Evidently, the media is unaware that Kerry is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee

[ProSense]

Kerry becomes de facto diplomat for Obama

By LAURIE KELLMAN, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON – He's not president, a Cabinet member or ambassador, but Sen. John Kerry has ascended to the unofficial role of President Barack Obama's global adviser on key issues that could reshape the nation's image around the world.

Mediating Afghanistan's presidential election vaulted Kerry from the already prominent chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee into the most exclusive circle around a new president who is juggling but not resolved a variety of domestic and foreign policy matters. Beyond policy, Kerry knows how Washington works.

Kerry and Obama also share a political pedigree. Both were mentored by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, who died in August.

<...>

And now, Obama is leaning on Kerry to help shape his foreign policy. The two men met at the White House Wednesday just hours after Kerry returned from Afghanistan, where he played a crucial role in persuading President Hamid Karzai to accept a run-off vote after a fraud-plagued election.

more

Kerry Stresses Coordination With Clinton on Afghan Mission

By Keith Koffler
Roll Call Staff
Oct. 21, 2009, 2:29 p.m.

Senate Foreign Relations Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.) on Wednesday met with President Barack Obama at the White House to report on his trip to Afghanistan, where the Senator scored a diplomatic coup for the administration by persuading President Hamid Karzai to stand for a runoff election.

Kerry, whose unusual role has garnered accolades — but also some questions about what he was doing subbing for the Obama team — was eager to dispel any notion that he was seeking to undermine Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

“I thought it was important not to take some steps in a freelancing way,” Kerry told reporters at the White House following his session with Obama. “I was in touch with the secretary of State constantly,” he said. “I appreciate the way she embraced my role,” he added, saying he and Clinton made a “great team.”

Kerry said his presence in Kabul, during which he spent hours in one-on-one meetings with Karzai and additional sessions with others, was serendipitous. “I planned a fact-finding mission,” he noted, and happened to be on hand when the election crisis emerged.

It was just “fortuitous that I was there,” Kerry said.

They're obviously cluesless about his role as SFRC chair, and the committee's history:

History of the Committee

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee was established in 1816 as one of the original ten standing committees of the Senate. Throughout its history, the committee has been instrumental in developing and influencing United States foreign policy, at different times supporting and opposing the policies of presidents and secretaries of state.

The committee has considered, debated, and reported important treaties and legislation, ranging from the purchase of Alaska in 1867 to the establishment of the United Nations in 1945. It also holds jurisdiction over all diplomatic nominations. Through these powers, the committee has helped shape foreign policy of broad significance, in matters of war and peace and international relations. Members of the committee have assisted in the negotiation of treaties, and at times have helped to defeat treaties they felt were not in the national interest.

[BrklynLiberal]

1. Not so much "unaware" as "not inclined toward the facts" if they conflict with

previously drawn conclusions.

[karynnj]

2. Well stated

[babylonsister]

25. Or willfully ignorant, as so many of them are. nt

[appal_jack]

3. k&r

The warm-stream-corporate media: pissing on our heads and declaring it's taht we're in the midst of a summer rain as ususal.

-app

[JuniperLea]

4. That brings a whole new meaning to...

Being willfully ignorant. Or pretending to be willfully ignorant. There are a lot of ignorant readers out there that would take these articles at face value.

[blm]

5. This same press corps IGNORED Kerry's Syria role, his convincing NK to free journalists,

his shaping of SFRC investigative team to track REAL global terror networks (think BCCI), and his influence on the Afghanistan debate.

Now, they want to wonder how he came to be in this latest position....they can believe it's mere coincidence all they want. Kerry is doing the right thing for Obama ADMINISTRATION by himbly taking a backseat to his cabinet members....again.

[beachmom]

9. David Gergen is full of it here:

David Gergen, director of the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard, said that traditionally the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee "stays at home and goes quietly on fact-finding missions.

"It's extremely rare that any president calls on an individual outside the executive branch to do as much representative work and diplomacy as Sen. Kerry," said Gergen, who served as an adviser to four presidents.

If Clinton leaves her position during the Obama administration, Gergen added, Kerry "would be on everyone's short list and probably right at the top of it as a potential successor."

[ProSense]

11. Gergen is full of shit.

Kerry, working closely with President Clinton's administration, led the effort to normalize relations with Vietnam. Kerry negotiated the Cambodia tribunals and was invovled in the Kyoto Protocol negotiations.

[karynnj]

21. Even with GWB, he was deeply involved in the negotiations at Bali

The media really gave it little coverage, but a Bush team member said that without Kerry there would have been no agreement. That would have been a major setback as that language is what they are building on.

[Jennicut]

12. Where does he get that from? Biden went to Afghanistan and met with Karzai as head of the SFRC

Ironically, Kerry was there. Biden did a lot of the head of the SFRC and Kerry was a terrific replacement for him. Kerry is not doing a power grab but is doing his job.

