Can Kerry Continue?

Sen. Ted Cruz likes to be out ahead on things.

Secretary of State John Kerry (Credit: State.gov)

The Texas Republicans has called for Secretary of State John Kerry to resign for his slander of Israel reported by the Daily Beast, comparing the country’s defending itself to South African apartheid.   

But Cruz won’t stand alone this time around. 

There is already bipartisancondemnation from Democratic Sens. Barbara Boxer of California and Mark Begich of Alaska. Though like most Republicans who condemned the remarks, they stopped short of demanding a resignation – for now. 

From the Daily Beast:

“A two-state solution will be clearly underscored as the only real alternative. Because a unitary state winds up either being an apartheid state with second-class citizens—or it ends up being a state that destroys the capacity of Israel to be a Jewish state,” Kerry told the group of senior officials and experts from the U.S., Western Europe, Russia, and Japan. “Once you put that frame in your mind, that reality, which is the bottom line, you understand how imperative it is to get to the two-state solution, which both leaders, even yesterday, said they remain deeply committed to.”

Kerry of course has attempted to walk back the comment, but one wonders if that works any better than walking back the “botched joke” in 2006. This surely won’t be forgotten.

Some are calling this anti-Semitism. I won’t judge Kerry’s heart. It doesn’t help that the reports surfaced on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day.

But one has to question his judgment and whether he can function in a role of leading U.S. foreign policy. When he became Secretary of State he gave up the option of speaking for himself. Now, he is always speaking for the country. And in doing so, he attacked America’s most valuable ally in the Middle East in a way that the U.S. 

As Boxer said, “Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East and any linkage between Israel and apartheid is nonsensical and ridiculous.” Yet this administration is not making similar slanderous comments about very undemocratic countries. The worst we've heard about Russia's thuggery that it's a "regional power."

He may be somewhat insulated from demands for resignation given his chumminess with most members of the Senate – including many Republicans he served with.

But Sen. John McCain and some other Republicans who found his former GOP colleague Chuck Hagel unacceptable to be Defense Secretary – in part because of Hagel’s views on Israel – will have a tough time going to bat for Kerry.

Kerry had sought a historic role for himself, with deals to de-nuke Iran and broker a long sought after peace deal between Israel and Palestine. Those ambitions could unravel. It’s difficult to imagine he can continue leading peace negotiations after these remarks. The question is less: Should he resign? It’s really; can he even continue to function effectively in the job?

Well Deserved Sainthood

Pope John Paul II’s canonization as a saint was fast tracked, but is nevertheless well deserved.

Pope John Paul II and President Reagan (Credit: Poland.USEmbassy.gov)

At a time when Russia is behaving aggressively, John Paul’s actions in helping topple the Soviet Union are even more memorable, all of which is detailed in John O’Sullivan’s excellent book, “The President, the Pope and the Prime Minister: Three WhoChanged the World.”

 

The book explains how former archbishop of Krakow Karol Józef Wojtyla’s role was equal to that of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher in crushing communism as a global threat. The godless ideology didn’t die (i.e. North Korea, China and Cuba), but it is no longer an inherent danger.

The first non-Italian pope in 400 years eagerly helped Poland’s Solidarity Movement’s opposition against communist control in his home country. As a native of Poland, it is such a privilege to live through such a historic moment.

Outside of geopolitics, Saint John Paul II demonstrated a Christian example to the world. He was a man of the people and realized we are all the creations of a loving God. In December 1983, he not only forgave but visited Mehmet Ali Agca, the man who shot him in an assassination attempt.

 

“I spoke to him as a brother whom I have pardoned and who has my complete trust,” the Pope said after the visit.

Living out his faith and the assist in thrusting the Soviet Union on the ash heap of history is incredibly significant but not the miracles that warranted his sainthood.

French nun Marie Simon Pierre was cured of Parkinson’s disease and Floribeth Mora Diaz of Costa Rica was cured of a brain aneurysm, miracles attributed to Pope John Paul’s prayers.  

Pope John XXIII’s who had a short but influential papacy brought us Vatican II and was also deserving of being canonized on the same day.

