John Kerry, the US secretary of state, pressed his message of potential dialogue with North Korea as he wrapped up his diplomatic tour in Japan, saying the US was “prepared to reach out” and consider direct talks under the right circumstances.
After weeks of tension on the Korean peninsula – with the North issuing angry threats, pulling its workers out of a joint industrial complex and possibly preparing for a missile test – Kerry has repeatedly focused on the US desire for a peaceful resolution during the Asian leg of his 10-day trip.
But speaking in Tokyo he warned that Pyongyang would need to show good faith “so we’re not going around and around in the same-old, same-old”.
While this obviously has the potential for a positive outcome, we wouldn’t be shocked to see this dominating the discussion among talking heads this week, given North Korea’s recent provocative statements/actions.
Anne and those with her were attacked by the Taliban terrorists who woke up that day not with a mission to educate or to help, but with a mission to destroy. A brave American was determined to brighten the light of learning through books, written in the native tongue of the students she had never met, whom she felt it incumbent to help.Secretary of State John Kerry • Discussing the death of Anne Smedinghoff, a 25-year-old U.S. Foreign Service Officer who was killed when delivering books to a school in Afghanistan. (Her group was ambushed by the Taliban, and she was one of six Americans killed Saturday.) Kerry, who had met the Illinois native just two weeks ago while on a trip to the country, said that she was ”a selfless, idealistic woman who woke up yesterday morning and set out to bring textbooks to school children, to bring them knowledge.” Her parents offered up a similar statement on the tragedy. Smedinghoff’s death is the first of a U.S. diplomat since last year’s Benghazi’s attack.
Secretary of State John Kerry is making an emergency surprise trip to the Middle East this weekend amid worries that the Obama administration’s newly brokered friendship between Turkey and Israel risks unraveling, U.S. and Israeli media report.
The administration is concerned about Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s plans to visit the Hamas-controlled Gaza strip, a move certain to raise tensions in the volatile region. Erdoğan’s announcement risks undermining the major diplomatic coup the White House claimed last month when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Erdoğan to apologize for a 2010 Israeli raid that killed eight Turks and one Turkish-American on a Gaza-bound flotilla.
Erdoğan’s plans were met with disapproval by the State Department, which reiterated its opposition to negotiating with Hamas. The United States considers Hamas a terrorist group. The department declined to confirm or deny the reports of Kerry’s travel plans.
Secretary Kerry is expected to fly to Turkey on Saturday, and will also visit Israel and the West Bank this weekend before kicking off a string of previously planned trips to London, South Korea, China, and Japan next week.
The bottom line is simply that what Kim Jong Un is choosing to do is provocative. It is dangerous, reckless. The United States will not accept the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) as a nuclear state. …the United States will do what is necessary to defend ourselves and defend our allies, Korea and Japan. We are fully prepared and capable of doing so, and I think the DPRK understands that.U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry • Speaking sternly on a North Korean declaration to reopen its primary nuclear reactor complex in Yongbyon. North Korean state media reported that the reactors, as well as a uranium enrichment facility, were shut down and disabled as part of a 2007 agreement with the United States, which the government now plans to “readjust and restart.” This is not the first indication of a renewed international belligerence on the part of North Korea and its hereditary leader, Kim Jong-un — they also declared last week that they were entering a “state of war” with neighboring South Korea. source
Some people have sometimes wondered about why our Supreme Court allows one group or another to march in a parade, even though it’s the most provocative thing in the world, and they carry signs that are an insult to one group or another. And the reason is, that’s freedom. Freedom of speech. In America, you have the right to be stupid. If you want to be. …Now, I think that’s a virtue. That’s something worth fighting for.Secretary of State John Kerry • Speaking to a group of German students, on the first overseas trip of his tenure as head of the State Department. Kerry’s allusion to Supreme Court precedent defending the right to offensive parades is no doubt a reference to cases like NSPA v. Skokie, which in 1977 upheld the right of Nazis to hold a march in Skokie, Illinois, where 1 in 6 residents were holocaust survivors. That right, Kerry argued, is virtuous and quintessentially American, despite the terrible emotional toll that may result from such offensive expressions — “the right to be stupid.” source
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry delivers remarks at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia, February 20, 2013. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]
Kerry’s first remarks as Secretary of State.
Secretary of State John Kerry’s tweets will end in JK.
Really.
(via The Daily Caller)
Just kidding.
![imwithkanye:
Hillary Clinton’s Resignation Letter. [via]
Dear Mr. President:
I hereby resign as the 67th Secretary of State, effective upon the appointment of my successor.
It has been an honor to serve in your administration and to represent our country around the world. I am proud of what we accomplished together on behalf of the American people and in pursuit of our interests and values. And I am more convinced than ever in the strength and staying power of America’s global leadership and our capacity to be a force for good in the world.
