Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search
51 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
THANK YOU, Secretary Kerry! (Original Post) YvonneCa Jan 2016 OP
You beat me to the congrats for Sec Kerry. What an amazing Sec of State he is! nt ChisolmTrailDem Jan 2016 #1
Pretty damn amazing. We are so... YvonneCa Jan 2016 #6
Just imagine if 2004 isnt stolen in Ohio where it clearly was. Jackie Wilson Said Jan 2016 #26
We would have had John Edwards as VP. 3catwoman3 Jan 2016 #40
GOP scramble to get talking points together on short notice mitty14u2 Jan 2016 #18
... YvonneCa Jan 2016 #24
Congrats JK from a former staffer. ViseGrip Jan 2016 #2
... YvonneCa Jan 2016 #8
Kerry has been a great SOS... ljm2002 Jan 2016 #3
Wonderful news! femmocrat Jan 2016 #4
Isn't it? I am very... YvonneCa Jan 2016 #7
+10,000 madokie Jan 2016 #5
An outstanding SOS, first the Iran deal and now this. beam me up scottie Jan 2016 #9
They are making the case for diplomacy... YvonneCa Jan 2016 #10
As to the RW... YvonneCa Jan 2016 #12
We have nothing to lose by giving peace a chance. beam me up scottie Jan 2016 #13
They are making the case for diplomacy... AlbertCat Jan 2016 #15
And it wasn't just preemptive 'strike.' It was 'preemptive WAR'... YvonneCa Jan 2016 #17
Thank you for this thread -- and for this description karynnj Jan 2016 #21
Beautiful post, karynnj. And... YvonneCa Jan 2016 #22
Wish I could rec your post. MH1 Jan 2016 #38
Thank you mainstreetonce Jan 2016 #11
JK would make a great president. Octafish Jan 2016 #14
He would, without a... YvonneCa Jan 2016 #16
Absolutely karynnj Jan 2016 #25
"In both Kerry and Obama,the country has leaders with an unusual combination of genuine decency... YvonneCa Jan 2016 #29
Don't forget that they also haves high intelligence lunatica Jan 2016 #37
I agree completely with you about the value of.. YvonneCa Jan 2016 #42
I think you said a mouthful... SoapBox Jan 2016 #19
Thank you. n/t YvonneCa Jan 2016 #36
Kudos to Kerry. madfloridian Jan 2016 #20
Hey, madfloridian... YvonneCa Jan 2016 #23
Doing fine. madfloridian Jan 2016 #27
That's true. He never... YvonneCa Jan 2016 #30
I agree, but he knows what he has done as do the people closest to him karynnj Jan 2016 #33
k&r Politicub Jan 2016 #28
How upsetting this must be to Bomb, Bomb Iran McCain! B Calm Jan 2016 #31
... YvonneCa Jan 2016 #32
K&R mcar Jan 2016 #34
Wonderful day, thanks Mr. Secretary... ngGale Jan 2016 #35
Absolutely thanks to a wonderful SoS. MH1 Jan 2016 #39
Sounds good to me. 3catwoman3 Jan 2016 #41
You are not the only... YvonneCa Jan 2016 #43
A classic case of the Right man in the Right job annabanana Jan 2016 #44
SO true. I hate... YvonneCa Jan 2016 #45
Huge Kudos here too!! mylye2222 Jan 2016 #46
Hi, mylye2222... YvonneCa Jan 2016 #47
Hi YvonneCa mylye2222 Jan 2016 #48
Happy New Year... YvonneCa Jan 2016 #49
K&R. JDPriestly Jan 2016 #50
Thank Mr. Secretary. onecaliberal Jan 2016 #51

YvonneCa

(10,117 posts)
6. Pretty damn amazing. We are so...
Sat Jan 16, 2016, 11:20 AM
Jan 2016

...fortunate that he continues to serve our country as Secretary of State. 🇺🇸

3catwoman3

(23,965 posts)
40. We would have had John Edwards as VP.
Sat Jan 16, 2016, 04:18 PM
Jan 2016

I do not remember when we found out he had feet of clay (and then some), but that still would have been better than what we got.

mitty14u2

(1,015 posts)
18. GOP scramble to get talking points together on short notice
Sat Jan 16, 2016, 12:46 PM
Jan 2016

Heritage Foundation and the CATO Institute working weekend to get propaganda on same page, things are hectic at Fox News today, GOP candidates flipping out without input from think tanks, Oh my god call someone now!

YvonneCa

(10,117 posts)
10. They are making the case for diplomacy...
Sat Jan 16, 2016, 12:12 PM
Jan 2016

... first. REAL diplomacy, not the pretend stuff the neocons do just to justify a war. They are making the case that war should be rare, and only be the last resort when all else fails.
I am very proud of Secretary Kerry...and President Obama. 🇺🇸

 

AlbertCat

(17,505 posts)
15. They are making the case for diplomacy...
Sat Jan 16, 2016, 12:28 PM
Jan 2016

Well, that "preemptive strike" crap worked about as well as "trickle down economics" did.

But then....we knew that would happen.

YvonneCa

(10,117 posts)
17. And it wasn't just preemptive 'strike.' It was 'preemptive WAR'...
Sat Jan 16, 2016, 12:38 PM
Jan 2016

...under the GWBush Administration. It was his 'doctrine' as President of the US and in our name. That was very wrong.

karynnj

(59,500 posts)
21. Thank you for this thread -- and for this description
Sat Jan 16, 2016, 12:56 PM
Jan 2016

Obama's SOTU and Kerry's coordinated foreign policy speech the next day do exactly that. I hope that this year continues to show how much better that vision of foreign policy is. Link to text and video of that speech -
http://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2016/01/251177.htm )

If so, Kerry finally will see what he idealistically called for at the end of his 1971 Senate testimony - Us foreign policy will have turned. He is a wonderful person, an incredibly skilled diplomat and a great Secretary of State.

YvonneCa

(10,117 posts)
22. Beautiful post, karynnj. And...
Sat Jan 16, 2016, 12:59 PM
Jan 2016

...you are welcome. What great news to wake up to this morning! Happy New Year! 🇺🇸

YvonneCa

(10,117 posts)
16. He would, without a...
Sat Jan 16, 2016, 12:34 PM
Jan 2016

...doubt. I continue to be grateful that...after the mess in Ohio...he stayed engaged in the issues that are/were critical to our country's future and worked to make things better. That it is now coming to fruition is no surprise. He has been relentless. We could ask nothing more if he had been inaugurated as President. 🇺🇸

karynnj

(59,500 posts)
25. Absolutely
Sat Jan 16, 2016, 01:07 PM
Jan 2016

We will never know what he could have accomplished with the hostile 209th Congress, but we do know that he would have used all his intelligence, persistence and skill to work for a better world.

We also need to remember that without Kerry, we would likely not have had a President Obama. Without that speech, he would not have even been a possibility. Without that early endorsement, for which Kerry risked long term Clinton dislike, Obama might have lost a close race - rather than won it.

In both Kerry and Obama - the country had leaders with an unusual combination of genuine decency, brilliance and enormous talent. It may be that having them together - as they are - gives both the most chance to make the world better.

YvonneCa

(10,117 posts)
29. "In both Kerry and Obama,the country has leaders with an unusual combination of genuine decency...
Sat Jan 16, 2016, 01:22 PM
Jan 2016

...brilliance, and enormous talent. It may be that having them together, as they are, gives both the most chance to make the world better."
Your words are beautiful and very true!

lunatica

(53,410 posts)
37. Don't forget that they also haves high intelligence
Sat Jan 16, 2016, 03:36 PM
Jan 2016

It seems like just another word, but it isn't. High intelligence is the ability to reason (presently in short supply politically) using facts and rationality. It's the ability to see beyond the immediate circumstances to imagine various possible outcomes dependent on present choices of action. It's the ability to lift one's immediate mental state to 'see' all the possible outcomes and to 'see' the past situations which have created the present circumstances.

There is much more, of course, but intelligence is something I think isn't given enough credit. We're mired in a present world of Idiocratic thinking and we forget how important it is to be able to simply connect the dots. Especially in government.

YvonneCa

(10,117 posts)
42. I agree completely with you about the value of..
Sat Jan 16, 2016, 05:01 PM
Jan 2016

...intelligence. That is a quality that is a must for holding the job of President of the United States. A President must have critical thinking skills...at a very high level in order to understand the nuances of history and apply that to solving conflicts of the current day. And they have to be able to think through long term solutions to current problems, so that their decisions are the right ones for our country's future.

I scares me when I hear some GOP candidates talk. The level of knowledge on foreign policy is especially lacking. We can't afford that.

karynnj

(59,500 posts)
33. I agree, but he knows what he has done as do the people closest to him
Sat Jan 16, 2016, 02:18 PM
Jan 2016

He is blessed with a wonderful wife and a very very supportive family - his kids, his siblings, and a huge extended family. He also has friends form his entire life, who have had his back for years.

This last year - with his role in the climate pact and on this deal, which very likely avoided a war - and which possibly changed the future of the middle east, he has accomplished more good than most men who gained the Presidency. Not to mention, he has done so by being the good person he is.

There is a very good chance that he and Zarif get the Nobel Prize, but even if there is nothing like that, he has done good things.

MH1

(17,595 posts)
39. Absolutely thanks to a wonderful SoS.
Sat Jan 16, 2016, 03:44 PM
Jan 2016

Am I the only one fantasizing that, assuming the next Prez is a Dem (please God), no matter which it is, they retain John Kerry as Secretary of State, at least for awhile?

annabanana

(52,791 posts)
44. A classic case of the Right man in the Right job
Sat Jan 16, 2016, 07:01 PM
Jan 2016

.. at the Right time!

I thank all the powers that are, and ever were, that the grownups are in charge.

 

mylye2222

(2,992 posts)
48. Hi YvonneCa
Sun Jan 17, 2016, 01:53 PM
Jan 2016

Happy New Year!

I wish sometimes we could have a Time Travel machine so we could reverse 2004, but anyway, otherwise, he wouldn't have been SoS! LOL

YvonneCa

(10,117 posts)
49. Happy New Year...
Sun Jan 17, 2016, 01:59 PM
Jan 2016

...to you!! 🎉
2004 was heartbreaking. I DO think that...because JK was persistent and found alternative ways to serve and reach important goals for our country...Kerry accomplished more than he might have as President. I guess we'll never know...

For sure, though, he and President
Obama are a great team. 🇺🇸

onecaliberal

(32,811 posts)
51. Thank Mr. Secretary.
Sun Jan 17, 2016, 03:12 PM
Jan 2016

This is what real American foreign policy looks like when war mongers are not in charge.

Latest Discussions»General Discussion»THANK YOU, Secretary Kerr...