Barry Rubin
Rubin Reports
PJ Media
2/28/2013
In practically his first outing as secretary of state abroad, John Kerry made some remarkable statements in a meeting with young Germans. The main thing being widely quoted is this:
“In America, you have a right to be stupid if you want to be,” he said. “And we tolerate it. We somehow make it through that. Now, I think that’s a virtue. I think that’s something worth fighting for.”
Of course there’s a right to be stupid in America! Indeed, just this week it’s been expanded into being the right to be simultaneously stupid and secretary of defense!
To be fair, Kerry’s statement was in the context of defending, albeit not very well, freedom of speech in America. (Kerry was obviously referencing President Barack Obama’s UN speech in his own talking points.) How Kerry defends it is what’s scary and dysfunctional…
…Kerry certainly doesn’t say–or understand–that people have rights and government has limits. Instead, he talks as if the ruling elite tolerates such fools because it’s so nice…
…Implied in Kerry’s response [to a question on Islam] was the video that supposedly inspired the Benghazi attack. As you know, this claim is either discredited or, in the words of Kerry’s predecessor, supposedly doesn’t matter. On the verge of his visit to the Middle East, repeating the false notes of the new Obama era national anthem—America the Guilty—is not a good idea.
Kerry added that he’s reading a book titled No God but God by Reza Aslan, which he gushingly praises and accepts as his source on Islam. There are, of course, many books on Islam and Kerry is free to read whatever he wants. Yet the choice of this particular one is also revealing…Aslan is one of the most successful–perhaps the most successful–of stealth Islamists in influencing American elite opinion…
…An Egyptian newspaper reports that a leading figure in the moderate opposition National Salvation Front has said that the organization’s leaders will refuse to meet Kerry because of his pro-Brotherhood policy…
Read the entire article at PJ Media.
This cartoon by Michael Ramirez via Liberty News where readers may view the full sized image:
Read also, Kerry To Promote More Aid To Syria
What could possibly go wrong?
Update: Remember, John Kerry thinks our troops are stupid, too. From About.com Political Humor, November 2006:
Speaking to college students in California, Kerry said, “You know, education — if you make the most of it — you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.” (Watch video clip)
So, our troops responded:
