John Kerry hearing: Rand gets the better of Rubio... again

Senators Rand Paul (R-KY) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) are both early frontrunners for the Republican nominee in 2016. Each had two cracks at challenging two Democrat heavyweights this week. On January 23rd, Hillary Clinton was in front of the committee over the Benghazi attacks and a day later came the confirmation hearing for Barack Obama's nominee for Secretary of State, John Kerry.

Not only did Paul do much better than Rubio in front of Clinton but he out-performed every other member of the Senate and House committees that questioned the outgoing Secretary of State.

So how'd each Senator do with Kerry? Once again, Paul clearly out-did Rubio and someone should really coach Rubio on how to question a witness; it's not his strong suit. One thing to watch for in both exchanges is how quickly Kerry is expected to answer. Remember, each committee member gets ten minutes to use as he or she chooses and the longer each member speaks, the more comfortable the nominee is because it means less time playing with the rope of your own words and positions. Paul seems to grasp this concept much better than Rubio does. Note how Paul wraps up his first question and expects Kerry to respond to it thirty seconds in.

Conversely, though Rubio demonstrates that he has a comprehensive understanding of international events, that's not why he's there. He's there to ask the very liberal Senator from Massachusetts some tough questions. Rubio takes up nearly half of his ten minutes showing cameras that he knows what's going on while Kerry does little more than root for the clock to keep running before he has to speak. In fact, such pontificating can be counterproductive in another way.

For example, during his opening four and a half minute speech, Rubio actually asserted that it's debatable to argue that the Honduran government's removal of Manuel Zelaya in 2009 was a coup. No it isn't. It absolutely was not a coup. Zelaya was a stooge of Hugo Chavez who attempted to seize power by usurping the Constitution. As such, he was constitutionally removed. That is not debatable.

Kerry inexplicably supported Zelaya in that circumstance and was irrefutably proven to be on the wrong side, on the side of a would-be communist dictator. Rubio would have been better off asking Kerry to explain why he supported Zelaya. Instead, he came across as willing to listen to an argument that says Zelaya was wrongfully removed. Kerry never addressed the issue in his seven-plus minute response.

Congressional hearings are most effective when the questions are like those found in a cross-examination. To cross-examine means to examine closely or minutely, the record of a nominee or witness. When you have a time limit, this is best done with short, direct questions. As you'll see, Paul does this very well. Rubio does not. In fact, Rubio never spoke after his opening remarks and when Kerry is done, you won't know what questions Rubio asked or if Kerry answered them.

Rubio is a smart guy but he needs some serious coaching in this area.

Here is Paul's exchange with Kerry:



Here is Rubio's exchange with Kerry:

Video: Did Hillary out-do Bill's 'meaning of is, is' Gaffe over Benghazi?

The following is the definition of hypothetical:

(of a proposition) highly conjectural; not well supported by available evidence.

When it comes to U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice's appearances on five separate talk shows to give the demonstrably false White House talking points, it's not hypothetical; it's fact. It's also factual to say that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton did not do those interviews. Since we're talking about two factual events of the past, asking a question about why Rice did appear on those talk shows instead of Hillary is not about engaging in a hypothetical.

It's about wanting to know why one decision was made instead of an alternate decision.

Yet, when Hillary was asked why Rice and not her, she actually avoided the question by saying she wouldn't engage in a hypothetical.

Pay attention at the :37 mark for this gem that might just make her husband Bill blush.

"I'm not going to answer any hypothetical questions about what could have happened but didn't happen." - Hillary Clinton on why Susan Rice did the talk shows instead of her.

If she was referring to a point in the future, that's one thing but she's referring to what did and did not happen in the past as 'hypothetical'.

Via CNS News:



Perhaps another reason why Hillary buttoned her lips on this subject is that the answer has to do with racism. After all, she reportedly prefers John Kerry to Susan Rice for Secretary of State.

Proof Dick Lugar's loss a good thing; John Kerry thinks it's Tragic

36-year Indiana Senator Richard Lugar (RINO), one of the most liberal Republicans in the Senate (take your pick between him, Graham, and McCain) lost his primary to the Tea Party-backed Richard Mourdock. The argument for Lugar - made by the same establishment that wants Mitt Romney to be president - is that he knows how to compromise, which is exactly why the Tea Party wants him out.

Establishment types should also check their loyalties on another front. They're not the only ones upset at Lugar's loss. So is one of the Senate's most liberal Democrats - John Kerry, who is calling Lugar's loss a "tragedy."

Here is a portion of Kerry's statement, via ABC:

This is a tragedy for the Senate and the loss is particularly felt by all of us who have been privileged to serve with Dick on the Foreign Relations Committee,” Kerry said. “It’s a blow to the institution during a period when the institution itself has been strained. Whether he was serving as Chairman or Ranking Member of our Committee, wielding the gavel or working the floor, Dick’s approach to governing was always the same:  he wanted to find serious answers to some of foreign policy’s most vexing questions. He’s a class act and a gentleman and in a Senate that has seen so much change and transition these last years, his expertise on complicated issues honed over 36 years simply can’t be replicated.

If you're ever called a "class act" by John Kerry, it's time to question whether you've crossed the rubicon into the abyss.

Here's another excerpt from Kerry's insane screed:

It will soon almost sound cliched to say that America is safer today because of Dick Lugar’s 36 years of service in the Senate, but it really does bear repeating.

To quote Archie Bunker, "you are defective."

h/t Hot Air

Video: David Axelrod Sounds like Charlie Brown's Parents

Obama adviser David Axelrod looks like Nathan Thurm in this exchange with CBS's Bob Schieffer while sounding like any adult in a Charlie Brown cartoon. In between the nervous, rambling lines of incoherence, Axelrod manages to spit out his belief that this is a 'Tea Party downgrade,' in reference to S&P downgrading us to AA+. Aside from that, there wasn't much he said worth reporting. He looked shaken, nervous, and like a man whose entire belief system is crashing down. More than once, Axelrod said 'compromise is not a dirty word.' Uh, Dave, it's a dirty word when it involves socialists.





As an added bonus, John Kerry also called this a 'Tea Party downgrade.'

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h/t Verum Serum and The Blaze

VIDEOS: THREE DEMOCRATS, THREE MORONIC STATEMENTS

First up, none other than outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Aside from improperly using the word precarious to describe a ledge (something can be precariously sitting on a ledge but the ledge itself cannot be precarious unless it too is in danger of falling), Pelosi's bigger gaffe is her confident assertion that Barack Obama has been a job creator ever since he took office. Incidentally, when Obama took office, unemployment was around 6%. It's now at 10%. Only Socialists, Communists and Marxists could say such a thing with this degree of certainty.



Next up, John Kerry. In this moment of brilliance, the former presidential candidate is apoplectic at the notion that the Senate should read bills before passing them. No, seriously. He's literally angry that such a burden should be placed upon the government.

The best part is when he advocates "working" on the bill instead of "reading" it.



Lastly, Joe Biden's message to Republican Senators who want to have the START Treaty read before it's ratified....

"Get out of the Way." No, seriously.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

h/t to Gateway Pundit, Weasel Zippers, and the Blaze respectively.

REPORT: JOHN KERRY SHOUTS 'ALLAH HU AKBAR' TWICE

And you thought John Kerry couldn't get any lower than what he did in 1971, comparing American troops to 'Jengis Kahn.' Well, apparently he can. While attending a groundbreaking ceremony in his home state, an Imam concluded the proceedings by exhorting everyone to chant, 'Allah hu Akbar' and Senator Kerry allegedly obliged - twice.

Via New English Review:

He delivered a Muslim prayer, did this Abdullah Farooq who once told Muslims they should, if they felt it necessary, "reach for their guns," and he asked the whole audience to join him in proclaiming "Allahu Akbar" -- a Muslim statement of elation -- of elative and relative triumph over the Infidels, for Allah is the Greatest, and Allah is also Greater for it says not that "God is Great" but that "God, the Muslim God, Allah," is greater than the God of the Christians or the Jahweh of the Jews.

And when the audience did as it was told, he berated them for not being enthusiastic and loud enough, and insisted that again they all say with him, this time more loudly, and with feeling: : Allahu Akbar.

And so they dutifully, or sheepishly, did.

And among those who lustily shouted "Allahu Akbar" was the man sitting next to Abdullah Farooq: Senator John Kerry.

Of course, though he didn't attend, earlier this year, Kerry was invited to speak at a CAIR event alongside Tariq Ramadan, the grandson of the Muslim Brotherhood founder, Hassan al-Bana.

h/t to Weasel Zippers

VIDEO: JOHN KERRY EVADES REPORTERS ON YACHT CONTROVERSY

If Massachusetts Senator John Kerry (D) was planning to avoid paying nearly $500,000 in sales tax on the purchase of his yacht by leaving it moored in Rhode Island, where he would be able to avoid the tax, it looks like he will have a more difficult time doing so now that it's becoming a public relations disaster for him. Of course, politicians have an answer for everything. The question is how many people will believe his claim that he's not trying to get out of paying taxes; he's concerned about long term care for the yacht, which apparently can be better administered in Rhode Island.

Via Fox Boston:

If the "Isabel" were docked at the couple's summer vacation home on Nantucket, they would be liable for $437,500 in one-time sales tax. They'd also have to pay $70,000 in annual excise taxes. Instead, Rhode Island has repealed those taxes.

A Kerry spokesman says the boat is being kept at Newport Shipyard not for tax reasons, but "for longterm maintenance, upkeep and charter purposes."

I guess, in fairness to Kerry, $437,500 can buy a lot of maintenance.

Fox Boston is now reporting that Kerry may still be liable for the tax because "Isabel" was docked in Massachusetts for a short time within six months of purchase.

Here is the video of Kerry being confronted by reporters about the controversy. The quote of the exchange is the last one:

"Can we get out of here please?"

JOHN KERRY INVITED TO GIVE KEYNOTE AT MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD EVENT

Former U.S. Presidential candidate, current U.S. Senator, and Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, John Kerry has been invited to give the concluding keynote speech at a Muslim Brotherhood event on April 28th, 2010. While Kerry's attendance has not been confirmed, it would seem that he should have distanced himself from this event the second he was invited. Then again, we are talking about John Kerry.

I covered this story on my February 28th radio show as well. Not only is Kerry invited to give the concluding keynote but the grandson of the Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan al-Banna will be giving the luncheon keynote. Courtesy of the Global Muslim Brotherhood Daily Report (GMBDR):

The Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID) has announced its 11th Annual Conference to be held in April and which is scheduled to feature prominent representatives of the U.S. government along with global Muslim Brotherhood figures including Tariq Ramadan, recently cleared for entry into the U.S. by the U.S. State Department. According to the CSID announcement the conference, titled “U.S. Relations with the Muslim World: One Year After Cairo”, will feature Ramadan as luncheon keynote speaker and, listed only as “invited”, Senator John Kerry as giving the concluding keynote. Also scheduled to speak at the conference are Salah Ali Abdulrahman, head of the Muslim Brotherhood of Bahrain, and Ruhail Gharaibeh the deputy leader of the political wing of the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood.

al-Banna's grandson, Tariq Ramadan is now free to enter the United States thanks to the stroke of Hillary Clinton's pen.

Here is a link to the page on the CSID website that lists Kerry as the invited concluding keynote speaker. Notice the name of the group is CSID but it is basically a who's who of the Muslim Brotherhood. Perhaps that is because the latter has built quite a negative reputation. If you'd like to read more about Ramadan's grandfather, click here. Just in case, I've captured the image of the part on the CSID event schedule that includes the Kerry invite as well as the date, time, and address of the event.

How about some history of the Muslim Brotherhood? It was formed in 1928 by al-Banna, who had a close personal friend named Amin Al-Husseini, who developed an extremely close alliance with Adolf Hitler in WWII. Hitler even put Husseini in charge of the Bosnian Muslim troops. The two met on more than one occasion.

In fact, the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Jews can be attributed to Al-Husseini. Via Tell the Children the Truth:

Muslim Brotherhood established in Egypt by Hassan El Banna [viii] in 1928. Amin Al-Husseini becomes a central member and ideological inspiration [ix] for the Muslim Brotherhood. Mother organization for today’s Egyptian Islamic Jihad and Hamas [x] . The Muslim Brotherhood preaches Wahhabi Islam [xi] , which justifies violent means to rid the ‘Muslim world’ of its non-Islamic element. It envisions a Pan-Islamic Empire, where strict Islamic law rules over all.

For more pictures as well as minutes from a meeting between Hitler and al-Husseini, click here. Some may object, calling this all guilt by association but I vehemently disagree. If Ramadan publicly denounced the Muslim Brotherhood and the actions of its founders and early leaders, like his grandfather and his grandfather's friend al-Husseini, that point may be valid. If the grandson of the KKK had an event today and members of the KKK were in attendance, would it matter what they said in their group's defense?

Should John Kerry appear at this event, he may just trump Al Gore as the biggest hypocrite of the modern world. Based on what you now know about the Muslim Brotherhood, take a look at Kerry's 1971 Senate testimony again.

JIM DEMINT REPORTS BACK FROM HONDURAS

A prime example of why John Kerry didn't want Republican Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) to travel to Honduras on a fact finding mission. If you remember, Kerry tried to blackmail DeMint by preventing the trip because DeMint was holding up ambassadorial appointments as a member of the Foreign Relations Committee.

It seems Mr. DeMint has written a column for the WALL STREET JOURNAL that details what he found. As suspected, Micheletti's government was further vindicated by DeMint's trip, which seems to explain Kerry's alleged blackmail attempt.

After visiting Tegucigalpa last week and meeting with a cross section of leaders from Honduras's government, business community, and civil society, I can report there is no chaos there. There is, however, chaos to spare in the Obama administration's policy toward our poor and loyal allies in Honduras.

That policy was set in a snap decision the day Mr. Zelaya was removed from office, without a full assessment of either the facts or reliable legal analysis of the constitutional provisions at issue. Three months later, it remains in force, despite mounting evidence of its moral and legal incoherence.

Calling the Obama adminstration's policy toward Honduras a "snap decision" without the "facts" is actually giving him the benefit of the doubt and a bit kind. Assuming that's all it was would likely mean another beer summit, this time with different guests. Obama would speak to the White House press corps. and tell them that he should have "calibrated" his "words differently". But unlike the fracas Obama caused domestically with his "police acted stupidly" comment, there has been no real political damage for his insistance on reinstating a would-be dictator and friend of Hugo Chavez, Daniel Ortega, and the Castro brothers.

I found two more very revealing things in DeMint's column. One is that the only person in Tegucigalpa that he met who insisted that Zelaya was ousted via coup was the U.S. Ambassador:

In a day packed with meetings, we met only one person in Honduras who opposed Mr. Zelaya's ouster, who wishes his return, and who mystifyingly rejects the legitimacy of the November elections: U.S. Ambassador Hugo Llorens.

When I asked Ambassador Llorens why the U.S. government insists on labeling what appears to the entire country to be the constitutional removal of Mr. Zelaya a "coup," he urged me to read the legal opinion drafted by the State Department's top lawyer, Harold Koh. As it happens, I have asked to see Mr. Koh's report before and since my trip, but all requests to publicly disclose it have been denied.

Again, take note of the socialist tendency to withold the truth because the positions taken by socialists are so untenable, sunlight would lead to certain defeat in the debate arena.

As further illustration of my point: John Kerry (D) tries to prevent DeMint from going on a fact-finding mission to Honduras and fails. While in Honduras, DeMint asks the U.S. Ambassador why the Obama Administration insists on siding with a would-be dictator. Said Ambassador doesn't answer DeMint's question but instead directs him to a legal opinion written by another Obama appointee, Harold Koh. When DeMint attempts to obtain that legal opinion, he can't get it.

Obama is acting stupidly on Honduras.

Be sure to read DeMint's ENTIRE COLUMN.

SHOWDOWN: JIM DEMINT V. JOHN KERRY

In light of everything that's happened since Honduran president Manuel Zelaya was removed from office on June 28th, it's really not surprising that John Kerry (D-MA) is trying to prevent Jim DeMint (R-SC) from traveling to Honduras.

The WASHINGTON POST reports that:

A simmering feud over U.S. policy toward Latin America burst into the open Thursday when Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) tried to prevent a fact-finding trip to Honduras by a Republican senator who is blocking two important diplomatic appointments.

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) denounced Kerry's move on the Senate floor and sought the intervention of the minority leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). The Republican leader appealed to the Defense Department to provide an aircraft for DeMint's trip and the Pentagon agreed to do so, according to the South Carolina senator's office.

"These bullying tactics by the Obama administration and Senator Kerry must stop, and we must be allowed to get to the truth in Honduras," DeMint said in a statement. His spokesman, Wesley Denton, called Kerry's action "unprecedented."

The Obama administration's stance that Zelaya was illegally removed is becoming an increasingly embarassing one.

I find it interesting that the oh, so idealistic and holier-than-thou liberal John Kerry, who invoked the name Genghis Kahn upon his return from Vietnam is on the side of a policy that is calling for the reinstatement of a would-be tyrannical dictator. A man who appears to be an anti-semite in addition to being best buds with Hugo Chavez, who is more than a little cozy with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.