"They lived through the tragic events of that century, but they were not overwhelmed by them,” Pope Francis said Sunday. “For them, God was more powerful; faith was more powerful -- faith in Jesus Christ the Redeemer of man and the Lord of history.”

  

Pope Francis said Saint John XXIII was “the pope of openness to the Spirit” and Saint John Paul II was “the pope of the family.”

Tough Action Not Trash Talk

Nothing wrong with Vice President Joe Biden’s travel to Ukraine to symbolically show solidarity, but one wonders what he’ll actually accomplish given the problems of the United States putting forward a solid peace through strength message.

Vladimir Putin’s government is already violating the Geneva agreement and blaming the Ukrainians with the more recent violence that erupted – establishing an apparent pretext for further violation.

Putin may be crazy or may be crazy like a fox, either way, after snatching Crimea he seems in the mood to test the West just to see how far he can go. A professed Soviet throwback, I’m starting to wonder if he will be cowed by expanding to NATO allies in Eastern Europe, thinking:  What’s the West going to do? More appropriately, what’s the United States going to do?

President Obama’s spokesman Jay Carney assured America last week, “We’re not in a Cold War because I think it’s important to remember what the dynamics of the Cold War were. You had two super powers, you had two economic blocs, you had two military blocs. There aren’t two of any of those things today. Russia is not the Soviet Union; there is no Warsaw Pact."

 

As a native of Poland, I’ll assert that there will not be another Warsaw Pact, thank you very much. But that doesn’t mean Russia won’t establish other alliances in Putin’s zeal to be a world power again. So other countries should realize why it's not advantageous to align themselves with Russia.

President Obama’s remark that Russia is a “regional power” was more trash talk than tough talk. It might have hit Putin’s ego, but has done little to give him pause. Weak sanctions and vague talk of “additional costs” is not causing anyone to quiver.

There should be real sanctions – including on Putin’s assets. Not only to be clear that Putin cannot continue this behavior but also to discourage other heads of state from throwing in with him.

Western Europe has more to lose from these sanctions on an economic basis. But they would be willing to look at the long game of quietening Putin and other potential thugs if the U.S. leads the way.

But that leadership can’t come in the form of meaningless sanctions and trash talk.

Michael Bloomberg’s Not-So-Heavenly $50 Million Investment

Billionaire former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg assures us he is going to heaven. Not because of a humble spiritual experience, but because of his noble battle against guns

Michael Bloomberg, Credit: State Department

“I am telling you if there is a God, when I get to heaven I’m not stopping to be interviewed,” Bloomberg told The New York Times. “I am heading straight in. I have earned my place in heaven. It’s not even close.”

   

The Times reported this week on Bloomberg’s plan to spend $50 million to push gun control and combat the NRA, which reportedly has spent $20 million per year defending the Second Amendment. Bloomberg plans to merge the group he founded, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, with Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. The new group will be called Every Town for Gun Safety.

I'll give the benefit of the doubt that the moms have the best of intentions. But I can’t say the same about Mayors Against Illegal Guns, which is filled with unsavory characters. Bloomberg himself has come under question from Politico, the New York Post, Judicial Watch and others for using City Hall resources to push his private nonprofit’s agenda. As I documented in my piece, “Dubious Mayors Against Legal Guns” for the Capital Research Center:

 

Despite Bloomberg’s billions, the mayor used New York City tax dollars and city staff to advance MAIG’s national ambitions. The MAIG domain name was registered in 2006 by the New York City Department of Information and Technology and has remained on city web servers ever since …

 Documents obtained by the government watchdog group Judicial Watch through a lawsuit under the state’s freedom of information law showed even more evidence there was virtually no daylight between Mayor Bloomberg’s city hall staff, supported by the city’s taxpayers, and billionaire Bloomberg’s pet political project. E-mails showed intense communications between John Feinblatt, the chief adviser to Mayor Bloomberg and also the city’s criminal justice coordinator, and MAIG executive director Mark Glaze.

That’s not to imply this would keep the nanny state mayor out of heaven. That’s obviously not up to me, and I wish him the best of luck as far as the afterlife goes. But it does make it clear that this organization is hardly beyond reproach.