General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTHANK YOU, Secretary Kerry!
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/world-leaders-gather-in-anticipation-of-ending-iran-sanctions/2016/01/16/6c48f746-bc4b-11e5-829c-26ffb874a18d_story.htmlDiplomacy is always worth the effort.
Thank you for all your unrelenting work for peace...
ChisolmTrailDem
(9,463 posts)YvonneCa
(10,117 posts)...fortunate that he continues to serve our country as Secretary of State. 🇺🇸
Jackie Wilson Said
(4,176 posts)3catwoman3
(23,965 posts)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)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!
...
ViseGrip
(3,133 posts)...and kudos to you.
ljm2002
(10,751 posts)...I am very glad he got the opportunity to play that role.
femmocrat
(28,394 posts)YvonneCa
(10,117 posts)...grateful to him for his service. 🇺🇸
madokie
(51,076 posts)He knows what I mean by using that number.
beam me up scottie
(57,349 posts)Right wingers' heads are exploding as we type.
YvonneCa
(10,117 posts)... 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. 🇺🇸
YvonneCa
(10,117 posts)... It's about time.
beam me up scottie
(57,349 posts)And everything to gain.
AlbertCat
(17,505 posts)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)...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)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)...you are welcome. What great news to wake up to this morning! Happy New Year! 🇺🇸
MH1
(17,595 posts)Well said!
And thanks for the link.
mainstreetonce
(4,178 posts)Thank you secretary Kerry.
So sorry you were not our POTUS
Octafish
(55,745 posts)Karl Rove and friends in Ohio prevented that.
YvonneCa
(10,117 posts)...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)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)...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)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)...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.
SoapBox
(18,791 posts)"Diplomacy is always worth the effort."
YvonneCa
(10,117 posts)madfloridian
(88,117 posts)Well done.
YvonneCa
(10,117 posts)...It is great news, isn't it? Hope you are doing well.
madfloridian
(88,117 posts)Kerry never gets enough appreciation.
YvonneCa
(10,117 posts)...does.
karynnj
(59,500 posts)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.
Politicub
(12,165 posts)He would have made a great president.
B Calm
(28,762 posts)...
ngGale
(2,080 posts)Kick...
MH1
(17,595 posts)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?
3catwoman3
(23,965 posts)He is a quality human being with intelligence and dignity.
YvonneCa
(10,117 posts)...one. But he must be exhausted...
annabanana
(52,791 posts).. at the Right time!
I thank all the powers that are, and ever were, that the grownups are in charge.
YvonneCa
(10,117 posts)...to think of where we would be if he had not stepped up.
mylye2222
(2,992 posts)YvonneCa
(10,117 posts)...
mylye2222
(2,992 posts)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)...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. 🇺🇸
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)onecaliberal
(32,811 posts)This is what real American foreign policy looks like when war mongers are not in charge.