John Kerry Finds A Very Special Way to Tell The French They’ve Got a Friend
.@JohnKerry brings James Taylor to Paris news conference to play "You've Got a Friend" – message to French after U.S no-shows last week
— Andrea Mitchell (@mitchellreports) January 16, 2015
Winter, spring, summer, or fall
All you have to do is call
And I’ll [music stops] golf some
Watch some football on the tube
And send someone else eventually [resume music]
And he’ll be there, yeah, yeah,
you’ve got a friend.
I guess Randy Newman was unavailable to sing the “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” song from Toy Story. (How did I think that was Monsters Inc.? Thanks, Chuck Bartowski!) Those lyrics include this passage:
Some other folks might be
A little bit smarter than I am
Bigger and stronger too, maybe
But none of them will ever love you
The way I do it’s me and you
Why does that scream “Obama” to me?
Heh.
Patterico (9c670f) — 1/16/2015 @ 7:27 amThe Randy Newman song is “You’ve Got a Friend in Me”, and it’s from Toy Story.
Chuck Bartowski (11fb31) — 1/16/2015 @ 7:28 amFriends show up when the going gets tough.
AZ Bob (34bb80) — 1/16/2015 @ 7:29 amcould he be more gay?
i mean honestly could he
happyfeet (a037ad) — 1/16/2015 @ 7:30 amChuck, thanks, fixed it. The lyrics, by the way, would be great for Obama:
Patterico (9c670f) — 1/16/2015 @ 7:32 amIt’s like a bad parody.
Simon Jester (c8876d) — 1/16/2015 @ 7:35 amDon’t be harsh. Because of
elissa (a1d5f3) — 1/16/2015 @ 7:35 amValeriethe president our poor Lurch has few foreign policy options available to him. And frankly, I’ve almost always found musics to be more inspirational and comforting than hashtags.Kerry shoulda brought Jerry… Lewis.
Colonel Haiku (b5e7fd) — 1/16/2015 @ 7:37 amhappyfeet, I love ya! That was going o be my comment when I read the Post. All this idiot needs is a tutu and a degree in interior design.
Hoagie (4dfb34) — 1/16/2015 @ 7:38 amOh my God. The Secretary of State of the world’s only superpower really did that. This is lamer than the reset button. Worse than parody.
carlitos (c24ed5) — 1/16/2015 @ 7:40 amAt least Kerry could have done a simultaneous translation, or maybe mimed the song á la Marcel Marceu, instead of standing on stage like a doofus while the poor girl had to go over and hold the flaccid mike stand for Mr. Taylor…
hiver printemps été ou à l’automne, tout ce que vous avez à faire est d’appeler
carlitos (c24ed5) — 1/16/2015 @ 7:44 amet je serai là …. vous avez un ami.
First we had morons running around with “I am Charlie” buttons. Well, I’m not Charlie he was a hedonistic anti religion idiot. That said he was still entitled to his opinion without being murdered. Now we have Jean Françoise Kerry doing songs. Our enemies must think we’re nuts and our friends must be considering changing sides.
Hoagie (4dfb34) — 1/16/2015 @ 7:45 amI think we must not be too quick to overlook Mr. Taylor’s complicity in this. He could have just said an early “non” to the idea.
elissa (a1d5f3) — 1/16/2015 @ 7:50 amObama and friends keep digging deeper and deeper su basements. the French are on the second floor but at this point they seem very high up.
ParisParamus (df82bb) — 1/16/2015 @ 7:51 amObama and friends keep digging deeper and deeper moral sub-basements. the French are on the second floor but at this point they seem very high up.
ParisParamus (df82bb) — 1/16/2015 @ 7:51 am
ParisParamus (df82bb) — 1/16/2015 @ 7:52 amSeems fitting for Kerry.
Dejectedhead (ec3741) — 1/16/2015 @ 7:52 amThe chorus fits the message the Administration wants to send but the third refrain doesn’t, and I’m surprised Taylor sang it as originally written:
However, if this is all it takes to smooth out a diplomatic relationship, maybe the Obama Administration should name James Taylor its the Secretary of State instead of John Kerry.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 1/16/2015 @ 7:53 amdid James Taylor just become a human “reset” button ?
KaiserDerden (faa0ee) — 1/16/2015 @ 7:53 ambackgrounder on James Taylor
happyfeet (a037ad) — 1/16/2015 @ 7:59 amIt could have been worse. Kerry could have had Taylor sing “Shower the People”
Chuck Bartowski (11fb31) — 1/16/2015 @ 8:00 amIt just amazes me that there is practically nothing this administration does which doesn’t make America look like a band of idiots. First the Idiot-In-Chief fails to even go to the rally in France then they do this nonsense. oy vay.
