The Briefing Room

General Category => National/Breaking News => Topic started by: flowers on January 13, 2014, 10:20:08 pm

Title: Kerry Presents Russian Counterpart with a Pair of Potatoes
Post by: flowers on January 13, 2014, 10:20:08 pm
(http://cdn.pjmedia.com/tatler/files/2014/01/kerrypotato.jpg)

http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2014/01/13/kerry-presents-russian-counterpart-with-a-pair-of-potatoes/

Quote
Secretary of State John Kerry presented Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov not with a reset button at today’s Syria talks in Paris, but with… a pair of potatoes.

    #idahopotato presented by @JohnKerry to Sergey #Lavrov: to be or not to be #luckypotato? @mfa_russia pic.twitter.com/QBOCm3FUVn

    — MFA Russia (@mfa_russia) January 13, 2014

 

At their joint press conference, a confused Russian reporter asked about the gift. “It is a symbolic gift? What does it mean?”

“Well, he told me he’s not going to make vodka. He’s going to eat them,” Kerry quipped before changing the subject.

“With respect to the potatoes, I really want to clarify: There’s no hidden meaning,” he later said. “There’s no metaphor. There’s no symbolic anything. We were having a good conversation in the course of the Christmas break over the subject of Idaho, which was where I was at the time, and he recalled the Idaho potatoes as being something that he knew of, so I thought I would surprise him and bring him some good Idaho potatoes. And that’s the full symbol of the whole thing.”

“The specific potato which John handed to me has the shape which makes it possible to insert potato in the carrot-and-stick expression,” Lavrov laughed. “So it could be used differently.”

 :thud:
Title: Re: Kerry Presents Russian Counterpart with a Pair of Potatoes
Post by: rangerrebew on January 13, 2014, 10:33:53 pm
He should have included a CD of Obama's greatest speeches.  Like the one Obama gave to the Queen of England. :whistle:
Title: Re: Kerry Presents Russian Counterpart with a Pair of Potatoes
Post by: mountaineer on January 13, 2014, 11:30:00 pm
Quote
“The specific potato which John handed to me has the shape which makes it possible to insert potato in the carrot-and-stick expression,” Lavrov laughed. “So it could be used differently.”
I suspect Mr. Lavrov also had a suggestion for Mr. Kerry as to where to insert said spud.
Title: Re: Kerry Presents Russian Counterpart with a Pair of Potatoes
Post by: Chieftain on January 13, 2014, 11:35:15 pm
Gimme a couple of boxes of Shredded Wheat and a couple a big bottles of Metamucil, and I'll make that Commie bastard a potato he'll never forget....

 :smokin:
Title: Re: Kerry Presents Russian Counterpart with a Pair of Potatoes
Post by: Right_in_Virginia on January 14, 2014, 12:06:12 am
Why would Kerry do this??   :shrug:
Title: Re: Kerry Presents Russian Counterpart with a Pair of Potatoes
Post by: Carling on January 14, 2014, 12:25:03 am
Why would Kerry do this??   :shrug:

(http://photos1.blogger.com/img/138/1148/320/kerryears.jpg)

"Lend me your ears!"
Title: Re: Kerry Presents Russian Counterpart with a Pair of Potatoes
Post by: rangerrebew on January 14, 2014, 12:25:50 pm
Gimme a couple of boxes of Shredded Wheat and a couple a big bottles of Metamucil, and I'll make that Commie bastard a potato he'll never forget....

 :smokin:


 :bigsilly: :mauslaff:
Title: Re: Kerry Presents Russian Counterpart with a Pair of Potatoes
Post by: EC on January 14, 2014, 12:28:39 pm
Gimme a couple of boxes of Shredded Wheat and a couple a big bottles of Metamucil, and I'll make that Commie bastard a potato he'll never forget....

 :smokin:

Now, now. Not even Kerry deserves that ....  :whistle:
Title: Re: Kerry Presents Russian Counterpart with a Pair of Potatoes
Post by: rangerrebew on January 14, 2014, 02:14:36 pm
Now, now. Not even Kerry deserves that ....  :whistle:

You are, as usual, correct.  He deserves it laced with Exlax, too. :silly:
Title: Re: Kerry Presents Russian Counterpart with a Pair of Potatoes
Post by: EC on January 14, 2014, 02:18:33 pm
Mind you, thinking on this further - it's a trap.

Russia, like the US, has a pretty strict bio-quarantine going on. If Kerry took two raw potatoes to Russia, he could have accidentally devastated the potato crop there.

Imagine a Russia without Vodka.
Title: Re: Kerry Presents Russian Counterpart with a Pair of Potatoes
Post by: mountaineer on January 14, 2014, 02:22:03 pm
Imagine a Russia without Vodka.
As horrid a spectacle as Teresa Heinz Kerry without gin-soaked raisins!