HUFFPOST HILL - John Kerry Really Tehran It Up As Secretary of State

HUFFPOST HILL - John Kerry Really Tehran It Up As Secretary of State

President Obama joined Instagram this week, and it turns out the leader of the free world just posts pictures of airplane wings and other boring stuff like everyone else. Chris Christie assured Sean Hannity that Bruce Springsteen never told him he "hated" Hannity, but that it was possible he did, though the two agreed they would need to get their hands on Springsteen's burn book to know for sure. And it turns out Donald Trump cheats at golf, something he does by accumulating bogeys and then writing them off in bankruptcy. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Wednesday, September 2nd, 2015:

IT WAS ALWAYS GOING TO END LIKE THIS AND EVERYONE KNEW IT THE WHOLE TIME - Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) is on board with Obama's Iran deal, meaning there are enough Democrats in support to prevent the Senate from overriding a veto if Republicans vote to reject the pact. Sam Stein and Amanda Terkel: "With the deal now seemingly safe from congressional torpedoing, Obama has both notched one of the most significant nuclear non-proliferation agreements in history and cemented a foreign policy legacy of robust diplomatic engagement. Whether that legacy turns out sterling or sour will be determined well beyond the end date of his presidency." [HuffPost]

KERRY WANTS MORE - "Thirty-four votes are enough votes for the president's veto to be upheld," Kerry told CNN after Mikulski's announcement. "We want anybody and everybody hopefully to be able to vote for it. We're going to continue to try to persuade people up to the last moment," he said. "And our hope is that that number will grow, obviously." [HuffPost]

YEAH YEAH BUT WHAT ABOUT HER EMAILS? - There's a terrible epidemic of heroin and prescription opioid addiction sweeping through suburban and rural America, and Hillary Clinton has taken time out from answering questions about email to propose some solutions. Amanda Terkel and Jason Cherkis: "Clinton's plan proposes to eliminate federal regulations that bar nurse practitioners and physician assistants from prescribing medications that can treat opioid addicts -- a practice known as medication-assisted treatment. She is also calling to alter the regulations that limit the number of patients doctors can treat with these medications." [HuffPost]

Even Lindsey Graham thinks that coldhearted Kentucky county clerk should start issuing marriage licenses to gay people like the Supreme Court said, or find a new job hating people in the private sector or whatever.

IT'S ALMOST AS THOUGH THE WHOLE FEUD WAS A BIG PUT-ON TO SERVE THEIR MUTUAL INTERESTS! - That Donald Trump-Megyn Kelly thing has really turned out great for both of them, hasn't it? Judah Robinson: "Fox News host Megyn Kelly's public feud with presidential candidate Donald Trump seems to have helped her ratings skyrocket. Kelly beat out Fox's longstanding ratings-topper, Bill O'Reilly, for the prized 25-54 demographic in August, averaging 566,000 daily viewers -- a 41 percent jump from her ratings in that category the previous month. Kelly's ratings win comes despite her 10-day vacation." [HuffPost]

Obama's Instagram is almost as bad as your dad's Instagram

NEVER CHANGE, DICK CHENEY - The former vice president -- who notably doesn't own a pied-à-terre in Baghdad -- still thinks invading Iraq was AWESOME. Igor Bobic: "'It was the right thing to do then. I believed it then and I believe it now,' Cheney said Tuesday in an interview on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360. 'No apologies,' he added." Heaven forfend! [HuffPost]

JOE BIDEN VISITING FLORIDA BUT WHAT DOES IT MEAN? Igor Bobic: "Joe Biden flew to Miami, Florida, on Wednesday to deliver a speech on higher education and income inequality. But as he began his prepared remarks at Miami Dade College, the vice president couldn't help but slyly comment on the intense speculation over his possible candidacy in the 2016 presidential race. 'Look at all the press you’ve attracted,' Biden told a gathering of students and faculty. 'Their interest in community college has impressed me. I hope that’s what they are going to write about! '" [HuffPost]

DELANEY DOWNER - This photo of a dead Syrian boy whose body washed up on a Turkish tourist beach is the saddest thing in the world.

Does somebody keep forwarding you this newsletter? Get your own copy. It's free! Sign up here. Send tips/stories/photos/events/fundraisers/job movement/juicy miscellanea to huffposthill@huffingtonpost.com. Follow us on Twitter - @HuffPostHill

CHRIS CHRISTIE EVEN YELLS AT HIMSELF - Chris Christie found a new way to be rude when he argued with himself Wednesday. The twist was, he yelled at some lady in order to do so. Kate Sheppard: "Republican presidential candidate and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie thinks that human exhalation is a cause of climate change. Or he thinks that statement is 'ridiculous.' Either might be true." Cuz he said it himself, you see. [HuffPost]

GIVE ME YOUR TIRED, YOUR POOR, YOUR HUDDLED MASSES...BUT NOT THOSE ONES - As the humanitarian crisis in the Middle East spreads to Europe, the United States is doing very little for Syrian refugees. Michele Kelemen: "Syria's civil war has uprooted millions of people, including 4 million who have fled their homeland. The U.S., a country that has always been a leader in refugee resettlement, has taken in fewer than 1,000 of them." [NPR]