Hoagie (4dfb34) — 1/16/2015 @ 8:01 amone. thousand. words.
happyfeet (a037ad) — 1/16/2015 @ 8:04 amKerry was just activating The Folk Song Army
Ready! Aim! Sing!
Chuck Bartowski (11fb31) — 1/16/2015 @ 8:08 amIt isn’t like a bad parody; it is a bad parody of a foreign policy. Even liberals are sick of the show.
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2015/01/gelb-makes-obama-a-gelding.php
Some liberals got sick on tired of Obama’s diplomatic team’s foreign policy blunders back in the first term. Martin Peretz wrote in The New Republic of how Obama had him worried in 2010:
http://www.newrepublic.com/blog/the-spine/the-multitudinous-disasters-the-obama-administration-here-syria-and-iran
I should note that Obama’s untutored instincts are untutorable. He’s incapable of learning. Liberals have up to now made excuses for Prom Queen, tending to blame his advisers for the administration’s failure. Peretz was one of the earlier liberals to correctly diagnose the real problem. It’s the guy at the top, not those who work for them. Although admittedly they’re idiots, too. But the fact Obama selected those idiots also shows that he lacks the basic instincts and judgement to put a foreign policy team together in addition to be unable to competently run a foreign policy. The root of the problem in all cases is that Obama has lousy instincts and disastrous judgement. And he won’t listen to anyone who has those attributes. That’s why Kerry, who demonstrated incredible boneheadedness as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is Obama’s SecState. They’re both boneheads who are consistently wrong on policy because they both misunderstand the world the same way and can never learn their lesson. So boneheads seeing eye to eye explains Obama’s hots for John Kerry.
As an aside, I have to wonder what James Taylor could possibly have been thinking to participate in this demeaning farce. Does he not have any natural defenses against being turned into an international joke?
Steve57 (f1883e) — 1/16/2015 @ 8:16 amCharlie Hebdo is the name of a magazine. “He” is not a person, hedonistsic anti religion idiot or otherwise. The more you knowTM
carlitos (c24ed5) — 1/16/2015 @ 8:21 amKerry shoulda brought Jerry… Lewis.
Icy (46ce85) — 1/16/2015 @ 8:23 amColonel Haiku (b5e7fd) — 1/16/2015 @ 7:37 am
— “You’ll never (except for last Sunday) walk alooooone!”
He was probably thinking, “This is cheesy, but it’s the first paying gig I’ve had since Linda Rondstadt was still attractive.”
Chuck Bartowski (11fb31) — 1/16/2015 @ 8:23 amMr. Patterico’s code does not seem to do superscript. Hmm.
The more you knowTM
The more you know TM
carlitos (c24ed5) — 1/16/2015 @ 8:23 amHey, you guys. James Taylor has seen fire and he has seen rain. He has seen sunny days that he thought would never end. Can any of you beat that?
nk (dbc370) — 1/16/2015 @ 8:24 am“Ohhhhhh, Charlie Hebdo;
Icy (46ce85) — 1/16/2015 @ 8:29 amI wasn’t at the march, but I wanted to go”
Yeah. I’m a young cowboy who lives on the range; my horse and my cattle are my only companions.
Chuck Bartowski (11fb31) — 1/16/2015 @ 8:31 amNext time he can bring Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder, and Elton John to sing “That’s What Friends Are For,” but they can change hte lyrics to “That’s Why Friends Are Four (Days Late).”
I’m loafing
JVW (60ca93) — 1/16/2015 @ 8:31 amI’m golfing
Knowing that you’re marching in Paree
For Show
That’s Why Friends Are Four (Days Late)
All I know is that I really want to see Jimmy Carter involved soon. He’s the foremost expert on Muslim/Middle Eastern relations. HE knows how to blame Israel.
Dejectedhead (ec3741) — 1/16/2015 @ 8:31 amIt could take more than this, DRJ. It could take the power of the hashtag to heal this wound.
Jen Psaki is busy thinking up clever new ones as we speak.
So far I believe the consensus among Obama administration insiders is that the two leading contenders are #PleasePrettyPleaseKillMeLast and #JeSuisDhimmi.
Steve57 (f1883e) — 1/16/2015 @ 8:33 amnk®
nk (dbc370) — 1/16/2015 @ 8:34 amnk ™
nk (dbc370) — 1/16/2015 @ 8:35 am29, 32, and 34. Well done, all.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 1/16/2015 @ 8:38 amIf we have to include artists in the cabinet, I’d prefer that Obama went full on Chocolate City:
Reverend Ike, Secretary of the Treasure
Richard Pryor, Minister of Education
Stevie Wonder, Secretary of Fine Arts
and Miss Aretha Frankin, the First Lady!
gainin’ on ya!
carlitos (c24ed5) — 1/16/2015 @ 8:39 amMaybe we should send Eric Clapton over to cover George Harrison’s “Tax Man”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8OgkjcW0g4
Harrison and Clapton Live in Japan
steveg (794291) — 1/16/2015 @ 8:39 amMad Magazine had, in their tribute to the 20 biggest dumbest people,
events and things of 2014 what looked like a poster.
It had a picture of Barack Obama in abrown uniform… with the motto:
It had things like ISIS, and ebola in it.
This is all before this missed American presence at the rally.
I didn’t buy the issue.
At $5.99, it wasn’t cheap. And there were not too many pages.
It seems less politically biased than it had been for a while.
Sammy Finkelman (be6791) — 1/16/2015 @ 8:40 amSecretary of State John Kerry was in Germany, by the way, the day before the rally on Sunday, to meet with the ailing Shiek of Oman in a German hospital.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/10/us-usa-kerry-travel-idUSKBN0KJ0LF20150110
He was probably making final arrangements for Oman to take 4
Yemenites from Guantanamo Bay, although the White House didn’t say that, but mentioned other things.
But there was probably no other reason to make a special high level visit.
That some detainees were going to Omana (and one to Estonia) became known a few days later:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/01/15/us-announces-release-5-gitmo-detainees/
Later, in making excuses, they neglected to note that Kerry was in Germany the day before)
The Obama Administration is hoping to get the number of prisoners low enough so it can make a case that keeping the prison open is uneconomic. And therefore they should be transferred
somewhere else.
But, you know, they kept Spandau prison open for years with just one prisoner: Rudolph Hess. Of course the problem there was, the Russians wouldn’t agree to any changes. Here, the Republicans won’t agree.
Sammy Finkelman (be6791) — 1/16/2015 @ 8:43 amOf course, the awesome power of Jen Psaki’s hashtag diplomacy is legendary and is not to be used lightly.
http://www.redstate.com/uploads/2014/06/psaki1.jpg
So I think an intermediate step between James Taylor singing “You’ve Got a Friend” and dialing it all the way up to eleventy with Jen Psaki’s hashtags would be to get all the surviving members of the ’80s supergroup USA For Africa back together to sing We Are The World.
Steve57 (f1883e) — 1/16/2015 @ 8:44 amcarlitos,
That’s sobering. Funny, but sobering, because there are moments I feel like Obama might actually do that.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 1/16/2015 @ 8:44 amHow about deploying War to sing “Why Can’t We Be Friends?”
That would send a message.
Steve57 (f1883e) — 1/16/2015 @ 8:47 am“The United States coordinated with the Government of Oman to ensure these transfers took place consistent with appropriate security and humane treatment measures.”
Sammy Finkelman (be6791) — 1/16/2015 @ 8:51 am25
kishnevi (294553) — 1/16/2015 @ 8:56 amChange the pronouns to read “the staff of Charlie Hebdo” and the statement is completely accurate. In fact, withou the gramnar nitpicking, Hoagie’s statement is completely accurate.
42 Did they not do that last year for Ebola?
kishnevi (a5d1b9) — 1/16/2015 @ 8:57 amwell as to the Cartoons, the Yllan Posten published them, they were bombed, so did a Norwegian paper
narciso (ee1f88) — 1/16/2015 @ 8:59 amSammy,
Good catch. That seems rather cruel for John Kerry to pester the Sheik of Oman about GITMO prisoners when he was in the hospital. I guess the Obama Administration is willing to engage in questionable tactics when its agenda is at stake.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 1/16/2015 @ 8:59 am“Ohhhhh, Charlie Hebdo;
Icy (46ce85) — 1/16/2015 @ 9:01 amHe really should’ve been there, but our president blows”
kishnevi,
With Ebola and #BringBackOurGirls for the young Nigerian girls kidnapped by Boko Haram. I doubt hashtag diplomacy comforted any of these victims.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 1/16/2015 @ 9:02 amspeaking of failmerica’s friends today we learn our perverted saudi royal trash friends, they are indeed merciful
it’s like a revolution of love has broken out all over
happyfeet (a037ad) — 1/16/2015 @ 9:02 amOn the main topic…I think Obama sees Europe as not being as not being as powerful and influential as Europe thinks it is. HI tend to think so myself, although it does not excuse what are (if what I think he thinks is correct) a series of intended insults.
Of course, he is not the only boneheaded politician at work. It turns out three of the men killed at HyperCacher were Tunisians. Apparently the government in Tunis is sikent, and the only party to extend condolences was…the Islamist Party…
kishnevi (a5d1b9) — 1/16/2015 @ 9:05 amhttp://972mag.com/yoav-hattab-son-of-chief-rabbi-of-tunis-died-a-hero-and-tunisian-patriot/101249/
DRJ, I was referring to Band Aid, not ObamaKerry. As for my current opinion of the Daring Duo, see my last comment (53).
kishnevi (3719b7) — 1/16/2015 @ 9:08 amwell I would be cautious with their reporting:
http://972mag.com/c/analysis/
narciso (ee1f88) — 1/16/2015 @ 9:09 amYeah, lashes from a whip are kind of serious. Which is why Luke 12:47-48 seems of out of character for a certain hippie wandering preacher.
So, if the dude gets a one-week reprieve, and this establishes a pattern, his 1000 lashes would take place over 40 weeks? What a shitty year – I’m in Saudi Arabia, convalescing for 13 days at a time until they whip me. What a backwards-assed situation.
carlitos (c24ed5) — 1/16/2015 @ 9:12 amHere’s an updated version of the old Phil Ochs classic featuring John Kerry (modified from Jello Biafta’s version)
I cried when the White Hispanic shot Trayvon Martin
Tears ran down my spine
And I cried when they shot bin Ladin
As if I’d lost a brother of mine
But Theo Van Gogh had it coming
He got what he asked for this time
So love me, love me, love me,
I’m a liberal
I go to pro-choice rallies
Recycle my cans and jars
I’ll honk for Mike Brown in Ferguson
Hope that racist cop ends up behind bars
But don’t talk about Islamic terrorism
That’s going a little bit to far
So love me, love me, love me,
I’m a liberal
I cheered when Obama was chosen
My faith in racist politics reborn
I’ll do anything to save teacher’s unions
If my taxes don’t go up too much more
And I love Blacks and Gays and Latinos
As long as they don’t move next door
So love me, love me, love me,
I’m a liberal
Rush Limbaugh and the N.Y.P.D.
Should all hang their heads in shame
I can’t understand why they just don’t turn their heads and look the other way
Come the Revolution, ol’ Al Sharpton will set them straight
Now, take note, if you don’t support the Occupy movement, If you don’t think “Black Lives Matter”
The IRS will write down your name
So love me, love me, love me,
I’m a liberal
Yeah, I read the New York Times, Rolling Stone, and Mother Jones too
I watch MSNBC and I always vote twice for every Democrat, it’s what good liberals do
As long as they’re pushing for higher taxes and an open-borders view
And when it comes to terrorist Arabs
I’ll gladly give them money, guns, and political cover
As long as I don’t get hit while they’re busy killing you.
So love me, love me, love me,
I’m a liberal
Once I was a young sailor in Vietnam
collected unearned Purple Hearts to come home
I slandered my brothers in arms, lied to Congress and chased after rich women
Did what I did to get this old sea-dog a bone
Even said I threw my medals over the White House gate
Got caught tellin’ whoppers about Christmas in Cambodia
Had to hide my service record while they made fun of my Magic Hat
But that dust-up’s all buried now well under my feet
These days I dance to the beat of a very rich African queen (her Republican husband died suddenly)
I’m just too busy sailing my yacht to smooth French feathers
I’m a member of the multicultural Washington political and social elite.
So love me, love me, love me,
ropelight (f87b08) — 1/16/2015 @ 9:12 amI’m a liberal
Our Native American forebears knew what was up. Forget “hashtag” diplomacy, and go with hash pipe diplomacy.
carlitos (c24ed5) — 1/16/2015 @ 9:13 amRegarding Mr. Taylor, did anyone see “Two-Lane Blacktop?” We watched it before cruising Rt. 66 a few years back. What a time capsule of the early 70’s.
carlitos (c24ed5) — 1/16/2015 @ 9:19 amNarciso, a similar report appeared in YNET news
kishnevi (294553) — 1/16/2015 @ 9:20 amhttp://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4614568,00.html
thanks this might be a partial explanation,
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4614387,00.html
narciso (ee1f88) — 1/16/2015 @ 9:27 amIt’s not like this is unprecedented. NASA also brought in James Tayor to sing when Homer Simpson (the astronaut)was stranded in space. With similar results.
