John Kerry Outsources American Foreign Policy To James Taylor
With some still criticizing the Administration for not sending a higher-ranking officials to Sunday’s unity rally in Paris, Secretary of State John Kerry decided it might be a good idea to stop by Paris on the way home from India. And, to show our French friends that America stands beside them in the fight against terrorism, he brought along a special guest:
Secretary of State John Kerry, the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit France since Islamic militant attacks in Paris left 17 dead, met with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and French President Francois Hollande to offer condolences this morning.
Kerry, who said he was in France “to share a big hug with Paris,” is also set to lay wreaths at the sites of the two attacks, a State Department official said. Kerry and Hollande embraced as they met in the courtyard of the presidential palace.
“The American people watched you and your team lead with great elegance and grace, and we watched the people of France come together with great sense of purpose and unity,” Kerry said. “It was a great lesson to the world.”
Kerry, who is making his 19th visit to Paris since becoming secretary of state, arrived in Paris on Thursday evening and will be joined by American singer James Taylor, a longtime friend, who will perform a song in tribute to victims of the attacks that killed 17 people.
When I first saw this reported on Twitter this morning, I had to look twice because I was convinced my brain was playing tricks on me. But, no, it’s real:
Don’t worry about those terrorist cells, Europe. We’re sending James Taylor to show you how much we care!
The one thing I’d point out is that The Simpsons did it first.
I gues he wanted to tell them “You’ve Got a Friend”.
Well, when you are leading from behind, I guess sometimes you gotta pull it out of your ….
It really makes you wonder what a Kerry presidency would have been like.
Oh, dear Lawd. From “Lafayette, we are here” to this?????
When I was a child and skinned my knee, my Mom would give me a kiss to heal the booboo. It made me feel a little better but did not actually speed healing. Having American officials march in Paris or give their nation a hug is kissing to heal the booboo. It does nothing to address the complex issues of safety, security, justice, and free expression in the world today. While one may have a predisposition to find every possible flaw in the current administration, that predisposition also does not address the problem. I think Obama should have marched in Paris but do not consider it a big deal. I would like to see some intelligent ideas for the best balance of safety and freedom of movement in a world where one can travel from a war zone to a major urban center in a few hours, where ideas can spread instantly via electronic media, and money and goods to support all kinds of goals can be raised rapidly via the electronic media.
I have a personal belief that freedom is as likely to be endangered by those who are trying to manipulate us via fearmongering as by those who believe that murder can change peoples’ minds. Modern wars kill millions at a time, and I fear politicians who want to declare war every time some marginal people murder a few dozen. I admit that these are my personal beliefs and not universally held truths.
Less snark; more thought, please.
Do you get the sense that American foreign policy is run out of a dorm room at Harvard?
And here they are.
https://www.ecoshieldpest.com/houston-attack-crazy-ants/
So all you RWNJs are now willing to admit that all your whining about Obama not showing up for that march was just that….whining?
I’m not getting the problem here, other than some people’s visceral dislike for John Kerry. Can someone explain to me what’s bad about having James Taylor sing? I agree we should have at the least sent Holder to the march – there’s no Secret Service craziness around the AG. But as an “Oops, sorry I missed your birthday,” moment, bringing a major cultural contributor like Taylor to a nation that has always had a soft spot for artists does not strike me as a problem.
I agree with @Slugger: maybe a bit less snark and a bit more substance. Particularly since the most recent outburst of contempt for the president’s foreign policy came when many on the left and right sneered at our reaction to ISIS. Those people were wrong. The administration was right – a fact I have yet to see the critics acknowledge honestly.
I’m a snarky a-hole myself, but snark absent some intellectual honesty and accountability is pretty contemptible.
We’ve had 6 years of sneering and snark and contempt heaped on policies and programs which ended up performing very well, two examples being Obamacare and the anti-ISIS coalition. I would never want to suppress any form of expression – certainly not snark – but the snarker who refuses to admit when he’s wrong is just being a sophomoric dick.
Here’s the reality: Obamacare is working, objectively, demonstrably. The attacks on it, that it would kill jobs, that it would overburden doctors and hospitals, that it would only sign up the sick and needy, turned out to be bulls-it. The American auto industry lives and at minimal cost. . Unemployment is now where it was in Ronald Reagan’s best year, and without growing government or raising taxes as Mr. Reagan did, and in the teeth of active sabotage by the opposition. The economy has been growing for five straight years and outperforms just about every other developed economy on earth.
Snark? Sure. But without some integrity, some reflection and correction, it is dishonest and obnoxious.
I have always believed that Rock and Roll Stars have no business in politics…now I know why!
“Those comments put Richard Nixon in the atypical position of being the less-paranoid person in the conversation.”
http://www.vox.com/2015/1/14/7539809/elvis-nixon-beatles
French taste in pop culture and music has always been questionable, so this constitutes an upgrade.
Me personally? I would have sent Vernon Reid and Masque over there.
I see the issue already.
Less “You’ve got a friend” more “Steamroller”.
Just a simple change in the set would have calmed conservatives.
19 trips to Paris does seem to be a fitting penalty for losing to Dubya.
Mr. Kerry, your debt has now been paid.
What the hell is this new round of assinine whining?
Doug has formally joined the ODS brigade, to whom anything done by any member of the administration is a black mark on the country.
I guess Jerry Lewis was booked.
@Davebo:
I was really hoping it was going to be B.S.U.R.S.U.C.S.I.M.I.M. Let ’em try to parse that message…
Wow. That was a great SNL skit!
Wait… What?!
For WIIW I find it a good personal gesture.
On the other hand my reading of the French reactions is that they could very well have done without all the additional police headache of head of state visits in the middle of a manhunt with hostages.
Maybe you can get OTB, Reynolds, to rig the comments section such that the theme to Forrest Gump plays whenever you write one.
Good Lord.
You people are still on about the non-issue of the non visit to the march?
What the French actually have paid attention to is the sheer lunatic idiocy of Fox News parroting the American Right Bolshy loon urban legend about no go zones. Oddly the thing that has done most damage to your rep (along with the similar idiocy about Birmingham), is the spouting off of the preferred news channel (using the term loosely) that the Know Nothing Bolshy Right idiots who are yammering on about a faux concern over the reputation impact of the march. Rather worse has been the sheer display of grotesque provincial ignorance and rubishness.
@Guarneri:
You being of course the classic example of a man incapable of reflection let alone admissions of error. Drew: wrong about everything, even the sad hope that his on-screen name would give him a patina of class.
jeezus, just when i thought things couldn’t get any gayer……. this is beyond lame.
so our response to a country being attacked by wackjob muslims is to send a washed up folk singer to sing gay ass granola tunes?! sure, his music can suck the masculinity out of many men but what kind of message does this send?
and speaking of awkward….
@bill:
Gayer…. Suck the masculinity….
How very interesting the comment.
This explains a lot. John Kerry: Je suis Charlie
I’ve never really been a fan of Taylor, but I am not seeing how having an iconic artist perform in France is some kind of foreign policy fiasco.
@bill: This is who James Taylor used to be married to:
https://www.google.com/search?q=carly+simon&biw=1675&bih=824&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=p9K6VLjWGs2myATS1oCoBA&sqi=2&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ#tbm=isch&q=carly+simon+70s&revid=1500405424
Perhaps you could explain your definition of “gay” to us.
So it has taken Sec. Kerry that long to find France. Usual.
@wr: his music’s gay, his ex was smokin’ hot- still looks good for
woman over 40 and she’s like 60 or so.
but seriously, didn’t the first thing that popped into your head say “is this a sat night live skit or something”?
@bill: No. And even if I did think it was like a sketch (skits are what you do at summer camp) from SNL, why would that make me think anyone involved is gay? I mean, given that unlike just about every “conservative” comment here I’m not in constant panic over my own masculinity.
@bill:
I’ve got to ask the question, Bill:
Why are conservatives obsessed with homosexuality?
Again, I wouldn’t have sent James Taylor over there to sing to Hollande and Fabius, but then again the French loved Jerry Lewis, so James Taylor is definitely an improvement over THAT.
@JKB: Actually it appears that policy is being run from the Delta Tau Chi Fraternity, frat house.