Sunday, December 18, 2011

John Kerry's Strange Associates

Over the years, Sen. John Kerry has gotten his ideas of how the world works from people ranging from the Viet Cong to Alinsky radicals to Yale professors. Having pretty much successfully worked with his fellow Democrats on making the United States a social democratic government-dependent nation, over the past few years he has turned his attentions to foreign affairs.

Kerry is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Currently he is basking in the warmth of the Arab Spring. Like his counterparts in the executive branch, Barack Obama, Kerry seeks advice from those who can be trusted to tell the truth. Like Obama and his White House free-speech meeting with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Kerry has chosen to get his information on political developments in Egypt from the Freedom and Justice Party. The FJP is an arm of the Muslim brotherhood, which now (along with the even-more fundamentalist Salafists) controls about 70% of Egypt's legislative seats as of the most recent round of elections.

Let's face it. It would have been almost impossible for a man like Kerry to resist getting his advice from men who represent a party that has both "freedom" and "justice" in its name. So Kerry invited three honchos from the FJP to come to his Senate office. It's not as posh as the White House, but not bad. The three are Essam El-Erian, vice chairman of the FJP, Mohamed Saad Katani, Secretary-General of the FJP, and the big falafel, Mohamed Morsi, chairman of the FJP.

These men represent the best of Egyptian secular democracy (irony intended). Day-dreaming a western-style democracy in Egypt (and the Middle East) is a Democratic habit. Despite mountains of evidence to the contrary, back in February the Obama administration announced without even twitching that the Muslim Brotherhood is "largely secular." And Kerry has the quotes to prove it.

As for secularism, Katani agrees with the Salafists (really militant Islamists) that "Nobody dares oppose the application of Sharia law." El-Katani and El-Erian previously issued a joint statement saying: "If you want to know what principles guide our party, let me tell you: the principles of the Islamic Sharia law."

But there's still the "freedom and justice part," right? Says peaceful chairman Morsi: "Israel is a Zionist usurper that has been created by international terrorism and injustice. Israel must be destroyed and any nation that supports it is perpetrating genocide against the Palestinians." Kerry seemed entirely unruffled by that remark, unlike his reaction to Newt Gingrich referring to the Palestinians (correctly) as an "invented people."

Kerry's friendliness toward the Brotherhood was bolstered by an earlier statement from US Special Coordinator for Transitions in the Middle East William Taylor who had said that the US would be satisfied with a Brotherhood victory. Kerry's domestic partner at the meeting was Anne Patterson, US ambassador to Egypt.

Prior to the latest Egyptian elections, the Muslim Brotherhood had at least feigned a moderate stance toward secularism, democracy, and Israel. Since those elections the facade has begun to crumble. Even the liberal and Islamo-friendly The New Republic sensed there was something rotten in the state of Egypt. Correspondent Eric Trager conducted a series of interviews with FJP and Muslim Brotherhood leaders. He concluded: "Far from being moderate, these future leaders share a commitment to theocratic rule, complete with a limited view of civil liberties and an unmistakable antipathy for the West."

Kerry mustn't read TNR these days, or watch TV news stories about new outbreaks of anti-Christian violence and the storming of the Israeli embassy in Cairo. The Islamist masses have been considerably emboldened since their electoral victories. The FJP plans to follow strict Sharia law including, but not limited to, banning interest-bearing banking, banning alcohol, requiring women to wear clothing that covers everything but their faces (covering them will come later), and banning any speech which is critical of Islam or promotes in any way another religion. It's not clear whether they intend to make apostasy a capital offense, but leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood have made it clear they would like to.

Given all this, you might think that the Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee might be a little cagey about whom he invites to his office and how far he would go to encourage them. Silly you. After the meetings, Kerry announced that he had learned just how good the intentions of the FJP are. In fact, they're so good, he first praised the "transparency and integrity" of the elections, then pledged his support for Egypt's new government. He also promised that he would do everything he could to get the International Monetary Fund to support the fledgling Islamist government (paid for largely out of the pockets of the US taxpayer).

20 comments:

T-Rav said...

And just think--not only does Massachusetts keep electing this empty suit of an idiot, they may replace Scott Brown with that Obama administration hack, Elizabeth Warren. Those Founding Fathers from the Bay State must be spinning in their graves.

Unknown said...

T-Rav: Every time I get depressed thinking about California politicians, I turn to Massachusetts for comfort.

Tennessee Jed said...