Georganne (e37667) — 1/16/2015 @ 9:45 amHow about deploying War to sing “Why Can’t We Be Friends?”
The name of the band triggers bad memories of Christmas, Cambodia, and Nixon for our Secretary of State. That just won’t do. But maybe he can get Dan Fogelberg or someone to cover the song.
JVW (60ca93) — 1/16/2015 @ 9:50 amI doubt Mr. Fogelberg can be contracted to cover anything, since he died in 2008.
Chuck Bartowski (11fb31) — 1/16/2015 @ 9:55 ampoor man
happyfeet (6f3253) — 1/16/2015 @ 10:08 amThey are not even bothering to phone it in, in the Obama administration. Lamest duck in history.
SPQR (4764ea) — 1/16/2015 @ 10:09 amYou know, I don’t think the Obama Administration quite understands what was the problem with Obama not being there.
Today, Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron are meeting and holding a press conference.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/theoval/2015/01/16/obama-david-cameron-white-house-selma/21851217/
He will also see the (inaccurate with respect to LBJ *) movie “Selma” in a special screening together with the cast and crew members.
* but since when did Obama really care about the truth?
Sammy Finkelman (be6791) — 1/16/2015 @ 10:10 amI’ve been busy this A.M. and haven’t had much time to look around the interwebs. But from what little I’ve been able to sneak in it does not appear that the usual suspects on the left and/or the major media sites are exactly falling over themselves to report on Kerry’s diplomatic brilliance in this James Taylor matter. That says a lot about it right there. Have others here observed that, too?
elissa (a1d5f3) — 1/16/2015 @ 10:11 amlast I checked national soros radio hadn’t even touched it
happyfeet (6f3253) — 1/16/2015 @ 10:12 amGoing thru old family stuff that my mom had saved I found a letter dated Aug 20 ’68 from my SP/4 cousin in Vietnam who, after some family updates and description of the monsoons, wrote: “there really isn’t much I can say for this place we call Hell except I am proud to fight for my country (in a roundabout way) even though I have never been told the real reason for being here, all that’s important now is I am here, have a job to do and I will do it the best I can.”
Colonel Haiku (b5e7fd) — 1/16/2015 @ 10:14 amThis just in:
http://www.msnbc.com/shift/watch/obama-and-cameron-joint-conference-385241667776
http://thehill.com/video/in-the-news/229749-live-obama-cameron-hold-press-conference
Sammy Finkelman (be6791) — 1/16/2015 @ 10:15 am“I guess Randy Newman was unavailable to sing the “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” song from Toy Story.”
Patterico – Randy Newman singing “Short People” but substituting the word “French” for “Short” everywhere would have provided a lot more entertainment.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 1/16/2015 @ 10:15 am🙂
carlitos (c24ed5) — 1/16/2015 @ 10:16 amEverybody’s gotta get into the act?
http://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/229772-boehner-uses-taylor-swift-to-call-obama-plan-trouble
Sammy Finkelman (be6791) — 1/16/2015 @ 10:16 am#71… You made me spew coffee on my mom’s living room carpet, daley… you bastard you!
Colonel Haiku (b5e7fd) — 1/16/2015 @ 10:19 amYes, It’s grammar nitpicking to mention that the name of a magazine is not a person. Ill-informed forum commenters who are calling a person names, when that person doesn’t even exist, are “completely accurate,” except that there is no such person.
Good point. It’s not at all relevant that polks are protesting or supporting an institution vs. a human being.
If you can’t even get the basic facts straight, keep your idiotic thoughts to yourselves.
carlitos (c24ed5) — 1/16/2015 @ 10:36 amPolks = Folks
carlitos (c24ed5) — 1/16/2015 @ 10:36 am“Charlie” is not the editor, or owner or anyone who ever was at the magazine.
“Charlie” is Charlie Brown.
It was named after him because of the quality of the drawings (the only connection I can see) , and was a second generation name.
Sammy Finkelman (be6791) — 1/16/2015 @ 10:51 amIf they would have said “Peanuts” nobody in France would have known what they were talking about – and maybe they weren’t really familiar themselves with the name of the comic strip.
It previously had been called Hara-Kiri magazine, but was banned for mocking the death of former French President Charles de Gaulle. Wikipedia says that after an early reader’s letter accused them of being “dumb and nasty” (“bête et méchant”), the phrase became an official slogan for the magazine and made it into everyday language in France.
