Posted on 07/05/2013 1:42:53 PM PDT by Kaslin
Good news everyone. While Egypt (the country we just sent F16s to) was experiencing a coup this week, Secretary of State John Kerry was boating in Nantucket. Photo courtesy of the Boston Herald:
First, State Department Spokesman Jen Psaki (who also worked as a spokesman for the Obama campaign) denied Kerry was in Nantucket despite multiple reports, sitings and a Kerry motorcade traffic jam.
Kerry spokesperson Jen Psaki denied the report.
“Since his plane touched down in Washington at 4 am, Secretary Kerry was working all day and on the phone dealing with the crisis in Egypt,” Psaki said in a statement.
Kerry was absent from a White House photo showing President Obama meeting with members of his national security team to discuss the situation in Egypt, but Psaki said he had dialed in on a secure phone line for that meeting.
“He participated in the White House meeting with the President by secure phone and was and is in non-stop contact with foreign leaders, and his senior team in Washington and Cairo.”
Earlier a State Department spokesperson said she could not comment on Kerry’s whereabouts on Wednesday, but said Kerry is kept in the loop on all the latest developments.
“The secretary’s department is in touch with officials regarding the developments in Egypt at all levels at all times,” State Department Press Secretary Beth Gosselin said in a statement.
Secretary of State John Kerry's motorcade gets stuck in #Nantucket rotary traffic. #awkwardhttps://t.co/ZEOlDHo39Y — Jason Graziadei (@JasonGraziadei) July 3, 2013
State Dept's @jrpsaki says re CBS tweet on @JohnKerry: "Any report or tweet that he was on a boat is completely inaccurate." — Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) July 4, 2013
State Dept spox @jrpsaki corrects previous statement: Secretary of State @JohnKerry "was briefly on his boat on Wednesday" cc: @Mosheh — Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) July 5, 2013
U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry — who spent the Fourth of July on sun-splashed Nantucket even as the chaos from a military takeover rocked Egypt — drew fire from Republican critics who said it’s a bad time for the nation’s top diplomat to be seen cavorting on an island getaway.Then of course, Psaki tried to run cover by reassuring everyone Kerry was hard at work solving the world's problems...from his kayak of course.
“It doesn’t look good, and I think it sends the wrong message” said Republican strategist Brad Marston. “If I were advising him, I’d already have him on a plane.”
As first reported on bostonherald.com, Kerry, who owns a house and a yacht on the ritzy retreat, was seen yesterday strolling down Federal Street away from July Fourth festivities on Main Street in jeans and a light-colored polo shirt.
Later in the afternoon, Kerry was seen offloading bags from a single-person kayak to a boat in Nantucket Sound after launching from the beach behind his home at 5 Hulbert Ave.
Republicans pounced on the image of the vacationing secretary of state and sought to use it as a symbol of what they deem a big Obama administration failing — the inability to convey a clear message on foreign policy on hotspots like Syria, Turkey and Egypt.
“I would think the secretary of state would interrupt his vacation and at least send a very clear signal — even by flying back to Washington for a day or two — that on our Independence Day we are very concerned about the freedom and democracy that we hope is instilled for some period of time in the Arab World,” said Patrick Griffin, a New Hampshire-based GOP strategist.
Kerry’s staff yesterday insisted he’s fully engaged and has been logging long hours and high miles, including a recent 12-day, 25,000-mile trip to the Middle East and Asia.As a reminder, the violence in Egypt was expected to be so bad, the State Department pulled all U.S. diplomats. But hey, Kerry had some tanning to do, okay?
Yesterday he dialed into a meeting with President Obama and members of his national security team in the Situation Room, according to the State Department. Kerry also called foreign dignitaries from Egypt, Israel, Norway, Qatar, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.
“Secretary Kerry has been working tirelessly around the clock since he returned from his 10-day trip and there has not been a moment where he has not been focused on doing everything possible to communicate with his team in Washington and in Egypt, within the administration and with his counterparts around the world,” Kerry spokeswoman Jen Psaki told the Herald last night.
The State Department has ordered all nonessential U.S. diplomats and the families of all American Embassy personnel to leave Egypt in anticipation of potential violence.And in case you're wondering, things in Egypt are just getting worse.
Egyptian troops reportedly opened fire Friday on supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi outside the Republican Guard headquarters, where he was believed held, but there were conflicting reports on casualties.
The Associated Press, which had a photographer at the scene, said at least one protester was killed.
Citing security sources, Reuters reported security forces fatally shot three demonstrators.
Pray for America to Wake UP
A horse-faced old man in Nantucket
One day said, “Work? Oh I’ll .....
He got in his
And started to float,
Then heard Morsi was kicking the bucket.
When will this Psaki person resign? How stupid can you get - lying to the public when the press has photos...
I guess we know what the 400 tanks and fighter jets were for.
LOL!
All he does is transfer taxpayer money to murderers
like Morsi.
Can’t he do that from his RI yacht????
(in taxfree waters far from his Mass. home?)
America has woken up and it’s time to do something about this abuse of power. Kick the bums out.
I’m no good at limericks, and you are, could you make one involving Skerry and sharks?
Even worse is denying and lying and getting caught
Well see, that’s the left for you-they don’t care if they get caught in lies, they only care if they escape the consequences. Which they always do, in this immoral and unethical administration. It’s “transparent”, alright-transparently mendacious. What do they need to care, since they always get away with it?
A billionaire with a reusable grocery bag holding his secure laptop and phone etc. What a super dork.
Were his security floating around in kayaks too or were they in power boats? No wonder he lied.
I have a visceral hatred of this guy for defaming and slandering his brother veterans for cynical self-promoting reasons. I hate him even more because it worked. And even more because he achieved the fame and high office he cynically sought, and then used it for his own enrichment and celebrity.
He isn’t as good at this as Hillary!
And of course zero does’t have to try since that’s the job of our current journalists.
But the “news” media only want to talk about how W just sat there in the kiddies classroom while planes flew into the towers.
At this point in time, what difference does it make? /s;)
But seriously, neither Secretary Kerry nor anyone else in the ObamaAdministration is capable of telling the truth.
Still, isn't it better that Kerry and his boss man be out of touch than in positions to screw things up more than they already have?
John Derry boating...or swiftboating?
Ahm...that’s Kerry
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