It has been a privilege to lead such a dedicated and skilled team of Foreign Service Officers and Civil Servants at the State Department and USAID. I am deeply grateful for their service and sacrifice on behalf of the country they love.
On a personal note, it has been a pleasure to work with you and your team. Thank you, Mr. President, for your friendship, and for the opportunity to serve in your Cabinet.
With gratitude and warm regards, I am
Sincerely yours,
Hillary Rodham Clinton
We realize that the former Secretary is a politician by trade, and as such not everyone is going to agree with her views, or even be inclined to view her favorably. What isn’t in any dispute, however: she just finished a run as probably the the most recognizable and high-profile Secretary of State in our modern American era, and may still have one big political decision ahead of her. Former Senator John Kerry was sworn in as the new Secretary today, bringing Clinton’s four-year tenure to an end.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/a8fcd00f690da18871c4708875324314/tumblr_mhk57rLIc21qanm80o1_500.jpg)
Hillary Clinton’s Resignation Letter. [via]
Dear Mr. President:
I hereby resign as the 67th Secretary of State, effective upon the appointment of my successor.
It has been an honor to serve in your administration and to represent our country around the world. I am proud of what we accomplished together on behalf of the American people and in pursuit of our interests and values. And I am more convinced than ever in the strength and staying power of America’s global leadership and our capacity to be a force for good in the world.
It has been a privilege to lead such a dedicated and skilled team of Foreign Service Officers and Civil Servants at the State Department and USAID. I am deeply grateful for their service and sacrifice on behalf of the country they love.
On a personal note, it has been a pleasure to work with you and your team. Thank you, Mr. President, for your friendship, and for the opportunity to serve in your Cabinet.
With gratitude and warm regards, I am
Sincerely yours,
Hillary Rodham Clinton
We realize that the former Secretary is a politician by trade, and as such not everyone is going to agree with her views, or even be inclined to view her favorably. What isn’t in any dispute, however: she just finished a run as probably the the most recognizable and high-profile Secretary of State in our modern American era, and may still have one big political decision ahead of her. Former Senator John Kerry was sworn in as the new Secretary today, bringing Clinton’s four-year tenure to an end.
There is so much on the plate that all of us need to find a way to work together. I hope this is a symbol that all of us are ready to do that.Senator John Kerry • Speaking prior to the Senate’s overwhelming vote, 94-3, to confirm him as the incoming Secretary of State for the Obama administration, replacing Hillary Clinton on February 1st (incidentally, he didn’t vote for himself, opting instead to vote “present”). Of important note on environmental issues, Kerry specifically cited climate change in his Senate confirmation hearings as a “life-threatening issue,” and it figures to be a major issue throughout his Secretaryship. source
Congrats Tumblr!
Don’t screw this up Yahoo.
In 2007, I was...
I started tumblr when I was at one of the lowest points of...
Exclusive: How the Syrian Electronic Army hacked the...
soon
Yahumblr.
More on Barney Frank’s Senate push: Frank toyed with the idea the other day on television, but it looks like he’s putting in all of his chips. We can’t say we’re terribly surprised to see Barney Frank trying to jump back into politics so soon. Considering his three-decade run in the House, we’d be willing to bet more than a few Massachusetts residents would love to see Gov. Patrick select the former U.S. Representative as Sen. John Kerry’s replacement. That is, of course, assuming President Obama’s current nominee for Secretary of State is ever confirmed by Congress. source
“He’s played a role in nearly every major foreign policy debate in the last 30 years,” Obama said at a brief ceremony formalizing Kerry’s nomination. The former presidential candidate is expected to sail through the nominating process, as he’s generally well-liked amongst Democrats and Republicans alike.
This comes on the heels of Thursday’s announcement U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice had removed herself from the list of candidates to take over from Hillary Clinton. Rice said what was sure to be a contentious and lengthy approval process took attention away from more pressing problems facing the nation.
Soon to return to the lexicon: ”Swift boat.”
(Source: joshsternberg)
In what may be the most amusing story to come out of the campaign in a while, Obama’s pre-debate surrogate for Mitt Romney will be the guy who Romney is often compared to. Both are political figures from Massachusetts. Both are rich. Both have fielded complaints of being fake. And both are generally solid, if unexciting in debates. “There is no one that has more experience or understanding of the presidential debate process than John Kerry … He’s the obvious choice,” says top Obama adviser David Axelrod. No doubt. Let’s just look past the fact that Kerry has been downgraded from future president to presidential candidate stand-in. (photo by Dina Rudick/Boston Globe)
Copyright 2009-2013 Ernie Smith • Ask us stuff! • E-mail us • Follow us on Twitter • Follow us on Facebook