A new magazine was started (this was 1970), but they must not have cared about what name it had (or thought it might be banned too, so why waste a good name, or maybe they’d get back the old name) so they just called it Charlie (Brown) Weekly, probably after the style and drawing quality of the cartoons.
It went out of business in 1981 but was revived in 1992.
Sammy Finkelman (be6791) — 1/16/2015 @ 11:01 amCarlitos, Mr. Punch would disagree with you http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Our_New_First_Lord_at_Sea.png
and
http://punch.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/Victorian-Era-Cartoons/G0000czGdMEOaVXY/I00008HfotCyxV5s
for examples
[Looking through the Victorian Era cartoons will give a good perspective on exactly how racist(TM) modern America is.
kishnevi (870883) — 1/16/2015 @ 11:04 amJames Taylor is our French Connection. He has more credentials most of the current administration’s appointees.
bobathome (d4306f) — 1/16/2015 @ 11:24 amI have a feeling this didn’t go over too well with the French either.
And Cameron sure jumped on a plane fast, didn’t he? Must be all those campaign gurus they use in common.
Patricia (5fc097) — 1/16/2015 @ 11:31 amI doubt Mr. Fogelberg can be contracted to cover anything, since he died in 2008.
Nobody tells me anything any more.
JVW (60ca93) — 1/16/2015 @ 11:33 amUncle James!
kishnevi (870883) — 1/16/2015 @ 11:43 amI love you, you love me
Al-Ozarka (c7fbec) — 1/16/2015 @ 12:09 pmWe’re a global fa-mil-ee…
i agree with the post at Legal Insurrection:
http://legalinsurrection.com/2015/01/john-kerry-shouldve-taken-barry-mcguire-to-france-instead-of-james-taylor/
redc1c4 (4db2c8) — 1/16/2015 @ 12:17 pmI’m confused. I thought our foreign policy was “Don’t do stupid stuff”.
WTP (5ea774) — 1/16/2015 @ 12:21 pmyeah so far NPR is pretending this never happened
happyfeet (a037ad) — 1/16/2015 @ 12:24 pmI wonder if Icy announced that one?
papertiger (c2d6da) — 1/16/2015 @ 12:30 pmFor some reason I’m thinking of this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqpNQ9AJYgU
John Belushi conducts State Dept. duties…
steveg (794291) — 1/16/2015 @ 12:50 pmI think dragging along a drug addled has been pop singer Martha’s Vineyard buddy of Senator Aristoslacker to sing a ditty or two really demonstrates the depth of our commitment to our oldest ally. Clearly Obama has our Top. People. Working. On. This. Relationship.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 1/16/2015 @ 12:51 pmProbably the most ineffective SecState since Cordell Hull.
askeptic (efcf22) — 1/16/2015 @ 1:04 pmI’m with Rush on this one–today I’m embarrassed to be an American–what is our government thinking?
rochf (f3fbb0) — 1/16/2015 @ 1:13 pmRich Galen earlier this week with list of leaders who were there:
http://www.mullings.com/dr_01-12-15.htm
Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 1/16/2015 @ 1:16 pmReally can’t blame Psaki and Harf for this one. They prolly don’t even know who James Taylor is. I doubt the WH was in on it either. I think this songfest was likely the brain child of the Secretary of State himself. It would be very interesting to know if anyone there tried to talk him out of it.
elissa (a1d5f3) — 1/16/2015 @ 1:33 pmCarlitos, Two Lane Blacktop is a classic. I own a copy. Also, stars Dennis Wilson of The Beach Boys. Classic.
Gazzer (c44509) — 1/16/2015 @ 1:44 pmWTP
The set defined by what you mean by stupid and the set defined by what Kerry means by stupid are not coterminous sets. In fact, if Venn diagramed, the union of the two sets would be the empty set*
* of which the Empty Chair is a subset. So to speak.
kishnevi (3719b7) — 1/16/2015 @ 1:50 pmOT
kishnevi (3719b7) — 1/16/2015 @ 1:57 pmHolder actually does something good
(Via Reason)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/holder-ends-seized-asset-sharing-process-that-split-billions-with-local-state-police/2015/01/16/0e7ca058-99d4-11e4-bcfb-059ec7a93ddc_story.html
I seem to recall that someone on the Senate Judiciary Cmte said they were going to ask Loretta Lynch about Civil Forfeiture – could this have been a pre-emptive shot?
askeptic (efcf22) — 1/16/2015 @ 2:13 pmIn that case, GOP control of the Senate has produced its first positive result.
Although I call it a long overdue shot, overdue by six or seven years.
kishnevi (3719b7) — 1/16/2015 @ 2:17 pmThe Instapundit thinks it has more to do with trying to undermine revenue streams for local law enforcement, many of whom have been less than complimentary about the Obama Administration since Ferguson.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 1/16/2015 @ 2:31 pmIf politicians had to be truthful, Hollande would have answered Kerry’s James Taylor with these lyrics from the Eagles “Busy Being Fabulous”:
DRJ (a83b8b) — 1/16/2015 @ 2:43 pmAs long as he finally did it, I don’t much care why Holder did it, although certainly politics were involved. No question that most of these seizure and forfeiture practices were unethical, often evil, and plainly un- American. Good riddance.
elissa (a1d5f3) — 1/16/2015 @ 2:49 pmMy wife and I saw Taylor in the Boston Common in the early 80’s, he was o.k.
mg (31009b) — 1/16/2015 @ 2:52 pmBut Karla Bonoff was the opening act, and gave a better performance. Taylor must have missed his free methadone hand out at the Pine St. Inn.
If Obama himself made the trip to France, he might have been accompanied by Jay Z, who could have performed “99 Problems (But Islam Ain’t One of Them).”
Whitey Nisson (f853b2) — 1/16/2015 @ 2:57 pmI loved this comment, I am paraphrasing – if this doesn’t work, we can send John Cusack with a boombox.
JD (86a5eb) — 1/16/2015 @ 3:26 pmthat presupposes they were thinking at all
redc1c4 (4db2c8) — 1/16/2015 @ 3:42 pmI think you’re right, redc1c4. Obama apparently works from 10-4, with a generous lunch, and spends his “working” time watching ESPN, playing sports, and talking to or welcoming sports stars and celebrities. His staff takes their cue from him, so their time is spent creating hashtags and planning Big Block of Cheese events with the West Wing characters.
We joke that we’re better off if Obama does nothing and I think that’s true about domestic matters, but Obama and the White House are fiddling while the world burns. That’s not good.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 1/16/2015 @ 4:06 pmWell, I’ve read that Taylor was already in France on a tour,
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 1/16/2015 @ 4:14 pmso it might have been an impromptu, “hey, let’s ask JT to come over and help out”.
I think that is a little better than flying him in from LA just for the appearance.
But that isn’t saying much.
elissa (a1d5f3) — 1/16/2015 @ 2:49 pm
Of course, the proof will be in the pudding – the exceptions make the rule.
askeptic (efcf22) — 1/16/2015 @ 4:15 pmThis has to be a giant hoax by The Onion.
JD (86a5eb) — 1/16/2015 @ 4:27 pm“Don’t do stupid stuff” is the Obama administration’s principle.
Only an administration that thinks sending James Taylor as a late make-up gift to France or hashtag diplomacy is a good idea would have to be reminded not to do stupid stuff.
It’s like if you walked into someone’s house and they had post-it notes throughout the house and garage giving advice like “Don’t touch hot stove burners” and “Don’t use belt sander on penis” you’d recognize it as a clear warning sign of what that person has to constantly remind himself not to do. Normal people don’t have to remind themselves not to do certain things. “Don’t do stupid stuff” falls into the same category.
Steve57 (f1883e) — 1/16/2015 @ 4:28 pmI read it as Obama surrendering in the war on drugs. Now he just needs to surrender in the war on poverty.
papertiger (c2d6da) — 1/16/2015 @ 4:32 pmDRJ – Don’t forget, Obama is also studying his potential NCAA basketball brackets right now. You just can’t spend enough time trying to get that right.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 1/16/2015 @ 4:34 pmI would have preferred Randy Newman singing “Political Science”
champ (56cd04) — 1/16/2015 @ 4:47 pmOn reflection, it could have been worse.
He could have asked Cat Stevens* to perform.
Or whatever Arabic name he uses now.
kishnevi (a5d1b9) — 1/16/2015 @ 5:13 pmGateway Pundit has vid of TFG with PM Cameron at the WH today. He is chewing gum, for heaven’s sake. Let the record show that he is, of necessity, sitting down.
Gazzer (c44509) — 1/16/2015 @ 5:14 pmkish, I think it’s Yusuf Islam.
Gazzer (c44509) — 1/16/2015 @ 5:15 pmThanks. Although to be honest it will quickly return to the File of Forgettables.
kishnevi (a5d1b9) — 1/16/2015 @ 5:35 pmFeel good story of the day, involving a much better breed of Cat…
kishnevi (378575) — 1/16/2015 @ 5:45 pmhttp://www.examiner.com/article/hero-cat-saves-baby-tabby-keeps-discarded-russian-tot-warm-so-he-doesn-t-freeze
In my mind I’m going to Paris France
Can’t you see the irony
can’t you just feel the disinterest?
