| The Second Smartest Man In The Room Strikes Again. |
I was in Vietnam, you knowKerry
Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a
lucky hat,conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State...
appeared to have flubbed his lines on Thursday when he referred to the Paleostinian territories as a country.
Speaking at the United Nations
...boodling on the grand scale...
ahead of talks with U.N. chief
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan...
, Kerry praised the "courageous decision" by Israeli and Paleostinian leaders to try to resume direct negotiations.
"It's my hope that that will be able to happen as procedures are put in place by both countries in order to empower that," Kerry told news hounds.
The final status of the Paleostinian territories has yet to be determined, although the U.S. goal is two states -- one Israeli and one Paleostinian -- living side by side.
State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf assured news hounds later that U.S. policy had not changed.
"Our position has not changed not on the status of the Paleostinian territory. The secretary was in no way indicating a change of policy," she said.
Later asked about his comment, Kerry replied: "Did I say that?"
Last week, Kerry appeared to have achieved a breakthrough deal to get the two sides to return to the negotiating table after a three-year break.
No date has yet been set, although an Israeli minister said that the talks would begin on Tuesday in Washington.