John Kerry Shows How Out of Touch the Democratic Party Is with 'Climate' Response to Ukraine Crisis
John Kerry is nothing if not consistent.
The former senator, who served as secretary of state under President Barack Obama, watched with the rest of the world as Russian President Vladimir Putin unleashed an undeclared war on Ukraine on Wednesday.
And showed that the Democratic Party has become a parody of itself.
In an interview with the BBC Arabic, the man who was the Democratic nominee for president in 2004 actually worried that the Russian invasion of its neighbor was going to distract international attention from the fight against climate change.
Check out a portion of the interview posted by the Middle East Media Research Institute:
Former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on BBC Arabic: The Ukraine Crisis Could Distract the World from the Climate Crisis While Having Massive Emissions Consequences #RussiaUkraineConflict #UkraineRussie #UkraineRussiaCrisis #ClimateCrisis @JohnKerry @ClimateEnvoy pic.twitter.com/nsOC1iZeGm
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) February 24, 2022
Of course, Kerry allowed as how he was “concerned” about the citizens of Ukraine, and he displayed nauseating Democratic naivete — expressing shock that aggression was still an option, because “I thought we lived in a world that had said ‘no’ to that kind of activity.”
Kerry should know better than most people that Russia hadn’t moved beyond that “kind of activity.” He was secretary of state in 2014, the last time Russia invaded Ukraine. And he said something remarkably similar at the time:
“You just don’t in the 21st century behave in 19th century fashion by invading another country on completely trumped-up pretext,” Kerry told “Face the Nation.“
If you’re Vladimir Putin you do — when there’s a President Barack Obama or Joe Biden in the White House. Bullies the world over know a weakling when they see one.
But Kerry, now serving as the country’s first special presidential envoy for climate, seemed positively miffed that a murderous conflict in Eastern Europe was going to hurt the cherished progressive priority of lowering carbon emissions.
“I’m concerned about Ukraine because of the people of Ukraine and because of the principles that are at risk, in terms of international law and trying to change boundaries of international law by force,” Kerry the climate czar told BBC Arabic.
“But massive emissions consequences to the war – but equally importantly, you’re going to lose people’s focus, you’re going to lose, certainly, big-country attention because they will be diverted and I think it could have a damaging impact,” he continued. “So, you know, I think, hopefully, President Putin would realize that in the northern part of his country, they used to live on 66% of the nation that was over frozen land. Now it’s thawing, and his infrastructure is at risk and the people of Russia are at risk.”
It might come as a shock to the arrogant elite that Kerry spends his time around, but it’s a pretty good bet Putin knows at least as much about the geography of his own country as John Kerry.
It’s a better bet he doesn’t give much of a damn about it if it gets in the way of his military or strategic goals. (Maybe Kerry could take a lesson there.)
When the interview segment went public, Kerry was torched on social media.
“The real issue here is not that the Russians are conducting the largest ground war in Europe since WW2, it’s that they don’t have catalytic converters on their tanks.”
– John Kerry, probably.
— West Valentine (@TwirlClub) February 24, 2022
Pretty sure that’s not the biggest issue right now………..
— anthony (@apollino3233) February 24, 2022
I’m from MA. We’ve know this guy is just an empty suit for years. The Gigolo. The only smart thing he’s ever done is marry two very wealthy women. However, if it makes him happy I’ll ride a bike to work in 30 degree weather rather than drive while I pray for Ukraine ??
— Michael S (@msbkk369) February 24, 2022
GMAFB! Kerry is an embarrassment
— Brian Marino (@byron_marino) February 24, 2022
To be fair, the interview took place Wednesday, while the full force of the Russian attack started Thursday. But the potential imminence of war was obvious to anyone who’s watched the Russian military buildup on the Ukraine border for months, and who heard Biden practically invite a Putin invasion back in January.
And what sane individual looks at even the prospect of the worst fighting in Europe since World War II and thinks about … what the weather is going to be like in a century or two – or 10?
An individual who’s spent the past decades of his life ensconced in a Democratic Party that’s divorced from the real world.
A couple of responses really nailed it, comparing Kerry’s concern to material from satirical websites like The Onion or The Babylon Bee.
Please tell me this is taken from the @TheOnion or the @TheBabylonBee omg….
— GყρʂҽαG ?????✊????️ (@Gypseagina) February 24, 2022
Had to double check that this wasn’t the Babylon Bee. Holy crap…
— Sean Mahan Voice Over (@seanmahanvo) February 24, 2022
Considering the situation on the ground in Ukraine, Kerry’s worries blow past the borders of the absurd.
But they’re of a piece with the kind of obsessive-progressive mindset that has dominated the Democratic Party for the 21st century.
This is the party that demonized President Donald Trump for his entire tenure in office — a tenure that saw no Russian invasions of Ukraine, it’s worth noting.
Then it foisted a doddering, almost certainly corrupt career politician into the leading office of the free world: Living, stammering proof that it has substituted its own political fantasies – battling the boogeymen of climate change, “white supremacy” and “systemic racism” — for the responsibilities of governance in the real world.
Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is a dose of reality even the hopelessly benighted American mainstream media should have to accept. It’s one American voters already understand.
But the Democratic Party? Kerry’s statements were almost a microcosmic version of the part writ large. They are almost certain to be followed by more along the same lines. (If no prominent liberal has yet argued that the war doesn’t matter because Russians and Ukrainians are both white, it’s a good bet that one will soon enough.)
Because, like Kerry, liberals are consistent. And their party is a parody — beyond what The Onion or The Babylon Bee could come up with.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