ARE CHRIS CHRISTIE AND SEAN HANNITY IN SIXTH GRADE? Hannity was asking Christie last night about how he loves Bon Jovi and Bruce Springsteen. Christie clarified his relationship with the two rockers: "I'm actually friends with Jon… Bruce, I know; Jon, I'm friends with." Hannity said he figured Springsteen probably hates him, but Christie reassured him in a way that would still make Hannity feel less cool than Christie. "He never told me he 'hated' you, but I could suspect he might… Listen, he's not all that fond of me, either." Gee, thanks. [NJ.com]

Enjoy Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the difference between Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders, and also Trump's response.

DID I SAY 'TOUGH ON CRIME?' I MEANT 'BLACK LIVES MATTER' - Like virtually every other national politician in the '80s and '90s, Joe Biden was a big supporter of the war on drugs and things like mandatory minimum prison sentences that are very much out of favor on the left these days. Matt Ferner and Nick Wing: "Now that legacy is under intense criticism. The 2016 election cycle has featured heated debate, especially among Democrats, about the historic injustices of the U.S. criminal justice system and the need for reform. A Biden presidential run may ultimately be determined by his ability to convince voters that he's evolved on drug policy over the last 30 years." [HuffPost]

DEMS ASK POPE FOR HELP - Christina Marcos: "A coalition of House Democrats wants Pope Francis to focus on how to address income inequality during his historic address to Congress later this month. More than 90 lawmakers signed on to a letter spearheaded by liberal Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), who has made food stamp-funding and other government assistance one of her signature issues in Congress. The lawmakers expressed hope that Pope Francis, who has built his image as an advocate for people in poverty, would bring attention to policies they've pushed for years during his Sept. 24 address. 'Your powerful example of solidarity with the poor and the marginalized will undoubtedly help inform our current debates around major U.S. policy affecting all Americans,' they wrote in the letter." [The Hill]

POOR RICK PERRY Mac Fortier: The New Hampshire campaign team for Republican candidate Rick Perry's presidential bid has disbanded. 'It has entirely disbanded,' said Michael Dennehy, who was Perry's senior advisor overseeing the New Hampshire operation. Including himself, he said there were two paid staffers, three part-timers and several interns." [NECN.com]

CHRIS CHRISTIE RELUCTANTLY ADMITS MEXICANS ARE HUMAN BEINGS - He doesn't want to treat them that way, though. Igor Bobic: "It turns out the hawkish presidential contender does not want to treat people like FedEx packages, as he suggested at a campaign event on Saturday. Rather, Christie said, he would track people who overstayed their visas using existing biometric technology -- or their fingerprints. 'I don't mean people are packages,' Christie said in an interview on Fox News." [HuffPost]

BECAUSE YOU'VE READ THIS FAR - Beluga photobombs Gov. Dan Malloy (D-Conn.)

DONALD TRUMP CHEATS AT GOLF - You already knew that, but Ben Terris got like six people to actually say it: "One morning in the mid-1990s, Mark Mulvoy was on the sixth hole of Long Island’s Garden City Golf Club with Donald Trump when the skies opened, and they ducked for cover under a nearby awning. The rain let up a few moments later, and Mulvoy, then the managing editor of Sports Illustrated, returned to the green. When he got there, he found a ball 10 feet from the pin that he didn’t remember seeing before the storm. 'Who the hell’s ball is this?' he said." [WashPost]

POLITICO FOUND SOME PEOPLE EVEN MORE HORRIBLE THAN ACTUAL TRUMP SUPPORTERS - Try to follow this logic and see if your head doesn't explode. Ben Schreckinger: "They think Donald Trump’s ideas are 'disgusting.' They think he is making a mockery of the American political system and that even he doesn’t take his own candidacy seriously. And that is exactly why they say they plan to vote for him." [Politico]

COMFORT FOOD

- Grizzly bear slap.

- Man trying to paint his daughter's room texted the wrong number and it turned out so right.

- A fake lifetime biopic of Meryl Streep in which she is portrayed by Christina Applegate.

TWITTERAMA

@elisefoley: “I’m a hugger” is one of the worst phrases in the English language

@EvanMcSan: Well I just witnessed someone interviewing a pol with Google Glass. Was like living in The Future circa 2013.

@cushbomb: Hamlet: There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
Horatio: Source for this claim?

@tjl: personally I'm also against Idris Elba as Bond but only because of my principled stance favoring The Rock playing every role in every movie

@meechone: I think Lena Dunham should be the next James Bond

Got something to add? Send tips/quotes/stories/photos/events/fundraisers/job movement/juicy miscellanea to Eliot Nelson (eliot@huffingtonpost.com) or Arthur Delaney (arthur@huffingtonpost.com). Follow us on Twitter @HuffPostHill (twitter.com/HuffPostHill). Sign up here: http://huff.to/an2k2e

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot