Kudos to JK

[fedupinBushcountry]

This on the front page and top story at Huffpost.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/20/afghanistan-runoff-necess_n_326900.html">RUNOFF IN KABUL

[TayTay]

1. Damned right, he worked hard for this

and deserves the kudos.

[fedupinBushcountry]

2. Yes he did

and you know I really knew in my heart that he would turn things around, that's the JK we all know and why we still follow his every move. :patriot:

[YvonneCa]

8. Yes we do...

...STILL. :patriot:

[ObamaKerryDem]

15. Absolutely! :D

Congrats to Senator Kerry on this acheivement--he's totally earned the kudos! :)

[ProSense]

3. Obama thanks Kerry

I want to give particular thanks to Ambassador Karl Eikenberry and his team, who have been working tirelessly throughout this process. I also want to commend Senator John Kerry, who was in the region traveling and ended up working extensively with Ambassador Eikenberry and was extraordinarily constructive and very helpful. So I think he deserves great congratulations.

link

[beachmom]

6. Okay, I just updated again with that statement. I swear that is the first

time Pres. Obama has publicly thanked Kerry since when he endorsed him in '08. It's a big deal.

[ProSense]

7. Posted

here.

[YvonneCa]

9. Sure is. n/t

[fedupinBushcountry]

10. Actually

he did thank him for running the hearing on HRC for SOS, but other then that I can't think of any other time.

[beachmom]

4. What an exciting day. For us longtime Kerry supporters! Thanks, Fedup!

And that WP article. OMG. Kerry quite literally saved the day.

[sandnsea]

5. Good for him

Maybe having him in the Senate is most useful, but I still think he'd have been the better choice for Secy of State.

[wisteria]

11. I agree with you on that, even though it isn't popular to say this here.

However, in this situation it does appear his position outside the cabinet was something that worked in his and our country's favor. I think Clinton's guy- Holbrooke was a major problem.

[karynnj]

12. I bet most of us would agree that he would be a better SoS

But he is also a better Senator. The two stories today, Afghanistan and climate change bill, show that Kerry is exceptional in both jobs. Also, as today showed, he can be used as a diplomat by Obama. This trip was planned long before this crisis blew up, but it was great that he was there. This might be one reason that he is needed where he is. I doubt there is anyone else who could have changed the prospects for the climate bill from not going to happen to its possible and maybe likely. The CW was that healthcare would get bipartisan support and this would be tough.

However, no one outside the Senate can really do what is needed to find what will pass. It would be heavy handed for an administration to do too much.

This is not that surprising as the skills of a good diplomat - ability to listen and the ability to craft solutions are what a good legislator has. In Clinton, Obama, quieted a possible dissenting voice and got a star with instant name recognition, but she really is not the natural Kerry is at diplomacy.

[Inuca]

19. About that diplomacy thing

I think that to me good at it you need an innate respect for others, whether friends, enemies, or anything in-between. I don't think that's HRC's forte.

What happened today re the climate bill? Difficult to keep up from afar and with practically no access to T info....

[karynnj]

20. I think you are 100% right on diplomacy

If you don't respect others or have little ability to see the position of the other, you have no hope to find potential compromises or to make the needed personal connections. I didn't see HRC as excelling in that.

[beachmom]

13. Did you see that one comment on Kos?

http://www.dailykos.com/comments/2009/10/20/95135/648/66#c66

Yes Holbrooke was out of the way (2+ / 0-)

had a family member in State not able to leave Kabul because Richard was on ice.

Anyone who has the power to make you believe absurdities has the power to make you commit injustices--François-Marie Arouet

by CA Berkeley WV on Tue Oct 20, 2009 at 08:38:22 AM PDT

< Reply to This | RecommendHide >

[wisteria]

14. I have heard that Holbrooke is a brilliant man, but he can be abrasive.

He was another possibility for SOS.

[beachmom]

21. Well, well, well: Dick Holbrooke speaks to FP:

http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/10/21/exclusive_holbrooke_on_holbrooke

Holbrooke said he had 25 conversations with Kerry throughout the recent election negotiations, including two on Wednesday (although he did not attend Kerry's latest meeting with Obama). Kerry's preplanned presence in the region to deal with the fallout of his Pakistan aid bill was fortuitous, Holbrooke explained, and he fully supported Kerry's representation of the U.S. government in the region this week.

"We encouraged John to get in on this," he said, "I have never seen a better interaction between a member of Congress and an executive branch on a major issue and the stakes yesterday were extraordinarily high."

He rejected the notion that Kerry was supplanting his role as the face of American policy in Afghanistan.

"Only a troublemaking journalist would think of something like that," Holbrooke joked.

I don't know if I buy everything he says in the article. The whole thing is odd, that he only adheres to a strict "every 2 months" schedule traveling to Af/Pak, even if there is a crisis going on.

[wisteria]

23. I don't view Holbrooke as a diplomat and as I said, he can come across as abrasive.

A smart man no doubt, but that is not all it takes to get the job done. And, I have to wonder if he actually had 25 conversations with Kerry. I am sure he had some, but 25?

[beachmom]

26. More from Taylor Marsh on Huff Post:

"Our involvement in Pakistan is not altruistic, it's strategic," Holbrooke reminded May. When May continued, talking about the Pakistanis not being very happy with the aid package, Holbrooke pressed a question a couple of times. "You know who started that?" May didn't answer. Holbrooke repeated the question, then added, "the military." With much of what's going on in Pakistan having to do with internal politics as much as anything else, Holbrooke also mentioned briefly his long friendship with ex-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, as well as the internal dynamics of the stretched tensions in Pakistan.

I asked Mr. Holbrooke whether he believed the Afghan winter would impact the runoff election. That started a monologue that would last around ten minutes. Once the runoff of Nov. 7th happens, Holbrooke said there is about a two week envelope, with the winter's impact in the north, thus the Tajiks. (Abdullah is Tajik and is from the north; Karzai a Pashtun from the south.) Continuing, he said that we got Karzai to agree to the runoff "by the skin" of our teeth, by "this much," changing metaphors and holding up two fingers to show less than an inch. "Of course, we got it," but it was very close, he added.

Then I interjected another question, starting with "John Kerry-", with Holbrooke interrupting me immediately, saying "Can't say enough about John Kerry." I smiled and said, "I'll make sure to quote you." Holbrooke continued heaping praise on Sen. Kerry, stating what had already been reported about Kerry meeting with Obama after he got back. Holbrooke talking about all the serious work he'd been doing in the area and how long it had been going on, with everyone working in concert. Holbrooke, Secretary Clinton and Amb. Eikenberry also had a 40 minute conversation with Kerry as well.

At one point he added that he'd seen a caption, he believed on CNN, that said "Ambassador Kerry?", then chuckled. Now, some would have tried to construe this as a snide aside, however, Holbrooke was obviously making a good-natured comment about Kerry's diligent efforts, while also making the point of how everyone worked different angles together.

"The Administration worked seamlessly on this," Holbrooke added, nodding his head.

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/taylor-marsh/richard-holbrooke-adminis_b_329522.html

[Inuca]

18. I saw it and

I am not sure what it means

[beachmom]

22. On "ice" tends to mean shut up and don't be seen. nt

[Inuca]

24. I know that; what I did not

understand was what Holbrook not being at the apex of his diplomatic stardom has to do with somebody not being able to leave Kabul.

By the way beachmom, reading the AP/MSNBC headline a just posted about Kerry becoming a de facto diplomat for Obama made me think immediately of your Kos diary, you were SO right!!

[MBS]

16. front-page, above-the-fold stories in NYT and Globe this morning

with photo, too


Here's Boston Globe , has replica of hard-copy front page,
http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2009/10/21/kerry_brokers_afghan_runoff_election_deal_with_karzai/
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/larger_view/?g_date=2009_10_21

Also in globe: oped on Senate race that mentions JK. Given the s___ JK has gotten about tending to local issues, this gave me my laugh of the morning. .
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2009/10/21/for_senate_mass_demands_leaders_not_back_benchers/

In other states, senators are discouraged from playing national roles; it makes them instantly vulnerable to the charge that they’re neglecting local needs, as most recent Senate majority leaders can attest.

Massachusetts thinks otherwise. It believes that its interests are best served when its legislative representatives are national figures. It believes its values should be given full expression on the global stage. It demands senators of both influence and distinction. And it has been prepared to give its senators and representatives the luxury of time in office, free of constant campaigning, to build a larger portfolio. (:eyes:Yeah, right! LOL-- ed )

Henry Cabot Lodge Sr., Leverett Saltonstall, Paul Tsongas, and John Kerrydidn’t achieve prominence because of their last names; Massachusetts voters provided the platform from which they could weigh in on national issues. Joseph Martin, John McCormack, Tip O’Neill, Joe Moakley, Ed Markey, Barney Frank, and other powerful speakers and committee chairmen didn’t take the House by storm; they were given the time and mandate from the voters to achieve real power.

New York Times , Hard copy had same photo as Globe, also front-page, above the fold. .
Weirdly, the story doesn't show up on this morning's NYT website , but here's a related story and an oped, mentions JK
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/22/world/asia/22afghan.html?ref=world
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/21/opinion/21wed1.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1256123892-KS4hpkwfvvhQ8hPba598Qg

[fedupinBushcountry]

17. Front cover deserves pics :-)

[jillan]

25. Even Chris Matthews was giving Kerry kudos today saying how

influential he was in this runoff election.


Glad to see JK finally getting the recognition he deserves.