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Jason Reed / Reuters
Sen. John Kerry waves at the end of his speech during the final session of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., on September 6.
Updated at 7:01 a.m. ET: When he ran for president, many in the GOP slammed Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., pilloried for his late opposition to the Vietnam War and his famed flip on the conflict in Iraq. But, as criticism mounted against U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice as the apparent frontrunner to become the next secretary of State, Kerry was publicly embraced by Republican colleagues in the Senate as a comparatively slam-dunk candidate to replace Hillary Clinton.
Now that Rice has withdrawn her nomination to the post, as NBC News reported exclusively on Thursday, all eyes turn to the onetime Democratic nominee. An official close to the process told NBC's Andrea Mitchell late Thursday that Kerry is now almost certain to get the job. "There were two people on the list," the person said. "Two minus one is one."
In her withdrawal letter to the president, Rice said she was convinced her nomination would prove "lengthy, disruptive and costly" as Republicans have raised questions about her role in the public response to the 9/11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. The exclusive NBC News interview with Rice aired Thursday on Rock Center with Brian Williams.
In an exclusive interview with NBC News' Brian Williams, Ambassador Susan Rice described the moment she called President Barack Obama and told him to withdraw her name from those he is considering nominating as secretary of state. Rice defends her comments made about the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya and describes what it's been to like to be in the center of a political firestorm.
In a statement, Kerry praised Rice as an "extraordinarily capable and dedicated public servant" and alluded to his own past political battles.
"As someone who has weathered my share of political attacks and understands on a personal level just how difficult politics can be, I've felt for her throughout these last difficult weeks, but I also know that she will continue to serve with great passion and distinction," he said.
EXCLUSIVE: Rice drops out of running for secretary of state
Elected to the Senate in 1984, Kerry rose to national prominence as a foreign policy expert when he returned to the Senate after his failed 2004 presidential bid. The chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee since 2009, he has made high-profile visits to Afghanistan and Pakistan and helped negotiate the new arms treaty with Russia that was signed in 2010.
Respected in the upper chamber and nationally as a shaper of the nation's foreign policy, Republicans have indicated that Kerry would face little opposition to be confirmed to the secretary of State post. "I think John Kerry would be an excellent appointment and would be easily confirmed by his colleagues," said Republican Susan Collins, R-Maine, late last month. Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, a close ally of former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, declared that Kerry would have "an easy time" being confirmed in the Senate.
Kerry's confirmation would likely not come without some minor re-litigation of past controversies. One of Congress's richest members, he was painted as an out-of-touch patrician by his presidential foes. The onetime Navy lieutenant was criticized by opponents during his campaign for his high-profile protests of the Vietnam War, including his nationally-covered challenge to a congressional panel in 1971 to defend the deaths of men "for a mistake."
Kerry worked closely with the president in the just-finished election, playing Romney in debate preparations and had been seen as a potential choice to head either the State Department or the Department of Defense. Earlier today a top Pentagon official told NBC News that former Republican Senator Chuck Hagel appeared to be the likely choice for secretary of Defense.
NBC's Chuck Todd details the events that led up to Susan Rice removing her name from consideration for the role of U.S. secretary of state.
But the main headache for Democrats if Kerry is appointed will be the triggering of a special election in Massachusetts next year to replace him. Democrats recently celebrated the ousting of Republican Sen. Scott Brown, who won a January 2010 special election to replace the late Sen. Ted Kennedy. Elizabeth Warren bested Brown in the heavily blue state by a margin of 54 percent to Brown's 46 percent.
If Kerry is picked, Brown will be viewed as a formidable Republican candidate to replace him. A wider bench of Democrats, including former Senate candidate Martha Coakley, may vie for the nomination.
But whoever wins the potential replacement race would have a grueling path, as would voters weary of statewide contests. Another special election would be the state's second in three years, and Kerry's successor would be up for re-election again in 2014.
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God help the United States with this clown jetting around the world.
Who was his VP pick again? John Edwards, the sleaziest, scummiest cockroach to run for VP in a bit. Come to think of it Kerry might do just fine. After all, who better to continue the diminution of America in the eyes of the world?
another career politician furthering his ego,what a joke,
Kerry is dangerous to Barry. He is not part of the Chicago alliance so he could stray from the prerecorded message. He might not just parrot inaccurate falsehoods given him.
Of course then possibly the Senate seat might go to Scott Brown. Another hit for Barry.
But could Kerry on his worst day be worse that Rice. At least he is not in it for the money. Of course isn't he a target of the redistribution movement.
GBA
On Benghazi... S..t happens, get over it, Bush has more blood on his hands than the President who has upped the ante on terrorists, eliminated many of the top E Quaeda leaders and, oops,almost forgot, killed Bin Laden.
Go watch your stupid cnn some more.
yeah ---- i was very impressed when obama pulled that trigger ---- i was very impressed when obama personally developed all the intel that led to that event.
This is hysterical! Obama knew Rice's hearing would be disasterous for him and he made Rice fall on her sword. Now the best candidate Obama can come up with is a lying turncoat, millionaire opportunist. And a white guy.
So after telling Rice to lie, hiding behind her and now throwing her overboard, who's actually waging a war on women?
Lies:
I suggest you turn off Rush laimbrain, Glen Beckerhead and SUX news and take a good deep breath of reality. I think you might find it enlightening.
Obama Lies...
Please tell us who you are exactly that allows you the privilege to your claim?
Or are you acting Republican again?
Obama Lies:
That is the way of Islam remember!
JCnGAM & Chip:
Is that all you have? Rhetoric, and innuendo? Anything of substance to offer?
Susan Rice, as the US Ambassador to the UN, has access to the raw data. Therefore, she either spoke out of WILLFUL ignorance or she knowingly lied! The only other possible conclusion here is she's incompetent!
That being the case, Obama clearly, and knowingly chose to hide behind her rather than face the American People himself! It's very telling that it wasn't at least Hillary that appeared if Obama lacked the courage and integrity!
Mccain & Kerry both are both in the last stages of atzeimers
Congratulation Jonh McLame. You're relevant again. That should last about a day or two at most. Then you can go back to being a bitter, mis-informed, unqualified senator from a third world state.
Kerry? John Kerry? This is a joke, right? Oh, by the way, Sen. Perry, did you ever pay those taxes on your five million dollar yacht?
John Kerry= Skull & Bones 322...
NO...
The only person worse than Rice is Kerry. He betrayed our country and lied about the servicemen he served with. This just shows that Republican Senators are the same as their Democrat collegues. Senate truly is an elite club. I can't stand any of them and they all need to be thrown out.
I suggest that we appoint a secretary of state who, should the citizens of one of those foreign countries decide to have an uprising and kill and eat their opponents, his or her response will be, "gee that's too bad, I hope they can settle their differences without US."
Obama, surprise us with one of your brilliant choices please. Not Kerry.
One LYING Hussein Hack Stopped Short of More LYING. One more, Kerry takes Rice's place. A LYING Hack, is a LYING Hack. Good Riddance to Rice. Soon to Kerry. When the LYING Starts at the Top, it has a Long Way to Go before it hits Bottom. When Hussein is at the Bottom, the Country will be Far Better Off. Four More Years? Let's Hope Not.
"All eyes", you say? Get real, nobody except the left really gives a rat's backside about this.
HOUSE GOP: SIGN THE EFFING MIDDLE CLASS EXTENSION - PRONTO @ backhouse, Ah, just wondering if you have ever taken 5 minutes of your time and read the actual bill that has since had so many liberal add-ons that your "middle class extension" is no longer what you may think it is....Reason I ask is because so many I read on hear tend to bicker about this party and that party that you seem to forget that they are all involved in it period. While you sit here and attempt to rip apart the republicans party or democratic party......well, actually there is no true democratic pary anymore, it's been transformed into liberalism, the fact is, these fools in Washington love it when they have free attack dogs standing up for their corruption. Just look at the big front page MSN news reported a day ago concerning the story saying how according to "new polls" GOP was falling, support for Obuma was skyrocketing and of course, gay marriage was even now being accepted by the vast majority of Americans............LMAO, what the propaganda pigs forgot to mention however was this new "recent poll"? Well, yeah, that was conducted by our liberal bias friends at NBC who just happened to conduct said poll between 1000 Americans with 750 of said votes done via text through members of the known liberal tard group "Huff Post" but hey, no bias there right? I mean forget the fact that NC pounced all over the idea of gay marriage with over 60% of registered black democrats in the state who decided to stand up against the said bill to send a message loud and clear and lets not forget that over 20 states in the US had voted and passed in landslide fashion to keep marriage between one man and one woman. You see, what liberal propaganda tends to do is it uses it's assets in full power to push it's agenda through half truths, lies and bias. If you as an American cannot see this then you are either truly ignorant or just blind and honestly wanting to follow the liberal pigs flute to lead you into ignorance and hey, I fought for your right to do that and was willing to give my life for that so.........your welcome. How would the liberal left feel if I conducted a poll where I asked the question "Should marriage be between 1 man and 1 woman", posted said results in the NY Times, Boston Globe, etc, etc,etc.. and then come to find out that the poll was conducted by contacting 2500 registered republicans who were known evangelicals as well as the entire Phelps church at Westboro Baptist