I'm sure France appreciated the gesture

Some things have to be seen to be believed, and even then they are impossible to accept as real. Allahpundit of Hot Air is having just such a moment with this tweet from MSNBC air personality (can't call her a journalist or reporter, and I'm not even sure using the word "personality" to describe her really fits) Andrea Mitchell. Mitchell reports with a straight face that Secretary of State John Kerry, in Paris to apologize for the U.S. not sending an appropriate representative to last week's march against Islamic terrorism, brought 1970s folk singer James Taylor with him to sing "You've got a friend." Mitchell calls it "message to France after U.S. no shows last week." Most other people call it a story from The Onion. Nope:

The visit was organised after the White House admitted it had made a mistake in not dispatching a senior figure to Paris where 40 other world leaders took to the streets in solidarity with a million protesters after the attacks on Charlie Hebdo and a kosher supermarket.
Kerry will deliver some of his speech at the Paris city hall in French and then introduce the veteran American singer, James Taylor, most famous for the song You’ve Got a Friend.
“My visit to France is basically to share a big hug for Paris and express the affection of the American people for France and for our friends there who have been through a terrible time,” the secretary of state said in Bulgaria, before taking off for Paris.

"Veteran American singer" is Guardian-speak for "hasn't had a hit in 40 years and most people are surprised he's still alive." Seriously, was Barney the Dinosaur not available? His hey-day is a lot more recent than Taylor's, and his "I love you, you love me, we're a great big family" theme song is just as "appropriate," as in not at all. This is what passes for "smart power"? Shoulda stuck with those dumbass hashtags: