41 Senators for the deal, the Pope coming to DC and the UN - this should be a great month

[karynnj]

for Obama and Kerry.

It may still be a little early to celebrate, but this is a fantastic moment. It is cool that it comes before the Pope's visit later this month. The visit of the Pope will obviously be another great moment especially for the Secretary of State, Biden and several DC Catholics, including Leahy.

Here is a State Department release on their group that connects understanding of religion to foreign policy.

In it, Kerry says,

In early 2014, I had the honor of traveling with President Obama to Rome to meet His Holiness Pope Francis. Visiting the first Jesuit pope as the U.S. secretary of state was an experience that I never could have imagined when I was an altar boy 60 years ago. The moment was both personally thrilling and an embodiment of the deep connection between religion and America’s foreign affairs.

: http://blogs.state.gov/stories/2015/09/05/toward-betr-understanding-religion-and-global-affairs#sthash.MIe6cOBR.dpuf

I bet the Secretary's old mentor, (Congressman) Father Drinan would be very proud of the Iran deal.

[MBS]

1. He so deserves this moment.

And we so need for all these things to happen.

[karynnj]

2. He really does - and the world does need everything he has done - and that he is willing to keep

taking on more challenges. (I really hope that the Kerry/Moniz alliance has a repeat performance on climate change pacts that lead to Paris 2016.)

More than any awards that might come his way, I would bet that it really has to be incredible for him to have succeeded on this deal. The more we hear of Netanyahu having argued for attacks on Iran - and being held off by internal Israeli disagreement - and other things that essentially confirm that the pressure was for the US to lead an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities - something that could not realistically be done without setting off a major war, the more we know what that group in Vienna has accomplished. This is new to me, but this is what he (and Obama) faced from the beginning.

The story Wendy Sherman told of Kerry speaking last and the reaction of the foreign ministers tells it all. This was a gruelling, difficult accomplishment -- made even more dramatic by his having to deal with a broken leg, without pausing his work on this.

[MBS]

3. do you have a link to what Wendy Sherman said?

(or to Kerry's concluding remarks, if they were made public?)

[karynnj]

4. Here is video

[mylye2222]

5. "I dont want to go to war again"

That exactly who JK is.
That is the core that defines his relentless search of politicals solutions.

[MBS]

6. thanks for this.

I think I read about this at some point, but I'd never seen the actual video. it brought me to tears, too.

[mylye2222]

7. Sherman was obviously exhausted, for sure.

It was a great reminder that public servants and diplomats are merly, just like us, human beings .