Ain’t it just like teh Barcky Won to lead ’em from behind?
Yes, I’m going to Paris France in my mind.
.
Colonel Haiku (b5e7fd) — 1/16/2015 @ 6:30 pmI doubt Mr. Fogelberg can be contracted to cover anything, since he died in 2008.
I wonder if Icy announced that one?
papertiger (c2d6da) — 1/16/2015 @ 12:30 pm
— Like a Phoenix, Dan has risen from the grave!
Icy (f38413) — 1/16/2015 @ 7:34 pmcould he be more gay?
i mean honestly could he
happyfeet (a037ad)
In your world, happyfeet, that presumably is a compliment.
Mark (c160ec) — 1/16/2015 @ 7:58 pmThis has to be a giant hoax by The Onion.
Similar to the photo (which was soon photoshopped and then became sort of a hoax or parody) of Michelle holding up a sign with “# Bring Back our Girls.”
Mark (c160ec) — 1/16/2015 @ 8:03 pmHere’s an appropriate track from the Phoenix, “The Last to Know“.
Works for Charlie.
papertiger (c2d6da) — 1/16/2015 @ 8:14 pmWorks for Dan.
Works for JVW.
Hey! That’s like his least bad song! Thanks for sharing.
I’m picking on Fogelberg, perhaps unfairly. In his defense, I knew some people who were students at the University of Colorado around the time that Fogelberg was living in the area. Apparently he would occasionally just show up in the CU quad on a sunny afternoon and sit there and play his guitar and sing for the students. That’s a cool move, even if I don’t care for his music. Rest in peace.
JVW (60ca93) — 1/16/2015 @ 10:20 pmI’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain.
I’ve seen sunny days that I thought would never end.
I’ve seen lonely times when I could not find a friend, but I never thought James Taylor would someday be part of a complete embarrassment to an entire nation.
The entire nation of France is collectively saying to world: “Vous rappelez-vous l’histoire, vous perdants.”
Ag80 (eb6ffa) — 1/16/2015 @ 11:06 pmAw common, carlitos! Since this crap broke I’ve been jerkin’ around about “Charlie Hebdo”. Don’t you remember when I sarcastically asked “what kind of name is Hebdo anyway?”. You know carlitos, I am 64 and have not spent those years with my head up my butt. I was and will continue to mock this Charlie guy at every opportunity. BTW, I had three years of French in high school so I am aware “hebdos” means weekly. Grow a sense of humor already.
Hoagie (4dfb34) — 1/17/2015 @ 6:04 amLike Tom Lehrer said, of the Nobel Peace Prize:
http://www.steynonline.com/6757/shlock-and-awe
narciso (ee1f88) — 1/17/2015 @ 6:20 amThe Administration’s actions speak louder than James Taylor’s words. Releasing Islamic terrorists so they can butcher more people, French and American, is exactly the message sent by Obama and delivered by Kerry. However, the message wasn’t only for the French, it was intended for all jihadi terrorists worldwide, they have a steadfast friend in Obama. He’s with them through thick and thin.
With duplicitous friends like Obama and Kerry, the French certainly don’t need any more enemy jihadis running loose. But, that’s what they got, that and the back of Obama’s hand.
ropelight (1be5c2) — 1/17/2015 @ 7:00 amSo before you were alluding to …. Ok. I’m slow.
In my defence never never never ever listened to something by Dan Fogelberg, except possibly in an easy listening compilation being hawked on Tom LaBrie’s “Night Comfort Theater”.
Even then he would have been in the scroll behind Carley Simon, John Denver, English Dan and John Ford Cooley, Seals and Croft, and about 10 others I never listened to.
Not to imply that I listen to these guys. Just names I remember.
RIP Tom LaBrie .
papertiger (c2d6da) — 1/17/2015 @ 7:46 amBest part was listening to the penal on Special Report laughing in the background while the tape played. Didn’t know their mikes were on. 🙂
Patricia (5fc097) — 1/17/2015 @ 8:57 amOnce upon a time they sent us a statue to commemorate their eternal support for US and our Secretary of Stater who summers in France knew just how to do the same in a way the world will never forget.
crazy (cde091) — 1/17/2015 @ 8:57 amsince Taylor worked so well
seeRpea (1d44c7) — 1/22/2015 @ 11:40 pm