loaded with MANPADS that arrived was offloaded at a Turkish port? Was the CIA and State Dept. involved in those arms transfers? Perhaps, some of those questions were asked during closed door CIA briefings, but that's classified. So, they came up with this game of "death by a thousand cuts," and Susan Rice -- a stalwart supporter of the regime change policy -- ended up getting cut.

The way I see it, the Benghazi attack forced a wholesale reevaluation of the regime change policy, open and covert, in the region, at the same time that subsequent events in Syria have reached a stage that can only be described as potentially catastrophic, should the regime fall and launch its missiles at the American airbase in southern Turkey where the CIA has been coordinating the other end of the Libya to Turkey pipeline. BTW: it was just announced that we will be positioning Patriot anti-missile batteries around that installation and elsewhere along the Turkish-Syrian border.

[KoKo]

6. +1

[RomneyLies]

5. If you don't believe Kerry was working behind the scenes with McCain, Graham, Ayotte, and Collins

I have a bridge to sell you.

[ProSense]

7. That's completely absurd!

The notion that Kerry would undermine anyone, let alone a member of the President's cabinet, is crackpot fantasy.

[RomneyLies]

8. The notion that he didn't is completely insane

Kerry WANTS the job and has played hardball politics his entire life. He got down and dirty in Iowa during the 2004 campaign and played some of the hardest hardball politics ever. He has NEVER been above knifing a member of his own party in the back to get what he wants.

On top of that, his associations with McCain, Graham, and Collins goes back decades.

The Senate is an "old boys club". Associations are more important in back room dealings than party.

Don't put such romantic notions on politicians. They are all a viscious subspecies of Homo Sapiens and none are above stabbing their own in the back to get what they want.

ON EDIT: I would further note the way ALL of the GOP Senators dragging down Rice were quick to announce how much they would support John Kerry for the job.

Also, Rice is NOT a member of the president's cabinet. Her post is NOT that high. She is ambassador to the UN, not a Cabinet secretary.

[ProSense]

11. Ludicrous.

If Kerry really wanted the job that badly, the President would simply appoint him.

"On top of that, his associations with McCain, Graham, and Collins goes back decades."

Yeah, remember when he supported McCain for President? Ridiculous.

Speaking of "completely insane," your theory fits the bill.

If Kerry wanted the job that badly, why didn't he undermine Hillary?

You ignore that Kerry and Rice are friends and she worked with him on his campaign for President (http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/kerry-laments-rices-withdrawal-for-state)

You also assume that the President is so stupid and blind that Kerry could undermine his U.N. Ambassador and still earn the nomination.

[RomneyLies]

13. Then we will simply have to disagree

There is no way in hell I will ever believe Kerry did not undermine Rice.

[politicasista]

20. You don't care. You just hate Kerry

And ignore ProSense's facts.

Dear Mr. President. Just name your pick so people will stop bashing and hating on one of your best allies. Kerry defended Rice and she used to work for him, but that's not good enough for some.

The GOP is just laughing at your comments and this thread.

[RomneyLies]

21. I don't "hate" Kerry

I am a realist about politicians and their motives.

Kerry did what he had to do to get the job. He couldn't get away with it against Hillary Clinton in 2009, so he would never have tried.

[politicasista]

24. Would rather read facts, but to each his/her own

[politicasista]

14. Thanks for sticking up for the Senator n/t

[leveymg]

16. For once we agree. This is about policy not politics. I don't think Kerry really wants the job

anymore, and I believe some unknown career diplomat or an eminence gris with solid diplomatic credentials, like George Mitchell, will get the tap. With some of the regime changers gone, Kerry may be able to go back to the back channel Presidential emissary role he had with Syria until early 2011.

First order of business of the new SoS is to talk the Arabs, Turks and Eurotrash out of going for the kill in Syria, so the entire load of sh-t doesn't hit the fan (deadman's launch of Syrian chemical weapons). Second, the Secretary of State needs to talk Israel and Iran off their ledges.

None of that's going to be easy, or may even work. But, Susan Rice wasn't the person to do it.

[politicasista]

17. Maybe he should just

release a statement, then maybe people will STFU and stop hating on him.

[leveymg]

18. Politics is the poop that policy must grow in. Kerry is probably used to the smell,

as are the other players. Note that Hillary has made herself conspicuously absent from all this, so she must be on the phone somewhere nearby - I'm sure she has an alternative pick - all we know, it isn't John Kerry or Barack Obama.

[politicasista]

19. Yep, but it is not fair

Just mad that people are bashing and hating (yes, that is a strong word) on him for what happened with Rice.

Kerry hasn't done anything to Obama or Rice, yet he getting hate from all sides of the Dem/liberal/progressive base. He has defended Rice, but it isn't good enough for some. Maybe he should just publicly denounce McCain (since that is who he is linked to, unfortunately). Just sick of the bashing from our own.

[leveymg]

22. There are some strange cross-cutting factions within the Party behind this fight

I think its mainly the Hillary supporters who have been lashing out at Kerry because there's this misguided belief that somehow Kerry's been lobbying and (oops) conspiring with McVain and that little shit from South Carolina, what's his name. A lot of people don't seem to understand that Rice and Clinton are natural allies with the GOP wartoads, because they all want to rake Damascus over the coals and then head straight to Tehran. I wrote a diary on this recently, please see, http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021895778

Because of the unnecessary roughing given Rice by some in Congress, and the branding of it as racist, many progressives who have circled their wagons around Rice are under the entirely mistaken impression that Susan Rice is a progressive, and that the attack on her is an attack on liberal democrats by Right-wingers. That impression has been incubated, and is false. Many people are seeing this narrowly through the default filter of domestic campaign politics, but this actually about some deadly serious perils awaiting the US in the Mideast if we allow these wars between the Sunni and Shi'ia countries to move into the next stage of escalation.

[politicasista]

23. Interesting, though

media outlets have been writing that it is going to happen. In fact there has already been speculation on Twitter as to who will replace Kerry. If it's true, kinda feel bad for those that wanted him to stay around, and do more good in the Senate.

If he becomes SOS, he will be looked down upon or disrespected. There is already been really bad fallout from the Rice mess. This isn't from Clinton supporters, but Obama/Rice supporters. They are really angry at Kerry. It's so ugly don't know where to start.

IMO, this mess could be avoided if he just comes out and says what he wants to do.

[leveymg]

25. I don't think Kerry is going to be the new nominee. He doesn't seem to want it.

Could be wrong, but it's really not a step up for him, as he's already Chair of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, and he likes that job. Whoever is the next SoS is going to be in the middle of a series of hellish dilemmas, all of which will have unpleasant consequences. Kerry can probably do what he can to effect outcomes without placing himself at the terrible center of that.

[politicasista]

26. Agree and we shall see n/t

[WilliamPitt]

10. My new favorite thing.

This is so awesome.

[WilliamPitt]

9. He's been in the discussion from the get-go.

This conversation did not just fall from space yesterday.

[bhikkhu]

12. The repugs think they can take his senate seat

...other than that, I doubt that they care about the SoS much. Probably that was a part of the reason to oppose Rice as well, if they could maneuver Kerry out of the senate and pick up a seat...