"Name one high-profile issue that’s going well right now for Secretary of State John Kerry. Russian troops are still sitting on the Ukrainian border, and Russian-backed militants haven’t backed off inside the country. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is still taking Kerry’s calls, but not seeming to care much about what’s being said. Syrian President Bashar Assad announced Monday he’s running for re-election, unopposed, eight months after firing nerve gas over President Barack Obama’s red line. Kerry’s attempted peace process reboot between the Israelis and Palestinians has stalled out. And then, 'apartheid' — what the future could hold for Israel without a peace deal, he warned in a closed door meeting last week. In a defiant apology of sorts that fired back at those who questioned his support for Israel, the nation’s top diplomat acknowledged 'the power of words to create misimpression, even when unintentional.' Kerry’s been confronted with this lesson throughout his career in public life, repeatedly getting caught in impolitic descriptions of what he would argue are just realistic assessments of where things stand. This is the politician, after all, who famously explained his procedural maneuver on Iraq War funding as, 'I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it' — a true, and in his mind defensible, position that proved poison to his 2004 campaign. 'One of those inarticulate moments,' he said at the time. Once again, he’s fed a problematic narrative about himself as a man who goes knee deep with his foot in his mouth, and a larger narrative of an Obama administration foreign policy that’s stumbling and in trouble — which the president defended over the weekend as 'you hit singles, you hit doubles; every once in a while we may be able to hit a home run.' State Department officials say Kerry is undeterred. 'This guy is absolutely locked in, unafraid of bumps in the road, and he always jokes, ‘What are they gonna do — send me to Vietnam?’ said a senior official close to the secretary. 'Now the proof is in the pugilism. Kerry has spent a lifetime in the arena, and that’s where he’ll stay.'" (Politico)
"Over at the New-York Historical Society, they were holding their annual Strawberry Festival Luncheon. This is mainly a ladies luncheon, for several hundred, with a featured speaker of some note and/or achievement. This year’s honored guest was Doris Kearns Goodwin whose most recent history is 'The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism.' Last night in New York, there was more music in the air over at Juilliard with their 'Dreams Come True: A Celebration of Julliard Music' Gala black tie Evening. William Christie and Renee Fleming made appearances. After the Concert, there was a dinner and dancing in The Tent at Lincoln Center ... Down at Pier 60, Riverkeeper was holding its annual Fisherman’s Ball and honoring Chelsea Clinton and SolarCity with Special Recognition of George Hornig, who has been involved with Riverkeeper for the past 15 years, and chaired the board from 2004 through 2009. Yesterday was a busy day for Ms. Clinton who was also honored at a luncheon given by the American Jewish Committee over at the Pierre. " (NYSD)
"We’ve had Roosevelt, Rockefeller, Nixon, Bush, Kennedy — now Clinton — juniors. Thankfully no little Jimmy Carters craved politics. Tuesday was Chelsea’s Pierre luncheon. Invitations, reaffirmations, confirmations followed my advance invite promising 'a special great table.'I arrived.Checklist girls didn’t know who I was. Never heard of me. Couldn’t find my name. Repeated: 'Who invited you?' Pitying guests vouched for me, offered to share their table. I was 'allowed' into the ballroom. Someone in charge indicated a rear table, at the door, way in the back, for me. I left.
Hard hats jackhammering outside shouted: 'Hey . . . Cindy . . . ' The street knew me. The ballroom didn’t. So Chelsea wants to run for office? With chimps running her future, better she should walk for office." (CindyAdams)
"Imagine waking up the day after a breakup—a breakup with a prince, no less—and emerging from your apartment to find . . . a slew of photographers waiting for you outside. Must be exactly what you’re in the mood for after a presumably sleepless night spent cuddling with a box of Hot Tamales candies (that’s how we’d try to cope with splitting with Prince Harry, at least). Anyway, yes, Cressida Bonas was snapped traipsing through London’s West End this morning—her trademark scrunchie swapped out for a colorful headband (a sign of a new era?)—wielding a red smoothie in one hand and looking none too pleased by the paparazzi treatment. (The Daily Mail employs the following descriptors for her, all in one post: 'looked glum,' 'appeared tired,' 'had rings under her eyes,' 'looked lost in her thoughts,' 'hoping for a text?,' and 'wore . . . messy hair.')According to the Daily Beast and other outlets, yesterday’s report—via People—that Bonas’s 'neediness' was to blame for the breakup isn’t quite accurate. Instead, the 25-year-old former dancer—who is currently working an office job—was fed up with all of the attention, apparently. 'She just got fed up with it,' a source told the Daily Beast. 'She and Harry are very fond of each other, but she wants to have her own life.' The paparazzi attention had reached a point where photographers were consistently camped outside her apartment (where she lives with friends) and her office in London’s Soho neighborhood. The Daily Mail notes that the split is in fact quite 'amicable' and they are 'still very much the best of friends,” but have just decided to 'go their separate ways,' which all sounds very publicist-y but may very well be true nevertheless. A 'source close to Cressida' told the Daily Mail that the two are at different stages in life (Harry will be 30 this year) and 'he is incredibly fond of Cressy and understands that she wants to do something with her life and with her career before she considers settling down.' (There have been similar-themed reports over the past few months that Cressida wasn’t so sure she was ready to become Mrs. Prince Harry just yet.)" (VanityFair)
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