[karynnj]

26. Actually rereading the first article, I think it actually is pretty on target

I don't know if they edited it, but it does mention he is chair of SFRC.

The fact is that from unofficially representing Obama at Poznan and in India after Mumbai, the mentioned Syrian and Afghani diplomacy, his trip to Gaza and his appearance at an Economic Forum in Jordan (where he, not Jarrett, the Obama representative, was on a panel about the Middle East, and his trip to Sudan, where he helped raise aid to Darfur back to the original level and to get agreement on restarting the peace talks, he really has played roles that SFRC chairs do not typically play.

This is because of the huge number of issues and his relationship with Obama and his administration - especially Biden and Clinton. Biden - and every member of the SFRC - did go to many countries. He did not get to do the type of diplomacy then that Kerry has done this year. The difference is not a negative comment on Biden - Biden was (thankfully) not on the same page as the President of the time. But, Lugar did not do this either - and he many times was in disagreement with Bush. The fact is that I can't think of a SFRC chair who did as much.

The fact is if you took out the "de facto" nonsense, it is a very good article, giving Kerry credit he is due. The "de facto" garbage kind of assumes that praise is a zero sum game - ie if one person is praised, someone else loses in the same amount. That is crazy. There are more than enough foreign policy problems and crises to go around.

[Jennicut]

28. True. Kerry has my total respect. And the fact that Obama is willing to rely

on him as the right person in certain situations means he actually carefully thinks about things before jumping into them. The media always wants someone up and then someone else down. Like the way they tried to act like Hillary has been slighted these past few months. It should not be about who has how much power anyway. It should be about using the right people at the right times to make a difference.

[karynnj]

29. I agree - here doing otherwise hurts two people who actually worked

very well together to avoid this spinning into a major crisis.

[Mass]

15. Kerry was on a fact finding mission in Afghanistan. Obama shows his qualities when he uses somebody

who is already there in order to try and solve a problem.

Gergen is just willfully ignorant and should know better.

[Cha]

18. Good gergen..ya got some extremely

rare action going on here..try and keep up.

[Bolo Boffin]

20. Well, Gergen is off a bit. That's exactly what Kerry was doing.

He was on a fact-finding mission when the crisis broke out. He was there. He coordinated closely with Secretary Clinton in everything he did.

[beachmom]

6. Oh, for the love of God. Less than 24 hours and the knives are out.

It was like all this positive press. Then they all got together and decided "this wouldn't do", and now are attacking him for some kind of power grab.

I believe Biden was involved in these sorts of things as well when he was chairman.

[ProSense]

10. Wrong place. n/t

[Life Long Dem]

7. The bottom line is we are all in this together.

[alsame]

8. The media is just deperate for

some in-fighting in this administration. First there was going to be a Biden-Clinton battle, which didn't happen. So now they are trying to manufacture a Kerry-Clinton battle. Pathetic.

Unlike the GOP, we have a LOT of smart, experienced and talented people to deal with issues as they arise. The media should just get used to it.

[Thrill]

13. Its really a damn shame what has happened to the AP

It really is

[Mass]

14. Amazing attempt to create dissension where there are none.

(and also difficulty changing an existing meme. These articles are in direct continuation of the stupid Reuters article a couple days ago, where you could believe that Kerry did nothing and was appreciated by nobody between 2004 and 2009).

[Cha]

19. They're always doing it..in fact if the so called "media"

weren't doing it..it would be shocking.

[karynnj]

22. If Kerry did nothing from 2004 to 2009, it is amazing that the JK group here has so many messages

Over 160,000. (The next highest Democrat group (Biden) has over 31,000.

[burning rain]

16. Given that Gibbs referred to "Secretary Kerry,".....

you have to realize that this kerfuffle's going to have some legs. Inevitably there's going to be suspicion that Gibbs' gaffe was not simply a brainfart.

[karynnj]

23. Well, at her hearing, HRC slipped and called him "President"

People slip and it means nothing.

[ginnyinWI]

24. in her case, probably because of the habit of addressing

whomever is presiding over the Senate as "Mr. President". Anyone who watches C-span wouldn't read too much into it, but that isn't the majority of tv news people I guess.

[burning rain]

27. Good memory!

There you have to suspect she was thinking about Kerry's presidential campaign, as she briefly reminisced with him about their both having run for president at that hearing. I also thought of Bill Clinton's having referred to Bob Dole as the majority leader shortly before the 1994 midterm elections. It was a gaffe, but not just a gaffe: Clinton was doubtlessly thinking Democrats were going to lose their congressional majorities, and that's just what happened. Sometimes a slip is just a slip, though.

[politicasista]

17. Kick. The media is always 100-1,000 steps behind when it comes to

informing the public about real issues when they have no problem reporting on the faux Balloon Boy, Palin, Oxyblimp, and other sensationalist garbage. :puke: