Showing posts with label john kerry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label john kerry. Show all posts

Thursday, September 10, 2015

GOP Fails to Stop Obama's Iran Deal

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Previous Related Posts:
Clueless Tom Cotton Says Tehran Was Captured by... Iran
Obama Signs Historic Iran Deal - GOP Throws Tantrum
U.S. and Allies Reach Nuclear Deal with Iran
#47Traitors Hashtag Trends Worldwide
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Let's enjoy all the tears of impotent rage over "Lame Duck" Obama's huge world victory in getting the Iran Deal to move forward with help from the Dems, who blocked last minute maneuvers, and in spite of the Religious Nuts, Bibi Netanyahu, and Prophets of Doom like Glenn Beck. Call a Waaaahmbulance!

From USAToday
Senators voted 58-42 to bring to the floor a resolution disapproving the deal. That was two votes short of the 60 votes Republican leaders needed to advance the bill.

The Democrats' action spares Obama from having to veto any legislation and leaves the Iran agreement intact, though Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said he may bring the bill back for another vote next week.

Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Democratic Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., predicted that the outcome would not change if McConnell tries again.

"You can call (a vote) ten more times and you’ll get the same result," Durbin said.

Under legislation passed by Congress in May, the deal will take effect unless both the House and Senate vote for a resolution of disapproval by Sept. 17.

President Obama said he was heartened by the vote.

"The Senate took an historic step forward and voted to enable the United States to work with our international partners to enable the implementation of the comprehensive, long-term deal that will prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon," Obama said in a statement. "This vote is a victory for diplomacy, for American national security, and for the safety and security of the world."





































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Thursday, May 29, 2014

#Snowden Jumps the Shark With NBC Interview - Updated

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Brian Williams of NBC is the first major network news person to interview Edward Snowden in Moscow. Reviews are mixed so far, but I think it's safe to say that a wider audience isn't going to work out too well for the ultra-spy-in-exile. The more he talks the deeper the hole, so to speak. As this interview was obviously timed to coincide with the release of Glenn Greenwald's book about Snowden, it may not have the boost in sales that they were looking for.

Snowden seems to be jumping the shark, although I'm sure the Libertarian Wikileaks Anonymous crowd will swoon over his sexy snake-oil voice and geek-martyr persona.

Previous Related Posts:
Snowden Can Make Himself "Unrecognizable"
Critics Go To War Over Sourpuss Glenn Greenwald's Book
All Hail the Snowden Pulitzer
Crime or Punishment? Snowden Remains Stuck in Moscow Airport
Snowden: Messages from Moscow
Edward Snowden Releases NSA Secrets
Edward Snowden: Hero or Villain

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Selected Quotes from #InsideSnowden
. . . when they say I’m a low-level systems administrator, that I don’t know what I’m talking about, I’d say it’s somewhat misleading.
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I was trained as a spy in sort of the traditional sense of the word, in that I lived and worked undercover overseas, pretending to work in a job that I'm not, and even being assigned a name that was not mine.
But I am a technical specialist. I am a technical expert. I don't work with people. I don't recruit agents. What I do is I put systems to work for the United States. And I've done that at all levels from, from the bottom on the ground all the way to the top. Now, the government might deny these things, they might frame it in certain ways and say, "Oh well, you know, he's -- he's a low level analyst."
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I think it's important to remember that people don't set their lives on fire. They don't walk away from their extraordinarily, extraordinarily comfortable lives for no reason.
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I think the most important idea is to remember that there are times throughout American history where what is right is not the same as what is legal. Sometimes to do the right thing you have to break the law.
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I have no relationship with the Russian government at all. I've never met the Russian President. I'm not supported by the Russian government. I'm not taking money from the Russian government. I'm not a spy.
I personally am surprised that I ended up here. The reality is I never intended to end up in Russia. I had a flight booked to Cuba onwards to Latin America, and I was stopped because the United States government decided to revoke my passport and trap me in the Moscow airport.
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If I could go anywhere in the world, that place would be home.

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UPDATE: One part of the interview has been debunked today by the NSA:

From the Interview:
Snowden: I actually did go through channels, and that is documented. The NSA has records, they have copies of emails right now to their Office of General Counsel, to their oversight and compliance folks from me raising concerns about the NSA’s interpretations of it – legal authorities. I reported that there were real problems with the way the NSA was interpreting its legal authorities. And I went even further in this, to say that they could be unconstitutional, that they were sort of abrogating our model of government in a way that empowered presidents to override our statutory laws. And this was made very clear. And the response was, more or less, in bureaucratic language, was, ‘You should stop asking questions.’

The U.S. Government Replied today by releasing one email exchange from Snowden, which they say is the only one received asking questions of the General Counsel to the NSA:
Read Snowden's Email and NSA Reply Here

From ABC News:
The NSA said in statement that Snowden’s email “did not raise allegations or concerns about wrongdoing or abuse, but posed a legal question that the Office of General Counsel addressed.”
“There was no additional follow-up noted,” the NSA said. “There are numerous avenues that Mr. Snowden could have used to raise other concerns or whistleblower allegations. We have searched for additional indications of outreach from him in those areas and to date have not discovered any engagements related to his claims.”
Snowden told NBC News that he also raised his concerns with his co-workers and superiors, many of whom he said were “shocked” at the programs he described. In December 2013, Snowden similarly told The Washington Post he brought his misgivings to four supervisors in two departments.
“I asked these people, ‘What do you think the public would do if this was on the front page?’” Snowden told the Post. “How is that not reporting it? How is that not raising it?”
In the Washington Post report, an NSA spokesperson said the agency had not found “any evidence” to support Snowden’s claims about raising concerns internally. Then, the NSA did not note the email it published online today.

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Responses to #InsideSnowden













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On Snowden's Persona







































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From Russia, With Love













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Snowden Has Fans - "He's a Patriot!"













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He's a Spy, Dammit!

























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What about Glenn Greenwald?





















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John Kerry's Opinion



















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What Does Snowden Watch on TV?
 











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Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Tea Party Tantrum as Obama Shakes Hands with Cuba's Castro

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Yes, it's true. Our President, like most Presidents, sometimes shakes hands with dictators or despots, and at Mandela's funeral he shook the hand of Raul Castro of Cuba, brother to Communist dictator Fidel Castro. Immediately Republicans began to howl - here was Obama acting all Communisty and "Palling around with Terroristy." Apparently the GOP Tea Party thinks the President should throw down the gauntlet (like Rand Paul) or pitch a tantrum in public or something. But Obama was at a state funeral it's called "diplomacy" people! It's called being a gentleman! It's called being a President. You have to act like a grown-up when dealing with other world leaders!

So shame on John McCain, of all people. I'd love to have a list of people he's shaken hands with over the years. Having Sarah Palin on his ticket is bad enough!

From Huffington Post:
As he rose to the podium to deliver his speech at the funeral of South African leader Nelson Mandela, President Barack Obama took about 20 seconds to shake hands and greet his Cuban colleague (Raoul Castro). The fleeting contact of the leaders’ skin prompted wild speculation about what it all might mean. Does this image of the two leaders symbolize the beginning of a new era?
Given the course of U.S.-Cuba relations over the last five decades, it's safe to say the Obama-Castro handshake probably doesn’t mean a whole lot.

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If the president was going to shake his hand, he should have asked him about those basic freedoms Mandela was associated with that are denied in Cuba.
~ Senator Marco Rubio, R-Florida, via The Hill

Senator Ted Cruz (R., Texas) walked out of the memorial service for Nelson Mandela when Cuban “president” Raúl Castro began speaking.
“Senator Cruz very much hopes that Castro learns the lessons of Nelson Mandela,” said Sean Rushton, Cruz’s communications director. “For decades, Castro has wrongly imprisoned and tortured countless innocents. Just as Mandela was released after 27 years in prison, Castro should finally release his political prisoners; he should hold free elections, and once and for all set the Cuban people free.”
~ National Review

It gives Raul some propaganda to continue to prop up dictatorial, brutal regime, that’s all it is to prop up his dictatorial voodoo regime. Why should you shake hands with somebody who’s keeping Americans in prison? I mean, what’s the point? Neville Chamberlain shook hands with Hitler.
~ Senator John McCain via FreakoutNation

Ladies and gentlemen, today is about honoring Nelson Mandela. The president was at an international funeral with leaders from all over the world. He didn't choose who's there. They're there to honor Mandela.
~ Secretary of State John Kerry defending the President

Sometimes a handshake is just a handshake, but when the leader of the free world shakes the bloody hand of a ruthless dictator like Raul Castro, it becomes a propaganda coup for the tyrant.
(Showing Kerry photos of the handshake.)
Raul Castro uses that hand to sign the orders to repress and jail democracy advocates. (Activists) will feel disheartened when they see these photos.
~ Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen R-Florida in confrontation with John Kerry




























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Monday, November 25, 2013

Senator John Cornyn R-TX - Iran Peace Deal Just "Distraction" from Obamacare

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From CNN
. . . on Sunday, diplomats made history when Iran and six world powers came together on an agreement over Iran's nuclear program.
The deal dials back Iran's ability to work toward a nuclear weapon and at the same time loosens the choke hold of international sanctions on Iran's economy.
. . . That the diplomats came to any accord at all represents a momentous budge in a nearly 35-year deadlock marked by distrust, suspicion and open animosity between the United States and Iran, which broke off diplomatic relations after Iran's revolution in 1979.
It was the first such agreement in 10 years of attempts to negotiate over Iran's nuclear program.

Senator John Cornyn, R-Texas tweeted that President Obama made the historic and ground-breaking Peace Deal with Iran just to deliberately "distract attention from Obamacare." Then after most people on Twitter responded in disbelief, he doubled down instead of backing down.












































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Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Obama Speaks to the World on Syria


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Monday, June 24, 2013

Snowden as Heroic Outlaw

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Previous Posts:
Snowden Stuck in Moscow
Snowden Odyssey: Hong Kong to Moscow
Edward Snowden and the Chinese Phoenix
Naomi Wolf Becomes Snowden Truther
Edward Snowden: Hero or Villain
Edward Snowden Releases NSA Secrets

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