John Kerry

SecState Kerry Deeply Offends Ally Israel with 'Boycott' Comments; WashPost Spins, Buries on A8
By Ken Shepherd | February 3, 2014 | 3:10 PM EST

Imagine, if you will, it's the midterm election year of 2006 and President George W. Bush's secretary of state making careless remarks which seem to lend moral validity to an economic boycott of the United States's staunchest ally in the Middle East. The Washington Post would surely glom onto such an embarrassing gaffe and play it up as much as possible.

Yet when John Kerry made such remarks about the State of Israel, the Post's William Booth spun the gaffe as best he could, seemingly exasperated that Israeli statesmen were even complaining about the remarks. For their part, Booth's bosses dutifully shuffled to story to page A8 of the February 3 edition, rather than give it more prominent coverage (emphasis mine):

Networks Censor Spat Between Obama Admin. and Israel Over Kerry 'Boycotts' Remark
By Matthew Balan | February 3, 2014 | 2:44 PM EST

ABC, CBS, and NBC's morning newscasts have yet to report about the bilateral squabble between the Obama administration and Israel over Secretary of State John Kerry's warning on Saturday that the U.S. ally faces "an increasing delegitimization campaign that has been building up....There are talks of boycotts and other kinds of things."

The war of words comes days after actress Scarlett Johansson ended her eight-year affiliation with Oxfam due to their opposition to Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Johansson appeared in a Super Bowl ad for SodaStream, a company based in Israel that runs a large facility on the West Bank. On Monday, CNN anchor Michaela Pereira devoted a news brief on New Day to Kerry's remark and the Israeli government's reaction: [MP3 audio available here; video below the jump]

MSNBC's Hayes Compares Using Oil to Drug Addiction, Opposes Keystone Pipeline
By Brad Wilmouth | February 3, 2014 | 12:06 PM EST

On Friday's All In show, MSNBC host Chris Hayes gave a commentary opposing the Keystone pipeline as he compared America's use of oil to "drug addiction," and pushed the far left idea of leaving 80 percent of the world's oil reserves untapped to supposedly prevent the world's temperature from increasing.

The MSNBC host suggested that conservatives are like addicts who are in denial, with liberals as addicts who want to change but can't.

Column: John Kerry, Jihad Coddler
By Michelle Malkin | January 20, 2014 | 7:03 PM EST

The myth of the poor, oppressed jihadist never dies. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is the latest Obama administration official to peddle this odious narrative. Cue John Lennon's cloying "Imagine," don your plaid pajamas, and curl up with a warm cup of deadly naivete.

While meeting with Catholic Church officials at the Vatican in Rome on Monday, Kerry expounded on their "huge common interest in dealing with this issue of poverty, which in many cases is the root cause of terrorism or even the root cause of the disenfranchisement of millions of people on this planet." In other words: If only every al-Qaida and Taliban recruit had a fraction of Kerry's $200 million fortune, they'd all be frolicking peacefully with infidels on jet skis sporting "Coexist" bumper stickers.

Generous Texas Billionaire Dies, N.Y. Times Offers Bitter 2004 Memory in Headline: 'Backed Swift Boat Ads'
By Tim Graham | December 31, 2013 | 8:07 PM EST

Harold Simmons, the Texas billionaire who has served as chairman of the board of the Media Research Center, died Saturday. If you've enjoyed any of MRC's work over the years, one major force keeping the televisions on was Mr. Simmons. So we were especially disgusted (if not shocked) when the New York Times obituary carried the headline "Harold Simmons Dies at 82; Backed Swift Boat Ads."

That’s not a positive for the Times: MRC’s Clay Waters documented in their news pages in 2004, they used the word “unsubstantiated” next to “Swift boat ads” on no less than 20 occasions (but never for the phony National Guard charges against President Bush.) Times obituary writer Emma Fitzsimmons used the word "discredited" after she began with the "attack ad" politics:

Krauthammer on Iran Nuclear Agreement: 'It's The Worst Deal Since Munich'
By Noel Sheppard | November 25, 2013 | 7:13 PM EST

Not surprisingly, syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer had some harsh words Monday for the agreement the White House struck with Iran concerning that nation’s nuclear program.

Appearing on Fox News’s Special Report, Krauthammer said, “This is a sham from beginning to end. It’s the worst deal since Munich.”

Norah O'Donnell Hounds Cantor Over 'Positive' Nuclear Deal With Iran
By Matthew Balan | November 25, 2013 | 1:02 PM EST

Charlie Rose and Norah O'Donnell stayed true to form and badgered a Republican/conservative guest on Monday's CBS This Morning – this time, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor over his criticism of the Obama administration's nuclear deal with Iran. Rose questioned the congressman's opposition to the proposal, which he labeled "dangerous". Rose asked, "Why isn't that a good deal to freeze things and delay?"

O'Donnell twice touted the deal as "positive", in an attempt to defend the White House's controversial diplomatic efforts: [MP3 audio available here; video below the jump]

WashPost's Gearan Hails 'Diplomatic Coup' by Kerry, Even As 'Effectiveness... Remains in Doubt'
By Ken Shepherd | November 25, 2013 | 12:34 PM EST

Time and again we at NewsBusters have documented how Washington Post diplomatic correspondent Anne Gearan has served as a hagiographer for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former UN ambassador Susan Rice.

So it should come as no surprise that Ms. Gearan pulled the same stunt in today's Post with a gooey tribute -- headlined "On Iran, a diplomatic coup bearing Kerry's hallmark" in the November 25 print edition* -- to Secretary of State John Kerry for his achieving an interim nuclear deal with Iran this weekend in Geneva. Here's a taste from the 19-paragraph page A9 item (emphasis mine):

Congressman Rogers on Iran Deal: ‘We Have Just Rewarded Very Bad and Dangerous Behavior’
By Noel Sheppard | November 24, 2013 | 10:37 AM EST

Mike Rogers (R-Mich), the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, had some harsh words for the agreement the Obama administration has just made with Iran concerning that nation’s nuclear program.

Appearing on CNN’s State of the Union, Rogers said, “We have just rewarded very bad and dangerous behavior...we may have just encouraged more violence in the future than we have stopped.”

In 66-Paragraph Masterpiece, WSJ Details 'Head-Spinning Reversal on Chemical Weapons' in Obama White House
By Ken Shepherd | September 16, 2013 | 7:13 PM EDT

It was bound to be overshadowed by breaking news of the fatal Washington Navy Yard shooting this morning, but today's Wall Street Journal front-pager, "Inside White House, a Head-Spinning Reversal on Chemical Weapons," would have likely gone unnoticed by the liberal broadcast and cable media regardless.

In a 66-paragraph masterpiece, Journal reporters Adam Entous, Janet Hook, and Carol Lee gave a behind-the-scenes look of how, "Through mixed messages, miscalculations, and an 11th-hour break, the U.S. stumbled into an international crisis and then stumbled out of it." Among other things disclosed, "The same day [Secretary of State John] Kerry made his fateful remark" that Syria could simply give up its weapons to the international community, "the State Department sent Congress a memo detailing: 'Russian Obstruction of Actions on Syria.'" It really is a great exploration of the Keystone Kops nature of the Obama team's bungling of Syrian foreign policy.  Here's a taste (emphasis mine):

Former Clinton Defense Secretary: ‘Highly Unlikely’ Syria Will Dismantle Its Chemical Weapons
By Noel Sheppard | September 14, 2013 | 2:51 PM EDT

The media are predictably giddy about an agreement being reached in Geneva between the United States and Russia concerning Syria.

Former Clinton Defense Secretary William Cohen was not very optimistic Friday telling CNN’s Anderson Cooper that he felt it was “highly unlikely” Bashar al-Assad would dismantle his chemical weapons.

PBS Staff RINO David Brooks Says Anti-Obamacare Conservatives ‘Aren’t Legislators’
By Tim Graham | September 14, 2013 | 1:55 PM EDT

While media reporters have hailed the "new" PBS NewsHour for having two female anchors, the liberal-bias formula is exactly the same. PBS Republican-in-Name-Only David Brooks is assigned to trash the Republicans as extremist obstructionists, so that Democrat hack Mark Shields can agree, and add that they don't live in reality.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State John Kerry is already demonstrating "commitment and passion" by conducting a reality-denying negotiation with the Russians and Syrians to "destroy" Syria's stock of chemical weapons. Brooks and Shields teamed up to endorse and promote the suffocating inside-the-Beltway statist consensus: