You know, I'm as worried about the Ukraine situation as the next person....

[selenak]

...and I do loathe Putin, but still, when the media offered this quote from John Kerry, Secretary of State of the US, I had a gigantic coughing fit. Along with, I suppose, much of the rest of the globe and maybe even some Americans. Because really:


"It is not appropriate to invade a country and at the end of a barrel of a gun dictate what you are trying to achieve."


Really? REALLY? YOU THINK?

Comments

[petra]

Now, now, how could the US know it was not a good solution until we tested it? Repeatedly? Just because it's not a good solution one time doesn't mean it's a bad solution at all points. We should all give the US military-industrial credit for being willing to fail, try again, and fail even more spectacularly. It's not easy to persevere in the face of repeated failure.

They don't deserve credit for being able to do anything else effectively, but they sure can retest hypotheses at the expense of their dignity and people's lives.

I'm sorry on behalf of my country. This reminds me that the main meme against Kerry's presidential run was "He learned something and then changed his mind! What a weakling!" Now he's Sec. of State, where he gets to show off that he really has learned some lessons.

[likeadeuce]

Don't forget how Kerry was against invading Iraq before he was for it. (Or was he for it before he was against it? I forget.) Anyway, this was clearly qualification for a diplomatic career.

(But yeah, believe me, lots of Americans making horrified faces over this one.)

[selenak]

We should all give the US military-industrial credit for being willing to fail, try again, and fail even more spectacularly.

Verily. Re: Kerry, I don't have anything against him as a person (and thought the arguments back then during the campaign complete with "he's been to Europe and speaks French!" were bizarre), and of course he needed to condemm what Putin is doing, but the phrasing, oh, the phrasing.

[havocthecat]

DEFINITELY some Americans. What the hell is that kind of hypocrisy? It's not that I disagree with the statement. Just. My government? Saying that? Did Kerry forget that if you don't actually say "except for us" in that sentence, everyone knows you mean it anyway?

[selenak]

Yes, the statement per se is correct, but given very recent history, it stands along side of "the way China is listening in and spying on people's phonecalls and internet correspondance is really unethical!" in hypocrisy when coming from a representative of the US government.

[linaerys]

It boggles my mind that he didn't pass out from the cognitive dissonance.

[selenak]

Cognitive dissonance is probably a basic requirement of a life in politics.

[linaerys]

Very true.

[genarti]

DEFINITELY some Americans. Oh god.

But to be fair, it's not as if there's any historical precedent here! How would we know it doesn't work perfectly unless we tried it? And now we can graciously share that wisdom with the rest of the world! OH WAIT.

[muccamukk]

Ah the unintentional comedy of politics.

[skywaterblue]

I like the man personally (uh, at least, I like the persona of his personal life. Never met him.)

But there's a reason I cast my first ever vote for Dean in that primary.

[lilacsigil]

Yeah, he used a second-person pronoun and by god he meant it.