Kerry And McCain Swap Teddy Roosevelt-Themed Insults...

[ProSense]

Kerry And McCain Swap Teddy Roosevelt-Themed Insults (VIDEO)

Things got heated between Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Secretary of State John Kerry at a Senate hearing on Tuesday that featured dueling Teddy Roosevelt quotes.


First, McCain blasted Kerry for taking what he considers tepid measures against Russia.

“My hero Teddy Roosevelt used to say talk softly and carry a big stick,” McCain said. “What you’re doing is talking strongly and carrying a very small sick. In fact, a twig.”

When it was his turn to speak, Kerry took issue with the Arizona senator's pessimistic outlook on negotiations over Iran's nuclear program.

"We’re talking! The option is, you go to war," Kerry said. "A lot of people are ready to drop bombs all the time. We can do that. We have the ability.”

Later, it was Kerry's turn to offer his own T.R.-themed burn.

“Your friend Teddy Roosevelt also said the credit belongs to the people who are in the arena trying to get things done," Kerry told McCain. "And we're trying to get something done. That’s a Teddy Roosevelt maxim, and I abide by it.”

Video, via NBC News:

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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/john-kerry-john-mccain-teddy-roosevelt

Whether they're against or for war, people seem to have no patience for diplomacy. It seems that every bump in the road is held up as a major set back. Taunting is not a foreign policy.

Still, McCain and the RW have only one strategy: bomb them.

[JI7]

1. mccain probably doesn't know much other than some quotes that he agrees with

[ProSense]

2. Everything he knows means bombing in the solution.

Arm everyone, and then bomb the shit out of them.

[11 Bravo]

3. I also like the "Your friend Teddy Roosevelt" bit.

Suck it, Grandpa.

[onethatcares]

4. the real deal from mccain

is "how can we cut all those socialist programs without a war to blame it on".

Every gauddam one of the repukes just wants to make the war machine more profitable.

[napkinz]

5. "there he goes again"

[karynnj]

6. Kerry is a statesman working to make the world better

Kerry is everything that McCain imagines himself to be - and isn't. Kerry is a man of character and integrity unlike Mr Keating 5. He is a genuine hero - for his entire life - often ignoring the easy route to try to do what is right. He has the diplomatic style and personality that have won him praise - often from both sides in the many things he has tried to moderate.

McCain proved in the 1990s, when he was on Kerry's committee that he is far too volatile to ever come close to doing what Kerry is doing. He is also far too thin skinned to ever ignore attacks on himself to focus on what is important.

Kerry may not succeed in getting a solution for Israel Palestine - and the fault will lie mostly with McCain's buddy, Netanyahu. What is clear is that he did everything he could - using all the resources he thought would help. If it fails, he is right when he said that you can bring the horse to water but you can't make him drink. Netanyahu still has to answer Obama's rhetorical question of what his solution is - I fear it will be one that American liberal Jews can not accept.

John and Teresa Kerry are two of the best people this country has ever had - McCain, not so much so. (Too bad the media saw the wrong one as a hero.)

[ProSense]

7. Well said.

The last thing we need is a foreign policy based on cynicism and warmongering.

[AnnieBW]

8. Awfully Personal There, McShame

“What you’re doing is talking strongly and carrying a very small stick. In fact, a twig.”

That sounds awfully personal there, McShame. Sounds like someone has, um, stick envy.

[calimary]

9. Oh heaven forbid we look unmanly. "A very small stick" indeed.

Gee, mccain - overcompensating much? Heaven FORBID America not having the BIG schlong to wave around in other countries' faces…

Totally proved my point about the weenies who need to play war to feel macho.

[karynnj]

11. Do you really think that was the intended reference?

The TR line is very well known and I never understood like that. Just quietly powerful. I really doubt McCain would go there speaking to a man who towers over him.

I think he is still whining because Obama/Kerry do not want to bomb Iran.

[Drunken Irishman]

12. McCain brought it up in one of the debates with Obama in 2008...

It was the same debate where he said he knew where bin Laden was but couldn't tell us, because, secrets and shit.

[calimary]

14. I just have a dirty mind. I INEVITABLY go there!

Last edited Thu Apr 10, 2014, 02:40 PM - Edit history (1)

A TWIG, 'eh, john?

[ecstatic]

10. I don't want to get bombed

Does McCain understand that people in this country will be killed if we attempt a war with Russia & CO? I'm not so sure Russia would wait around to get nuked like Japan. Or maybe he's not concerned... there's no chance that Arizona will get bombed or nuked. This is why voting is so important! We cannot afford to let more war mongering clowns into the White House or anywhere else.

[PragmaticLiberal]

13. McCain sure has a way of speaking to his friends....

Kerry, Hagel etc.