LoveNotHate wrote:
I wonder if Mr. Kerry has much to do in his life.
At home, his cook, butler, gardner, chauffeur, maids .. take care of his mansion.
At work, his staffers probably do almost everything for him.
On trips, corporate sponsors, politicos, mega-rich take care of every whim.
What's left for Mr. Kerry to do? Eat, sleep, make appearances and do Trump insults.
I gather from articles about his book that Kerry continues to have a lot more to do with his life than white supremacists.
John Kerry Says the World Is Worried About AmericaQuote:
You spent a lot of time with Senator John McCain and worked with him on normalizing relations with Vietnam in the 1990s. What will you miss about him?
Just a camaraderie, a respect, a mutual willingness to tackle tough things and speak forcefully about controversial issues. And John was fun. He was quixotic at times and volatile, and that could occasionally be a challenge, but — and the “but” is capitalized — I think we shared a sense of obligation and a sense of commitment to duty and to live up to a certain ideal...
The number of senators who have military experience is now way down to about 20 percent, compared with more than 70 percent in the early ’70s. What kind of ramifications do you think that has for policy?
It’s a serious deficit. I’m not saying you have to have a specific percentage or something. But understanding how the military works, understanding the hierarchy, the sense of duty and honor and the weight of sending people into combat from the perspective of the warrior is a very important ingredient. It’s helpful in terms of other people’s perception of the decisions that you make or how you might be approaching them so that you can make sure it’s depoliticized.
When you met with Iran’s foreign minister earlier this year to try to salvage the nuclear deal, President Trump called that shadow diplomacy.
I wasn’t negotiating. I was actually talking about what was then current American policy, because we hadn’t pulled out of it at that point. I don’t waste my time paying much attention to tweet world these days because it’s not about real things. The notion that an American citizen, particularly an ex-secretary of state, can’t have a conversation with a foreign minister is ludicrous...
Because you’re still in touch with so many diplomatic players around the world, what are they saying to you about American foreign policy under Trump?
They’re completely confused and extremely worried. I don’t want to betray any confidences, but the words they use to describe the president are not particularly flattering. They understand that we have a president who is not steeped in history, not knowledgeable about what he’s doing and talking about. Most of them hold their breath and try to get through meetings.