John Kerry on his boat during Egypt upheaval, State Dept. concedes

[The Straight Story]

As regime change was unfolding in Egypt, Secretary of State John Kerry spent time on his boat Wednesday afternoon in Nantucket Sound, the State Department acknowledged to CBS News on Friday, after repeatedly denying that Kerry was aboard any boat.

"While he was briefly on his boat on Wednesday, Secretary Kerry worked around the clock all day including participating in the President's meeting with his national security council," said State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki, naming a series of Egyptian and international officials Kerry had spoken with on Wednesday.

Psaki's acknowledgment marked a stark reversal from previous denials that Kerry was on any boat whatsoever.

A "CBS This Morning" producer spotted Kerry on his boat Wednesday afternoon on Nantucket, where Kerry has a vacation home. When "CBS This Morning" senior producer Mosheh Oinounou tweeted about the sighting, Psaki issued a denial, calling the tweet "completely inaccurate" and said Kerry has been "working all day and on the phone dealing with the crisis in Egypt."


http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57592465/john-kerry-on-his-boat-during-egypt-upheaval-state-dept-concedes/

[HooptieWagon]

1. Oops.

...but what's one more lie?

[Rex]

3. In a ocean of lies? Not much.

I wonder if the Feds have reached the tipping point between lies and truth and if they even know the difference.

[Flashmann]

9. I wonder if the Feds have reached the tipping point between lies and truth

If they did,they'd probably lie about it...

[HooptieWagon]

13. Remember the BushCo meme?

That they've lied so much it became a reflex, and now lie even when the truth would serve them better? It looks like the Obama Administration has reached that tipping point. How hard would it have been to say from the beginning: " Sec Kerry is out of the office right now, but has remained in constant contact with the State Dept and the President"? Pretty simple, no? But instead, they reflexively lie about it.

[Rex]

16. My thoughts too.

You are SPOT ON!

"We are sorry, but Sec. Kerry is out of the office right now."

The reflexive lying has me worried.

[Glorfindel]

2. He couldn't have a phone on his boat? Sounds like a nonstory to me.

What was he supposed to do? Go to Egypt and place himself physically between the warring sides?

[The Straight Story]

4. Same thing bush did on his ranch I suppose

Use technology.

[Whisp]

28. no, it's not the same.

Kerry is not of the same character as that mass murdering imbecile.

jaysuz!

[alcibiades_mystery]

6. The usual scandalology...and Obama will be President for 3.5 more years and Kerry will be SoS

And they can have their little temper tantrums all day, and it won't change that.

[Bonhomme Richard]

5. Kerry on boat..non story....

Blatant lying about Kerry on boat...well, not good.

[arcane1]

7. What was the text of the original tweet?

[The Straight Story]

11. From his twitter account:

Mosheh Oinounou ‏@Mosheh 3h

...State finally issued correction on Friday morning.
Expand

Mosheh Oinounou Mosheh Oinounou ‏@Mosheh 3h

New: @CBSNews obtained photo of Kerry on boat Weds. Asked State abt it Thurs night. They stood by their denial... pic.twitter.com/hkSWWBVUxQ
View photo
Mosheh Oinounou Mosheh Oinounou ‏@Mosheh 5h

Just caught in last hour: Kerry back at the helm of his boat today (front boat/center). Again this is from today pic.twitter.com/TIYbkOaae7
View photo
Mosheh Oinounou Mosheh Oinounou ‏@Mosheh 5h

State Dept issues correction, acknowledges original @CBSThisMorning report that Kerry was aboard his boat "briefly" in Nantucket Weds

[arcane1]

15. I meant the denial that Kerry was on a boat.

Though rereading the article, the denial may not have been in the form of a tweet

[HardTimes99]

8. Oy vey. Anyone here old enough to remember the beating Kinda-Sleezy

took for buying shoes while Katrina was going down?

The optics of this really suck, to put it mildly.

[Whisp]

30. what sucks is getting sucked in. n/t

[DefenseLawyer]

10. Aw shit, get your towels ready... It's about to go down

I'm on a boat, motherfucker, don't you ever forget!

[galileoreloaded]

20. "sucking down heinz ketchup, theresa got wet." lololololol. nt

[The Link]

12. The drop off from Hillary Clinton to this guy..

immeasurable.

[KittyWampus]

21. "drop off"? Kerry is well respected world wide, he's a solid liberal left of Clinton

[bluedigger]

14. It's like lying has become the norm in DC.

I don't really give a shit that Kerry isn't at his desk 24/7, but this endemic lying has got to stop.

[HooptieWagon]

22. If they're lying about inconsequential matters...

.like being out of the office......then logical to assume they're lying most all the time.

[bluedigger]

23. It makes for a strong argument, doesn't it?

[tritsofme]

17. You have to believe there was some sort of communication error here.

Why lie about something so innocuous?

[HooptieWagon]

24. Apparently lying is a reflex default in any public statement.

Even trivial matters.

[frazzled]

31. It's not that innocuous

It was on the day, and given prior notice that it would happen at any moment, that the military of Egypt staged a coup, taking down an elected world leader. Now granted, there is probably little Kerry could have done to stop that; and perhaps little that the administration desired to stop it. We can leave the politics of the situation there out of it.

But the message it sends and the optics of the thing are horrible (not to mention the initial lie about it). When a major world crisis is in progress, you stay in Washington to be in the presence of both the Department and the White House. You do not go off to Nantucket on your private yacht. You at least pretend the government is working day and night--together--to monitor and manage the situation.

I know he was working hard in different countries the last few weeks. But that's not an excuse. Taking on the job of SoS is huge and demands sacrifices ... including not starting your July 4 vacation early.

[tritsofme]

35. I guess I just don't find it particularly relevant how he spent his time between meetings

on the 3rd of July. It's not as if he was incommunicado, or missed any meetings.

As I said in another thread, I've never been Kerry's biggest fan, but aside from the lie I don't think there was an issue with his schedule.

[frazzled]

40. Well I guess you didn't consider any of my points valid

Which is, of course, totally your right. We'll agree to disagree on this.

But if it wasn't relevant that he was on his boat at the very time the coup was occurring, then why did his press secretary feel the need to lie about it?

Whether it actually mattered or not in the course of things, she lied because it looked very bad. And when our government looks bad, it matters, both at home and abroad. But then, you've already said that doesn't bother you.

[dixiegrrrrl]

44. Plus, the news stories all implied he was with the President:

From Bloomberg:
President Barack Obama met with his top national security advisers yesterday at the White House to discuss the ouster of Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi, with the fate of U.S. aid hanging in the balance.

The Situation Room meeting of Obama and members of his National Security Council came as U.S. officials weigh how to respond to the Egyptian military’s overhaul of their elected government. The White House and most leaders in Congress have so far avoided using the word “coup,” a definition that could cost Egypt more than $1.5 billion in annual military and humanitarian aid under U.S. law.

Administration officials including Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel placed calls to counterparts in Egypt to stress the “importance of a quick and responsible return of full authority to a democratically elected civilian government as soon as possible,” National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said in an e-mailed statement.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-05/kerry-warns-egypt-to-avoid-mursi-retribution-as-u-s-reviews-aid.html

Plus:
The public relations hit comes a day after Mr. Kerry made another political misstep that seemed to indicate he wasn’t entirely clear on the situation in Egypt.

On Tuesday, Mr. Kerry called his counterpart in Egypt, Mohamed Kamel Amr, asking if he was still foreign minister, the Wall Street Journal reported. Mr. Amr had resigned hours earlier, and was only staying on in an unofficial capacity.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/multimedia/image/bors0licuaegzdojpg/

[KittyWampus]

18. usual suspects will use this for some more poutrage.

[flamingdem]

19. +1

even here on DU, imagine

[monmouth3]

25. Did all of the newbies/low posters come here on one bus????

[flamingdem]

34. Plenty of old timers think it's grand to attack Kerry at all costs

because well, the right wing would do it anyway.

They can't resist getting a few kicks in as a change from kicks for Obama

[monmouth3]

42. DU is becoming pathetic sorry to say..n/t

[flamingdem]

43. It really is

Very nah nah nah and pushing scandals.

I don't think it's a troll problem.

I did google emoprog emo progressive and though that doesn't describe that many
DUers there are some of those around bonding with the bashers.

[Major Hogwash]

27. The bigger question to get an answer to is why was the CBS producer tracking Kerry to begin with??

The news people never even bothered to follow Condisleeza Rice around Washington, let alone stalk her at her home.

[flamingdem]

33. Good point about the producer

This is stalking, excuse to go to Nantucket at a minimum!

[Cali_Democrat]

26. So does this qualify as a scandal?

I'll call it scandal 8.2.46

[The Straight Story]

29. No, just another day in DC politics (nt)

[Cha]

45. I shall call it

"yachtgate". I think John Kerry is doing an outstanding job as SOS and will survive this.

Snip***

“Since his plane touched down in Washington at 4 a.m., Secretary Kerry was working all day and on the phone dealing with the crisis in Egypt,” Psaki said.

On Friday, however, Psaki further clarified Kerry’s whereabouts and activities, issuing a statement acknowledging that Kerry did, in fact, spend time on his yacht, but insisting that he has been fully engaged in dealing with the events in Egypt.

“While he was briefly on his boat on Wednesday, Secretary Kerry worked around the clock all day,” said Psaki, who highlighted the telephone calls Kerry made while in Nantucket, including five made to the U.S. ambassador to Egypt, Anne Patterson. She also confirmed that Kerry participated in the president’s National Security Council meeting on Wednesday and again on Thursday by telephone.

A senior State Department official told ABC News that none of the calls Kerry made on Wednesday were from his yacht.

***Snip

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/07/state-department-john-kerry-focused-on-egypt-despite-visit-to-yacht/

[markiv]

32. he couldnt come in, until he got his Grey Poupon back

that's one etiquette issue among the yachting set, they borrow your grey poupon, but dont give it back!

[unblock]

36. shrub lingered at a photo-op, went on a tour of airports, and posed for another photo-op after 9/11

but let's pick on kerry, please.

[The Straight Story]

37. A. Not picking on him. B. bush is not in power currently

Consistency. Something we should all strive for.

[dballance]

38. Good grief. Like the US couldn't hook his boat up to satellite? NON-STORY.

It's 2013 for goodness sakes. I'm pretty sure that the State Department could afford to hook up his yacht to a satellite feed so distance off-shore wouldn't matter (cellular).

If half the salespeople I know can work out of Starbucks on WiFi I think we can safely assume we have the technology to hook up our SofS so he's always available.

What a non-story.

[flamingdem]

39. CNN reporting "he was phoning it in"

and?! Is that not okay anymore? Then he'd better never travel and just stay in Washington

[dballance]

41. He could easily have full video-conference capabilities.

That may by the meaning of "phoning it in" these days for cabinet members.