Quibble

Day 125. Quibble.

Noun : a trivial objection or equivocation, especially one used to avoid an issue. Yep, pretty much on the money, that Super Secretary of State John Kerry. Speaking today about the lack of US representation at the solidarity march in Paris on Sunday, he belittled any discussion that POTUS, VPOTUS, SoS, someone should have participated. FYI: lame duck AG Holder doesn't count, as he couldn't be bothered to march, he left to return to DC for more pressing matters. Can't wait to see what that ends up being... although some reports say he skipped out to make his appearances on the Sunday talk shows.

John Kerry: "I really think that this is sort of quibbling a little bit in the sense that our Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland was there and marched, our ambassador [to France Jane Hartley] was there and marched, many people from the embassy were there and marched." Except...  Nuland was at the march in DC. Oopsie. But it will all be okay, he's dashing to Paris later in the week, in a show of support. His schedule the day before the rally? He was in Germany, meeting with the ailing ruler of Oman, still busy trying to broker a nuclear deal with Iran. Yeah, Germany. Right there close to... France. I know, pointing that out would be considered "quibbling," I suppose.

The White House's first "excuse" for not sending someone of high rank was that security for POTUS and the VPOTUS would have interfered with the march. Yeah, pretty sure there was plenty of security, since there were 40 other world leaders there. Hell, even Benjamin Netenyahu managed it, after being asked NOT to attend by the French (what jerk thought that was a good idea?) and he even walked the march yards away from Mahmoud Abbas from Palestine, someone who wants Israel wiped from the earth. No doubt, plenty of security. I'm just quibbling again....

Where was VPOTUS Joe Biden this weekend? Reports have it he was "home alone" in Delaware. The French should consider themselves lucky, Slow Joe isn't exactly the kind of guy you want around at a bad time. His penchant for poorly-timed comments is renowned.

And how about POTUS? Yes, the White House admitted, he was watching the NFL playoffs. No public schedule was posted, probably just him and Reggie and the boys. Which by the way, both took place hours after the march.  And besides, he already went to the French Embassy in DC and gave them his autograph. What more can the leader of the free world be expected to do? Oh yeah. He mentioned France in a speech he gave in Tennessee. Yikes, there I go again, being a quibbler.

Oh yeah. John Kerry, on the day of the meetings in Paris and the march where 3 million French citizens stood together in defiance of Islamism? He was in the Middle East, on a pre-planned trip he just couldn't change. Meeting with the PM of Bhutan, while at a conference in India. "Secretary Kerry's meeting with Bhutanese Prime Minister Tobgay will mark the first bilateral meeting between a US Secretary of State and a Bhutanese official," a State Department official said in a statement. "Previously, the highest ranking State Department official to engage with Bhutan was at the Undersecretary of State level. In the past, United States officials have met with both the Fourth and Fifth King of Bhutan." Well, there's that. Unprecedented. I'm sure the French will understand, meeting with the leader of a country that got its first television set in 1999. Yep, me complaining about this? Quibbling.

It's okay, France. The rest of America has your back. We stand arm and arm with you.


605 to go...