Hawk - now I finally understood what J.Effen K. meant during his unsuccessful presidential run in 2004 when he claimed his foreign policy would be more "nuanced" than Dubya's. All he ever showed me is he was smart enough to marry into money via his dead colleague's wife, not pay what he owes 2) and exaggerate his own wounds and experiences in 'Nam. By any other name, an a**ho*e.

Unknown said...

Tennessee: If you have no idea how to earn money, do the next two best things: Get born into it and/or marry into it. Also remember that this is the guy who as Attorney General of, then Senator from Massachusetts said: "If I am elected President, I will interpret the Constitution according to prevailing law." Which he probably would have, but it's exactly backwards.

tryanmax said...

Well, that bass-ackwardness of Kerry's makes it easier to accept that Israelis are an invented race--created by terrorism--perpetrating genocide against Palestinians. (I couldn't make it more ridiculous than it was, so I could only reiterate it.)

I suppose that is how one also makes sense of thinking that the Muslim Brotherhood is a secular organization while Christian Americans who have no political party must be feared.

T-Rav said...

tryanmax: And also in seeing the people who object to "All-American Muslim" as part of an insipid conspiracy, rather than the show itself.

Unknown said...

tryanmax: I guess if ya get one thing upside down, you're likely to get them all upside down. Kerry is living proof of that.

Unknown said...

T-Rav: I don't think pulling their commercials has hurt Lowe's. In fact, there's some evidence that the "free publicity" they got over the angry pro-Muslim demonstrations helped their business in the suburbs, and they didn't have to pay for the commercials.

tryanmax said...

I think I'm going to launch the Bunnies and Kittens Party and try angling it for a reality show.

Unknown said...

tryanmax: That wouldn't be the silliest political thing that's happened this year.

T-Rav said...

Well, at least there's now one less Communist in the world for Kerry to laud. Just off the wires from the AP, Kim Jong-Il has died.

Unknown said...

T-Rav: I hadn't heard that, but I was convinced he died a few years back and Trey Parker and Matt Stone were just keeping him vertical with strings.

Notawonk said...

kerry = the face for all morons.

he should learn to actually listen to the words coming out of the terrorists mouth. "If you want to know what principles guide our party, let me tell you: the principles of the Islamic Sharia law."

that line is everything you need to know. it's chilling in it's boldness, yet kerry is oblivious. or seemingly so.

Unknown said...

Patti: Kerry and his fellow progressives have spent so much of their lives talking in circles that they don't recognize plain speech when they hear it.

tryanmax said...

LawHawk, that's an Onion article waiting to be written.

(3rd paragraph in)
We asked the South Park creators about the decision to off Kim and what that will mean for the show.

"This doesn't mean we're completely done with Kim," said Parker, "We had a lot of fun with Saddam Hussein even after we killed him off."

Added Stone, "But we think that more political instability in North Korea opens up new areas for laughs."

Unknown said...

tryanmax: I hope you sent a copy of that off to Parker, Stone and The Onion.

Individualist said...

Lawhawk

Much as I dislkie the way Egypt is heading I think barring missles striking Israel we should just accept it because it will bode better in the long run. If the people allow the oppressive islamists to take charge and they form a theorcratic sham as exists in Iran, America will not be able to be blamed for it.

Eventually these people with there Bassij like thugs preying on young women will create Egypt's own version of the Green movement. Eventually if the Ilsamonazi's have nothin gto blame their problems on but themselves perhaps reform can begin. We will see....

As to Kerry, I think the Islamonazi's are the ones harming their reputation by being seen with him.

Unknown said...

Indi: There's not much we can do about it now anyway but accept it and hope for the best (least worst?). I'm not overly concerned about how it will affect America, but I think the Jews and the Christians in Egypt had better head elsewhere in a hurry.

As for Kerry, you're right. He's an embarrassment to almost anyone seen with him.

StanH said...

It occurs to me, the reason democrats love the Islamo-Fascist is their dictatorial control over their people, a progressives wet dream. Kerry is the perfect ruling class statist, oozing hypocrisy with his every breath. It amazes me that, as T-Rav pointed out how Mass. continues to send that idiot to the senate. I guess it confirms my contention that to a liberal the only thing that matters is, “what’s in it for me?” Pitiful!

Unknown said...

Stan: I think that's a fair assessment. Islamofascism depends on mindless acceptance of the words and leadership of the imams and ayatollahs. Progressives likewise believe that they must be obeyed because their wisdom is divinely inspired (even if they don't much care about who the god is). The two ideologies are just two sides of the same coin.

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