May 9, 2018
By: Linda Case Gibbons, Esq.
We're getting more like England every day. Now we, too, have "An heir and a spare."
It's not in our Constitution. And it wasn't envisioned by the Founding Fathers.
But this week, we were assured by Used-to-be-Secretary-of-State John Kerry, and Has-Been-People like him, that if we didn't like the government we had, he and people like him, were willing to be understudies.
They are willing to practice "Shadow Diplomacy" in a "Shadow Government," and travel around the world to do it. Just like Sean Penn. In case we didn't like the government we already had.
In actuality the "Spares" have already been acting on our behalf, only we didn't know it.
Kerry has been a busy bee, reconnecting and renegotiating with all the Iran Deal principals.
Michelle Obama told us last week that she will always be our "Forever First Lady."
And Hillary and Barack have been doing Presidential-like-Nation-Hopping ever since Donald Trump took office.
Name the country, and one or both of them have been there.
In Tokyo, Obama humbly said it was his wish to create "a million young Barack Obamas" who could "take the baton in that relay race that is human progress."
Yes, Obama, Hillary and Kerry have logged lots of time traveling on behalf of the United States, even though nobody asked them to.
Some Americans took exception with Kerry messing around with the Iranian Deal, even if he had broken a leg, falling off a bike, to get it signed.
Some asked, "Is he secretary of state?"
No. He's not.
Some wondered," Isn't there a law against that?"
Yes. There is. The 1799 Logan Act. A U.S. federal law that "criminalizes negotiations by unauthorized persons with foreign governments having a dispute with the United States."
Nevertheless a plucky Kerry met with Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif, German President Steinmeier, and French President Macron.
He called European Union Foreign Policy Chief Mogherini, and met with an associate of Palestinian Authority President Abbas, and asked him to give Abbas a message. "Stay strong and play for time," ostensibly until Trump was removed from office, and, rumor has it, until Kerry runs for president. Again.
And in his spare time, Kerry lobbied members of Congress, including Paul Ryan. All in an effort to save the Iranian Deal, which he regards as "His Legacy."
The problem is that the deal wasn't so great. A lot of people thought so. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Bob Melendez (D-NJ) didn't like it when Obama was selling it. But now, when Donald Trump is scrapping it, both are shedding crocodile tears over the loss.
So why is it that these people are so keen to keep a deal that stinks to high heaven?
Maybe they thought we had so much "disposable income" we can give a lot of it away. Like to Iran. Like Obama did. $1.3 billion. In cash. In small bills. At night.
To this day, no one has asked Obama where the money went. Or why he gave Kerry permission to sign such a deal during a time when Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was leading his people in a chant, "Death to America," accompanied by U.S. flags burning in the streets of Teheran.
It doesn't make sense. And it didn't make sense to Texas Republican Ted Poe, of the House Foreign Relations Committee, either, so he asked Kerry,
"Is it the policy of the Ayatollah that Iran wants to destroy the United States?"
"I don't believe they've said that," Kerry replied. "I think they've said 'Death to America' in their chants."
"Well, I kind of take that to mean that they want us dead," Poe said.
"I think they have a policy of opposition to us and a great enmity, but I have no specific knowledge of a plan by Iran to actually destroy us. I do know the rhetoric is beyond objectionable."
Exactly. So the question remains, why are so many, so concerned, about a deal that gave the U.S. so little?
Obama claimed the deal blocked Iran's ability to leverage the materials necessary to construct a nuclear bomb, namely uranium and plutonium.
But did it?
We still don't know what happened to the U.S. uranium Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sold to Russia. Did it stay in Russia? No one ever asked. Especially not Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
We still don't know what happened to the boatload of money President Obama sent to Iran. Did the money stay in Iran? Was it funneled elsewhere? Were there kickbacks? And if so, to whom?
There are unanswered questions, especially when it just doesn't make sense that so many would fight so hard to keep a deal that stinks so bad.
Hold the line, America.