Kerry picks up quick GOP support for State

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Politico:

Two top Senate Republicans were quick Friday to praise the selection of Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) to become the next secretary of state.

“We have known John Kerry for many years,” Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) told reporters after President Barack Obama made his pick. “We have confidence in John Kerry’s ability to carry out the job.”

(PHOTOS: John Kerry’s career)

And Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) – who like McCain was a vocal critic of Susan Rice, another leading candidate for the State job – said Kerry is a “solid choice.”

“He has a lot of experiences, he’s been on the Foreign Relations Committee for a very long time, he knows most of the world leaders,” Graham said. “So when he goes into a country, he will be a known quantity. I’ve disagreed with him on a lot of policy choices but I respect Sen. Kerry would be a pretty solid choice.”

(Also on POLITICO: Obama avoids fight over Susan Rice)

Though McCain noted that Kerry still has to go through the Senate confirmation process, there's nothing to suggest he'll encounter turbulence. Kerry has already received a multitude of compliments from his Republican colleagues, many of who were highly critical of Rice. The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations withdrew herself from consideration for the post last week after the fallout from her comments following the attacks in Benghazi, Libya in September.

Regardless of who succeeds Clinton, McCain and he and Graham, as well as Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), will press the State Department on its response to the attacks at the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi. The State Department came under searing scrutiny this week with an independent report that outlined “systemic failures” at the department before the Sept. 11 assault.

(VIDEO: Obama nominates Kerry for secretary of state)

“We always believe that the president of the United States, by virtue of winning an election, should have the right to pick people that he wants,” McCain said. “Those individuals we don’t agree with philosophically, that’s not the criteria. The criteria, is whether that person is qualified and will do kind of job that fits the responsibility they are given.”

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One of their own.

[Valin]

Kerry Has Investments in Companies Accused of Violating Iran Sanctions

12:59 PM, Dec 21, 2012 DANIEL HALPER

 

Kerry a Frequent Visitor with Syrian Dictator Bashar Al-Assad

12:26 PM, Dec 21, 2012 By DANIEL HALPER

 

 

[SrWoodchuck]

Whodathunkit? "Swift Butt" John 'Effin' Kerry.......is it too late to get Condi Susan Rice back?

[Valin]

[SrWoodchuck]

Only if he can "off" Teresa Heinz....and she had no "pre-nup." He had to get an advance on his allowance, just to pay his yacht berthing bill. Although with his talent for collecting the lonely, rich & dowdy....the Dept. of State could enlarge his "rich widow" hunting grounds to a world-wide venue.

[Valin]

Only if he can "off" Teresa Heinz....and she had no "pre-nup." He had to get an advance on his allowance, just to pay his yacht berthing bill. Although with his talent for collecting the lonely, rich & dowdy....the Dept. of State could enlarge his "rich widow" hunting grounds to a world-wide venue.

 

That's what I like about you...always thinking!

[Draggingtree]

December 21, 2012, 6:48 p.m. ET

A Flock of Doves

With Kerry at State, Hagel at Defense would be dangerous.

President Obama began to unveil his second-term national security team on Friday, choosing John Kerry as the next Secretary of State. The Massachusetts Senator shares the President's view of diminished American power and influence, which should only compound skepticism about the mooted selection of Chuck Hagel to lead the Pentagon.

Mr. Obama has found his mirror-image in Mr. Kerry, who for 30 years has been one of the Democratic Party's leading doves. The Senator's antiwar activism after Vietnam is well known and may have cost him the Presidency in 2004. But that shouldn't bar him from State, where his job will be diplomacy at the behest of the President.

Mr. Obama can do better than Mr. Hagel—for example, by choosing former Defense Under Secretary Michele Flournoy, or perhaps Colin Powell. If he does nominate Mr. Hagel, the Senate will have to prevent the Administration's senior security ranks from being dominated by a flock of doves who think the world is better off with a militarily weaker America.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324461604578189223468916826.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop

[SrWoodchuck]

@Draggingtree!

 

Mr. Obama has found his mirror-image in Mr. Kerry, who for 30 years has been one of the Democratic Party's leading doves.

 

It's worse than that. Obama & the people that pull his strings, mean to punish & destroy the American Republic. He's got a good start for the economy + another four years of executing executive ordering our doom from the inside. Now he has two the "tools" to leave us at the mercy of any bold foreign entity, by continuing his stellar destruction of our policy in the Middle East, while destroying our great military. In the military this is commonly called, "Blue Falcon." Which might be a good nickname for Oblunder or Hagel. Kerry could be called, "Super Blue Falcon."