in order to gather my alleged "facts"???? Would Rachel Maddow not be on national TV having a stroke with her sisters in arms from the LGBT community? Would Cris Matthews not be shedding tears on "Hardball" crying about biggotry and homophobia while yet screaming at republicans about what a true democracy is but knowing that democracy is only acceptable when the majority of Americans back up the liberal agenda? Look at this whole issue for example, not one of you is even hinting at disgust for Obuma tossing Rice under the bus???? So what? As long as someone more liberal is going to fill the shoes then it's ok? Let me touch on marriage real quick to show you a factual point. Do you know where the ideology of marriage was first recorded and found? IT was the Torah/OT/Bible...... This is fact, not some religious leaning opinion or bias accusation. The only 1st and only religious text to bring us marriage as well as how it was to be performed, by who and between who was and is a Judeo/Christian ceremony period. When factual research is conducted, this fact cannot be argued because it's origin is simply found there. Now, let me even remove the Judeo/Christian aspect from the equation, now we have a ceremony that is founded/established in the Holy Bible so that make it what then? A religious issue. The US Constitution protects what? Religious practices, rights, freedoms etc............. Now lets move to today's society and the "gay agenda". These folk claim that marriage is their "right".......Nope, not so. TO be technical, marriage is not anyone "right" as it is a vow between a man, a woman and the one who seals the deal is the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob. Sorry if you don't beleive in this God, to bad if you think God is some alleged "sky fairy" as those opinions are moot. The fact is once again, religious issues are protected by the US Constitution, not sexuality even though the gay agenda has their liberal thugs trying every way known to man to attempt to redefine the US Constitution in an attempt to twist words in order to convince Americans that the founding fathers somehow wrote this cornerstone of America with the gay folk in mind when the fact is the founding fathers built our nation upon Biblical law, Biblical concept and her comes the one I love because the red faces it causes..........The Teachings of Jesus Christ :) IN other words if the US Supreme Court was to look at the whole issue between the gays concerning marriage, if they actually did their job the way they were supposed to meaning by taking the facts, taking the rules and laws these people are sworn to follow, we will then have a decision handed down that will state that Marriage is and always has been a religious ceremony outlined first in history in the Torah/OT/Bible therefor according to the US Constitution, marriage is hence protected by that documentation and marriage is to be upheld as an oath between one man, one woman and God................End of story. Wwould the gays feel upset? of course they would because the issue isn't about marriage when you look at it. Several years ago congress was willing to give gays every single right that a legal marriage wwould have through what we all know as a civil union. This was on the plate and it was rejected by the LGBT community almost as fast as it was offered. This is where many eyes were first opened to the gay agenda in knowing that the issue with marriage was more of an attack on religious morality rather than fighting for any "equality". Matter of fact when I debate gay folk, I have never to this day found a single one who could debate against the facts or offer anything that would be seen as a real argument and proof of alleged "unequality". The fact is that according to the latest info gatherd in 2010, there are currently 2.18 Billion Christians around the world, (not just the US) this is almost 1/3rd of the entire population. Now, if you listen to MSNBC or CNN they will try to tell you the largest religionin the world and fastest growing religion is Muslim...........well, thats a total lie and once again, it fits Obama administration agenda so you have to see through the lies before accepting the truth. Even reported by PEW Research Center Publications who just happens to be the leading authority on religious statistics as they have presenting findings to the UN, major reports published around the world etc.....Muslim population in the world as of 2010 was found to be 1.57 Billion or 23% of the worlds population. It is also found that Muslims are converting to Christianity at a record number. During the first quarter of 2011, Muslim centers in the UK, Europe & France reported that more than 7% of the total Muslim population had converted over to Christianity. Now, in America, most of the folk here are ignorant in the fact that if you ask you average American wher Muslims come from, they will simply answer the Middle East......lol....... Again, the fact is, the Middle East has one of the smallest populations of these folk when compared to say Europe and Africa. The Middle East is simply known because thats where all the media and news has come from as well as some of the most radical Islmaic nutcases ever to be found. Move over to Africa and you will find some of the most extreme Muslims that would make OBL seem like a pre school child. So whats all this talk about Christians/Muslim, gays/marriage etc, etc, etc? Simply trying to point out to you that standing up for a party makes you just as bad as the fools in Washington screwing up our country. Look at folk like this one called "Pigotry".......I have confronted said poster with factual info in an attempt to debate the false claims of this person with no avail. Reading Pigotry and the posts that go up is just like going to Huffpost and rereading some of the headlines........ In other words, all liberlism reads the same people. Much of what I read by liberals posters is the same exact stuff found on last nights MSNBC/CNN news.........nothing new, nothing factual, nothing that can be backed up with truth. Let me give you all the greatest and my final example of this claim and again, I dare any one of you liberals who actually believe in this pig spew to accept my challenge which I have posted to any and all that I have debated concerning this issue with not one single taker to this day... So, what is the issue you ask? Iraq & WMD's...........ah yes, "the John Fu****G Kerry" gravy train liberal claim that has so many lies in it that I truly cannot believe that anyone is that ignorant to follow it. OK, here it comes. Let me take a liberal hero of lies and propaganda, Chris Matthews. I'll also include Rachel Maddow, the beloved liberal tard who it finnaly where he belong "in the gutter" Kieth Olberman, Let me also include Wolf Blitzer, Dan Rather or to be "PC" (Dan rather not ).. The Liberal claim is that During the Iraq invasion, there were no WMDs found in Iraq. They labled Bush as a liar, claimed the war was "Blood for Oil" exchange program, claimed that Halliburton was the whole reason they started this war because behind closed doors DC was running the compnay and hence, republicans made out.........I won't mention Barrak Obuma being the 3rd largest recipient of $$$ via Halliburton but anyhow..... So, the WMD's in Iraq were a lie, Bush knew there were no WMDs and instead started a personal agenda war because Saddam had said he was going to kill daddy, yada, yada, yada. Being that I am a combat vet who served in the ME X's 2, once in Iraq and once in Afg......Let me now put out my challenge. I challenge any one of you "blood for oil" or "no WMD" types to visit your local VA hospital and walk up to one of the 4000+ disabled vets.........yes, that's right, 4000+, not 400 or 40 but four thousand pluse, who have to get their lungs pumped out every 16-20 months the rest of thier lives thanks to direct exposure to these "fabricated" WMD's that never existed in Iraq or that were not there when we invaded said country.I also want you to bring a friend to record this event with your cool I-phone or whatever device you use and post the results of this encounter/confrontation on You Tube. Please make sure you add in all the accusations you type and post when confronting these vets. Call them neoconic warmongering liars who are putting on a show simply to support the evil Bush Agenda. Tell them they never came into contact with any WMD's because it was a Bush lie. Tell the vets you want to know how much Bush paid them to fabricate the lies that they were exposed to WMD's and then as I said, post to You Tube the full results :) FF to September of 2012 MSNBC Harball with Chris Matthews, now, not only does this guys leg "tingle" every time Obuma talks but I wonder if Chriss was smart enough to cath himself in his own liberal lies. Chris was making fun of the Syrian Army back in September 2012 on one of the "Harball" episodes as I seen said episode via YT. Anyhow, Chris goes on and on ranting away about how stupid the Syrians are when the UN weapons inspectors are asking them where all the extra WMDs came from. Chris also points out the obvious, the nice big black letters that translate into "IRAQ" painted on the sides of the crates/WMDS. Now, I dont know about you folks but I seem to recall that in Febuary of 2003, every news media channel was playing that same black and white video feed from one of our satellites that was recording the huge convoy of NBCTU's leaving Iraq and heading to Syria as well as Damascus. Mind you this was a few weeks before March 20 2003, the day of the US invasion of Iraq thanks to Bush listening to the liberals and UN who begged him not to Invade even though the UN promised us that they would support a full scale invasion into Iraq after Saddam violated the 4th UN resolution. By the time we invaded Iraq, the UN had presented 7 UN Resolutions to Saddam, all 7 were violated within the first 7 days of the "signed" agreement. NBCTU for you non military/civilian types stands for "Nuclear, Biological, Chemical, Transportation Unit" These are special made tanker trucks that carry chemical & biological weapons. Anyhow, so, after the years of thrashing Bush and claiming there were no WMDs, after all the ignorant fools in America joined with the Anti Bush rhetoric because they cannot think for themselves and would rather just agree and follow whatever they read on Huffington post........After all that I can bet you not a single one of them realized how they exposed their own liberal agenda lies all the while trying to mock and make fun of the very thing they claimed never existed. Maybe now our disabled vets will get some recognition for risking their lives to remove one of the greatest threats to our country who not only gave the families of the 9/11 terrorists $25K each but also was known to be in talks with other terrorist groups concerning the sales of WMDs. Well, thats a big novel that I wrote here but my hope is always the same, that someone will take the time to read it, do some actual research on their own to verify my alleged claims and hopefully reject party affiliation.........
