XPost: dc.urban-planning, wa.politics   
   From: impeach_obama@yahoo.com   
      
   The Senate approved one of its own to become President Obama’s   
   second secretary of State in a near-unanimous vote on Tuesday.   
      
   Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) sailed through the chamber on a 94-3   
   vote, with Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) joining Texas Sens. Ted   
   Cruz (R) and John Cornyn (R) in casting the only “no” votes.   
   Kerry’s approval to replace Hillary Clinton was a foregone   
   conclusion after Republicans urged Obama to nominate him in lieu   
   of his ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice.   
      
   “I don’t know too many people who have oriented their whole life   
   to be better suited for secretary of State,” Sen. Bob Corker   
   (Tenn.), the top Republican on Kerry’s Foreign Relations   
   Committee, said on the Senate floor ahead of the vote.   
      
   Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), who will be replacing Kerry atop   
   the committee, echoed those sentiments.   
      
   “I can think of no one better to take on the challenges of this   
   position,” he said. “John has already built strong relationships   
   across the world. … He will need no introduction to the world’s   
   political leaders.”   
      
   The Senate vote capped a whirlwind day for Kerry, whose   
   nomination was approved by his committee in a unanimous voice   
   vote a few hours earlier. Kerry’s colleagues on the Foreign   
   Relations Committee, which he’s chaired since Joe Biden became   
   vice president four years ago, gave him a standing ovation and a   
   committee resolution honoring his service as chairman.   
      
   The resolution “commends the long and distinguished service of   
   John F. Kerry, whose exceptional skill as a lawmaker is matched   
   only by his commitment to an America that is, in President John   
   F. Kennedy’s phrase, not ‘first but, first when, first if, but   
   first period’; and extends its best wishes for his continuing   
   service to the Nation.”   
      
   The rare show of bipartisan support will not extend to the rest   
   of Obama’s second-term national-security picks, however. Six   
   Republicans — including the three who voted against Kerry — have   
   vowed to oppose former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) for secretary   
   of Defense. Members of both parties have raised questions   
   regarding the choice of John Brennan to take over the CIA   
   because of concerns over his record on drone strikes as Obama’s   
   top counterterrorism adviser.   
      
   Tuesday’s vote opens up the Kerry seat for Massachusetts Gov.   
   Deval Patrick, a Democrat, to appoint an interim senator on   
   Wednesday.   
      
   Patrick’s former chief of staff, William “Mo” Cowan, and   
   Victoria Kennedy, widow of Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), are   
   considered front-runners for the pick.   
      
   Patrick has set the special-election primary date for April 30,   
   and the general election for June 25.   
      
   Rep. Edward Markey (D) is running for the seat and Rep. Stephen   
   Lynch (D) is widely rumored to be considering a bid, setting   
   Democrats up for an unwanted primary race. And while no   
   Republican has yet announced his or her intention to run for the   
   seat, former Sen. Scott Brown is also expected to try to return   
   to the Senate after losing to Elizabeth Warren (D) in November.   
      
   Kerry, who turns 70 this year, was first elected to the Senate   
   in 1985 after coming to national attention for protesting the   
   Vietnam War as a decorated veteran and serving as a district   
   attorney and lieutenant governor in Massachusetts. He was the   
   Democratic nominee for president in 2004, ultimately losing to   
   George W. Bush.   
      
   Kerry is the son of a U.S. diplomat and has long been eyeing the   
   secretary of State job. He was not Obama’s first choice for the   
   post but was nominated after Rice withdrew from consideration   
   amid withering Republican criticism for having initially linked   
   the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi,   
   Libya, to a protest gone awry. Her comments were based on   
   talking points provided by the intelligence community.   
      
   Kerry will deliver his farewell address to the Senate on   
   Wednesday. He’s expected to be sworn in at the State Department   
   on Friday, Hillary Clinton’s last day on the job, and begin his   
   tenure Monday.   
      
   http://thehill.com/blogs/global-affairs/congressional-   
   delegations/279917-senate-approves-sen-john-kerry-for-secretary-   
   of-state   
      
   --   
   Are you obligated as an armed civilian, to defend unarmed   
   liberals while you are both under fire by foreign agents of the   
   outlaw Obama administration?   
      
   No.  Shoot the liberals immediately so they can't stab you in   
   the back while you are defending yourself, then return a   
   controlled rate of aimed fire.       
      
          
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)