Kerry Compares Climate-Change Advocacy to Gandhi, Churchill, Mandela, King, Lincoln

PJ Media: Kerry Compares Climate-Change Advocacy to Gandhi, Churchill, Mandela, King, Lincoln

Speaking to the Atlantic Council at a climate change forum today, Secretary of State John Kerry compared climate-change advocacy to President Lincoln, Winston Churchill, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King, Jr.

“For decades now, the science has been screaming at us, warning us, trying to compel us to act,” Kerry said in the lengthy address.

WNU Editor: The transcript to his speech is here ....

.... So I through my life have believed that you can take certain kinds of risks in the course of public affairs and life. My heroes are people who dared to take on great challenges without knowing for certain what the outcome would be. Lincoln took risks, Gandhi took risks, Churchill took risks, Dr. King took risks, Mandela took risks, but that doesn’t mean that every risk-taker is a role model.

What's my take on global warming .... I live in Montreal and this was my brutal reality in February .... Montreal records coldest February in history (CBC).

Europeans Are Not Amused By John Kerry's 'You Got A Friend' Performance

Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo (L) and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry listen to a performance by singer James Taylor at City Hall in Paris January 16, 2015. REUTERS/Rick Wilking

The Guardian: US to France: you've got a placating, condescending friend in us

Previous Post: U.S. Secretary of State Brings James Taylor To His French News Conference To Sing 'You Got A Friend'

WNU Editor: European commentary to this event has been universal .... it is one of those WTF moments .... and yes .... this John Kerry (what the hell was he thinking) story has been covered extensively in Europe. On a side note .... I asked some of my friends in Russia on what did they think about this U.S. attempt at diplomacy .... sighhhh .... they are still laughing. As to what is my take .... looking on the bright side we should say that we were extremely lucky .... it could have been John Kerry singing "you got a friend" instead of James Taylor.

Update: In Europe .... this was a top story. While in the U.S. .... Networks Ignore John Kerry's Embarrassing James Taylor Stunt in Paris (NewsBusters).

Update #2: Welcome visitors from ACE.

U.S. Secretary of State Brings James Taylor To His French News Conference To Sing 'You Got A Friend'

VOX: Watch John Kerry apologize to France by having James Taylor sing "You've Got a Friend"

Update: Kerry Brings Paris a ‘Big Hug’ And James Taylor After Attacks (Bloomberg)

WNU Editor: This is U.S. foreign policy?!?!?!?! I know that the U.S. media and much of the U.S. public does not care what the European pundit class have said (or are going to say) on the state of U.S. - European relations ... especially since the U.S. no-show from last week's massive Paris unity march. But this James Taylor "apology" has done something that I rarely see .... the French news and social media websites are always filled with opinions and commentary .... but right now .... on this James Taylor/John Kerry duo .... they are utterly speechless (for now).

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry Blames The Failure On The Israeli - Palestinian Peace Talks For The Rise Of The Islamic State

(Photo: US Department of State)

Kerry Blames ISIS On Failure In Israeli Peace Talks -- Arutz Sheva

US Secretary of State says failure to implement 'two-state solution' - not apathy to Islamism - has led to rise of ISIS worldwide.

US Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday called for a resumption of the Israel-Palestinian Authority (PA) peace process, claiming the talks were vital in the fight against Islamic extremism.

"It is imperative that we find a way to get back to the negotiations," Kerry said at a State Department ceremony marking the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha, which celebrates Abraham's "sacrifice of Ishmael" in an appropriation of the original Torah story.

Kerry insisted at the ceremony that it was a lack of a "two-state solution" - not Western apathy to brutal Islamism - that is to blame for the rise of the radical Islamist group Islamic State (ISIS).

Read more ....

Update: Kerry Blames Israel For Rise of ISIS -- Breitbart

My Comment: No surprises on the reaction from the Middle East. The Palestinians agree with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry .... PLO Supports Kerry Claim That 'Israeli Occupation' Behind ISIS (Arutz Sheva) .... Israel does not .... Bennett blasts Kerry for linking Israeli-Palestinian conflict to ISIS proliferation (Jerusalem Post).

What's my take .... the rise of the Islamic State has more to do with the Syrian civil war and the sectarian conflict in Iraq than the Israeli - Palestinian conflict.

Update #2: US rejects Bennett's criticism of Kerry's remarks on ISIS, peace process -- Jerusalem Post

Comment #2: This sums it up nicely .... “A fool’s mouth is his ruin, and his lips are a snare to his soul.” (Proverbs 18:7)

Hat Tip: Breaking Israeli News

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry: 'Face Of Islam Is A Peaceful Religion'

Secretary of State John Kerry is headed to the Mideast, seeking coalition partners to fight the rise of the Islamic State extremist group in Iraq and Syria. Rob Griffith/REUTERS

Kerry: ‘The Real Face Of Islam Is A Peaceful Religion’ -- Daily Caller

Secretary of State John Kerry took pains to separate the brutal Islamic terror organization ISIS from its broader religious affiliation on Wednesday, taking time out from a statement on beheaded journalist Steven Sotloff to claim that “Islam is a peaceful religion.”

Kerry spoke to a largely-Islamic audience at the State Department Wednesday, which had assembled to recognize State’s new “special representative for Muslim communities,” Shaarik Zafar. But the planned event was overshadowed by the brutal beheading of Sotloff by ISIS fighters in Iraq, pushing the secretary to again publicly condemn the group.