TLTR
Too Long To Read, nitwit.
good post rush NOT
no offense, but short paragraphs can make reading much easier.
You could have stopped at the Democratic party not being a party. The Republican Party AIN"T SHEET either. You have the Impeder of Government Business, Grover Norquist. The Communistic Koch Bros. and a Hate Monger, Stephen Marks to name a few. Your not showing that you have Bragging Rights here. So what's that point you are trying to make.
After all that you need an extra big tissue
forget kerry
Alan, can you offer us some proof of that accusation?
Wait, what's that rank smell?
Is that the Swiftboaters odor? They can't be far behind this story...
Guy's seeking to suck off rich do nothing widows, all. Now, I'll admit that giving someone with Sen. Scott Brown's even handed political skills a second chance is both tantalizing and titillating. Sort of get that fuzzy feeling running up my leg. And goodness knows, this would provide needed balance to the fake injun, plagiarizer, empty suit Granny Warren for all the know nothing, EBT card carrying voters in Mass. But puleeze, folks, with guys like Gen. Petraeus available, peccadilloes and all, must we really settle for this tax dodging, low C student Yalie gigolo? Feeling torn. Aa.
As a republican and resident of Mass i urge our party to do everything in its power to make this confirmation happen if he is selected. It would be a great day for us in Mass if we were able to get this loser out of our state. And hopefully he doesn't leave any slime on the road on his way out of Mass when he is headed for DC. I personally don't care who gets his seat Dem or Repub as long as he is gone.
@M6X3, you are a prime example of why I don't like Mass.
Isn't this the same guy who went out of his way to get some minor flesh wounds for which he got medals, later making a very public show of throwing them away. And isn't this the same guy who attempted to evade paying a cool half million in taxes on his 76 foot yacht named "Isabel" by parking the boat in R.I.
Yep, a typical Obamaesque choice for the very important job of secretary of state.
Rex, thanks for that disgusting and false rendition.
Prove me wrong...he threw the medals away and he has not yet paid the taxes.
chip,don't know how old you are,but after two tours in vietnam,i'm watching the tv and it was about the demonstrations in washington about ending the war in vietnam,one particular moment i remember is a long haired john kerry throwing his medals away,then in the next clip i see this clown in a tuxedo attending a formal dinner and i believe it was in the white house,i invite anyone to prove me wrong,what i thought at the age of 24 was this man is a hypocrite,the rest is history,i could tell another real life incident but i'll let it pass for another day.we are not getting anyone new,they are putting out the recycling can.we really are screwed,meet your new boss,same as the old boss.
Rex, try and get the story straight... He threw the ribbons. He has all of his combat medals.
As for his taxes. if he were delinquent he'd be heavily fined or in jail. So you go back to a story about a dispute over docking the boat v maintenance docking?
He paid them back in 2010.
sometimes, the truth is difficult to accept.
rex,medals,ribbons,whatever the point is hypocrite of the greatest degree and that's higher than the masons or the knights of columbus degree you can attain.
mikevietvet, how is showing character of conviction hypocritical.
Remaining silent would've been hypocritical.
perhaps hypocrite was not the right word ---- what kerry did, even if unintentionally, was say things that made life much more difficult for returning soldiers.
You don't even know what it was about. Kerry is one who testified to Congress, for 2 hours, that the way we conducted War created War Crimes by the Indivual Soldier. IE, the killing of innocent people was high on the list. I don't expext you that have been having a free ride and not serving to know anything. Which is why to this day I consider many Civilians to be inept. You run your mouths at things you were not even around when it happened.
who wasn't around ??? ---- i was one of those returning soldiers who was mistreated because of kerry's statements.
She needs to Shave Her Mustache! (Gross)
ranknfile, another typical classless post.
Thanks for sharing that vacuous post.
Chipmonk do you think you need to comment on everyone's Post. We don't need your critique Thanks'
rankfile, sorry...
I just can't let classless, insulting posts by neanderthals just go by...
John Kerry would be a good SOS, he will bore the diplomats to death. I can still hearing HIS voice when he made those speeches when he was running for Prez.
Yes it sounded like this ......wah wah.......wah wah wah .....wah wah ........Kinda like Charlie Browns teacher. -_-
You watch too much of "The View" Chip. You need to educate yourself instead of putting your ignorance on display over and over.
Rex, never watch the view. That makes you what zero for something in the fact department?
That being the case chip, it means you two are tied!
Oh God........Rice would be better ......she may be a liar ....but at least she is not a liar and a candy ass.