Kerry declines comment on 'hypothetical' Chechnya ties

[Mass]

Same thing for the governor and the White House. It is reassuring that, contrarily to the media, our leaders are responsible and ready to let things go to their end.

http://www.politico.com/politico44/2013/04/kerry-declines-comment-on-hypothetical-chechnya-ties-162125.html

Secretary of State John Kerry wouldn't weigh in Friday on the implications of the apparent Chechen ties of the suspects in the Boston bombings as he took questions from reporters.

"At this point law enforcement officers are carrying out an ongoing investigation and, frankly, they're at some critical stages here. And it would just be entirely inappropriate for me to be commenting on the tick-tock around the larger issues outside of it," he said at the State Department.

Pressed again, he declined to comment. "I'm not going to get into speculation, I'm not going to deal with a hypothetical."

The FBI, he said, "is the lead entity with respect to this investigation and they will lay out the details of contacts and information at the appropriate moment."

He added: "The important thing now is, the president has said: we're going to find those responsible and bring them to justice. We're part of the way there, and the president tends to finish that job.

[karynnj]

1. As you said, it is reassuring that the President, SOS, and Governor Patrick are acting responsibly

Good response - though not what the media wants. It is embarrassing that the media has said they were here - one year or maybe more than a decade. Nearly every "fact" is countered by another completely incompatible "fact".

[Mass]

2. I think I may leave DU definitively.

This week has been a very hard week, and seeing people here react like freepers would (one way or the other), rather than waiting for information that was confirmed, makes me sick.

If people in real life reacted the same way, it is a miracle that people were not killed by mobs.

I am happy it is finished, that my friends living the the Watertown area can return to a normal life, that this kid has been arrested. For the rest, if this is the liberal and progressive creed that posts here, I feel terrified.

[ucrdem]

4. Hope you won't.

Your contributions would be missed!

[ucrdem]

3. I've been wondering whether and how this would become a Kerry story

i.e. a home-town Benghazi to hang around his neck, even before the Chechnya angle popped up. He's been getting rafts of work accomplished in the ME from what I've observed, mainly thanks to posters here, and that's sure to have gotten the swiftboaters' attention. I expect FOX and CNN to launch their Kerry "investigations" forthwith.

[karynnj]

5. I assume they would love to do that - for both Kerry and Obama, but the facts are against them

These young men have been in the US for over a decade - arriving during the early Bush years, which matters ONLY because it means Obama can not be blamed for letting them in. As to checking up on someone who may have had contact with overseas terrorists, the older man WAS visited by the FBI when he returned. They saw no reason for concern.

I think the right will try to undermine both men - it is what they do. However, I watched the House hearing and Kerry did not make it easy. There was a unique combination of obvious good will towards the Congressmen, a sense of humor and a real sense of seriousness and purpose in Kerry's responses. It is hard (though they are trying) to use his responses on Benghazi - where he is offering to give them the information that exists and work with them - to make it seem he is covering up or, alternatively, throwing Clinton under the bus.

I have seen the "serious" neo-cons try to argue that he is weak on North Korea. However, they are stuck with claiming that his TONE, not his actual words are the problem. He has essentially reduced their arguments to convoluted, not very compelling pretzel-like logic.

[ucrdem]

9. Great to hear.

Thanks for these reports karynnj!

[MBS]

6. I liked everything about the way this was handled.

I already knew the Watertown police to be remarkably competent and organized, especially for a small town. They've long had a "robo call" system that sends out alerts for everything from water-supply issues to notifications about robberies in a particular neighborhood; I imagine that the system came in very handy this time around. Even the traffic cops -- as I once had a chance to learn : ( - are civilized and polite. It seemed like the FBI and the Boston police and the local Watertown and Cambridge police were all very well coordinated.
Obama was pitch-perfect, and Patrick and Menino and associated police reps offered just the right amount of information at just the right time.
It felt like everyone had their act together, focusing on working together to just get the job done, and getting it done right.
I felt proud of Watertown, or Boston, of Massachusetts and our president.
A horrifying and disturbing event, but also , in the way everything was handled, reassuring.

[beachmom]

7. Still, it was that Watertown resident who owned the boat who broke the case

Without his vigilance none of this success by law enforcement would have happened. I would just love to give him a standing ovation.

[MBS]

8. Absolutely.

It must have been damned scary even to lift that tarp.
Still, it was really, truly a team effort. I personally think it's incredible that they could ID the people in less than 24 hours. That could not have been easy. Nor was any other aspect of this. After decades of polarization, name-calling, and me-first-ism, the effectiveness, guts and commitment all around was very reassuring to see. Maybe there's some hope for us after all.

[JI7]

10. CNN seemed to be trying to make way more of Kerry and Biden comments

than they are. and then trying to imply there was come conflict, and backtracking etc.

the comment biden made about jihadis at the memorial of the security guard who was killed. and the comments from kerry about the guy going overseas and coming back.

cnn seems to be getting worse . they always have some dramatic breaking news thing every few minutes just to report something that isn't so breaking like some area in boston that opened up.