“Those who have murdered James Foley and Steven Sotloff in Syria need to know that the United States will hold them accountable, no matter how long it takes,” he warned in his speech.

Read more ....

Update: John Kerry calls Steven Sotloff's execution 'a punch to the gut' -- UPI

My Comment: Even at a moment like this .... Secretary of State John Kerry has to go out his way to show to the world that he are still "politically correct".

What Does A U.S. Secretary of State Do When His Plane Breaks Down

Secretary of State John Kerry boards airplane at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland at the start of his Feb. 24-March 6 trip to Europe and the Middle East. State Dept Image / Feb 24, 2013

Secretary of State Flies United After Air Force 757 Breaks Down -- USA Today

Not even the U.S. Secretary of State is immune to flight delays.

John Kerry found that out on Thursday, forced to fly United Airlines from Honolulu to Washington after his Air Force Boeing 757 suffered mechanical problems, The Washington Post reports.

Kerry had been in Hawaii as part of a week's worth of travels. But when his usual 757 went out of service, Kerry had to do what travelers everywhere must do: scramble to find another option.

For the Secretary, that meant a commercial United Airlines flight "hours later," according to the Post.

Read more ....

My Comment: Any bets that he did not take an economy seat?

Update: Oh no .... here comes the comments on how this symbolizes the breakdown of U.S. foreign policy.

Israel Wiretapped John Kerry’s Phone Calls During The Middle East Peace Negotiations

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.(Reuters / Lucas Jackson)

Wiretapped: Israel Eavesdropped on John Kerry in Mideast Talks -- Speigel Online

New information indicates that Israeli intelligence eavesdropped on telephone conversations by US Secretary of State John Kerry. Sources told SPIEGEL the government then used the information obtained from the calls during negotiations in the Mideast conflict.

SPIEGEL has learned from reliable sources that Israeli intelligence eavesdropped on US Secretary of State John Kerry during Middle East peace negotiations. In addition to the Israelis, at least one other intelligence service also listened in as Kerry mediated last year between Israel, the Palestinians and the Arab states, several intelligence service sources told SPIEGEL. Revelations of the eavesdropping could further damage already tense relations between the US government and Israel.

Read more ....

More News On Reports That Israel Wiretapped John Kerry’s Phone Calls During Middle East Peace Negotiations

Israel Intercepted Kerry’s Phone Talks During Peace Negotiations in Jerusalem – Reports -- RIA Novosti
Report: Israel tapped John Kerry's phone when he was brokering peace talks -- Jerusalem Post
Israel 'spied on Kerry during peace talks' -- AFP
Report: Israel Spied on Kerry during Peace Talks -- Naharnet
Tel Aviv spied on Kerry during Israel-PA talks -- Press TV (Iran)

My Comment: Apparently Israel was not the only country involved .... but there is no mention on who they are. If I was to hazard a guess I would add Russia, Egypt, Saudi, Chinese, and a few other European countries to this list.

U.S. Diplomacy Has Failed To End The Israeli - Hamas War

John Kerry's Proposed 7-Day Gaza Truce in Limbo (ABC News)

Kerry’s Diplomacy Falls Short to End Gaza Fighting -- Bloomberg

It took U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry five days in the Middle East to negotiate a 12-hour pause in the bloody fighting between Hamas and Israel.

Prospects for extending that humanitarian halt in the Gaza war had evaporated by the time Kerry landed in Washington shortly after midnight yesterday following a sleep-deprived week in which he served as a round-the-clock, Cairo-based diplomatic call center for Israel, Egypt and intermediaries to Hamas.

While Kerry said his effort was vital “for the sake of thousands of innocent families whose lives have been shaken and destroyed by this conflict,” trying to broker an end to the fighting may have been a long shot from the start.

Read more ....

My Comment: The criticism in the Israeli press on John Kerry's diplomatic efforts are just scathing .... and from all sides of the political spectrum. I have never seen anything like this .... it does not take an expert to realize that (maybe) U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has lost the respect of the Israelis. See below ....

Kerry's latest cease-fire plan: What was he thinking? -- Haaretz
Analysis / Reckless Kerry risks causing escalation -- Ari Shavi, Haaretz
The shaming of John Kerry and the downturn in the battle for Israel’s image -- Chemi Shalev, Haaretz
John Kerry: The betrayal -- David Horovitz, Times of Israel
‘Embarrassing’: John Kerry Skewered over Cease-fire Talks and Compared to an ‘Alien Who Just Disembarked His Spaceship’ -- The Blaze
'John Kerry is an alien, an ongoing embarrassment': what Israel thinks of US -- The Telegraph
John Kerry gets Arabs and Jews to agree — on despising John Kerry -- Bizpac
Iraeli Officials, Press Criticize John Kerry's Ceasefire Proposal -- Abraham Rabinovich, Washington Free Beacon
When You’ve Lost Haaretz… -- Power Line

Update: This is why the Israelis are upset .... Kerry under fire in Israel for negotiating with Qatar, Turkey, not Egypt, Israel (Times of Israel). More here .... Leaked document confirms US ceasefire bid generous to Hamas -- Times of Israel

Update #2: Even the Palestinians are upset at John Kerry .... Abbas fumes at Kerry over alternative ceasefire bid -- Times of Israel

Update #3: OK .... John Kerry may not be the best .... and I doubt that he is a space alien .... but for the moment ... if Israel and Hamas are serious about ending this conflict .... John Kerry is all that they now have.