Hagel convinces Schumer…
…that his previous positions on the Middle East had no meaning, earning Schumer’s vote for his confirmation.
Was there ever any doubt that this would happen?:
Schumer said that his support was sown up after Hagel ”” whom Obama formally nominated last week after a month of preparation ”” committed to several positions regarding Iran that met with Schumer’s preference. As a two-term senator, Hagel had been unique in positions calling for direct talks the Iranian regime and opposing unilateral sanctions by the United States against the renegade regime. In a very detailed statement, Schumer said Hagel left no doubt that he would support a very aggressive posture toward Tehran…
chumer had become a key linchpin in the nomination battle, as many senior Republicans have expressed deep doubt about Hagel’s confirmation. If Schumer had opposed Hagel, then a crucial bloc of pro-Israel Democrats might have joined him and made confirmation impossible. Schumer’s announcement follows the public endorsement of Hagel by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), another prominent Jewish Democrat who is also a senior member of the Foreign Relations Committee.
By supporting Obama himself—which both Schumer and Boxer have done, and will continue to do, of course—they have proven that their support of Israel is just lip service. There’s a lot of lip service in politics. In fact, the greater part of political rhetoric is just that: lip service. When push comes to shove, few stand by their principles.
But I will go on record as predicting Hagel will not fulfill his promises about the Middle East to Schumer, unless of course Obama tells him to. And I don’t think that’s the way Obama’s planning to go.
And I think Schumer and Boxer know that. This is all just posturing—another word for lip service.
So far Obama is only the second worse President in US history because Buchanan’s incompetence helped bring on the Civil War. If the Iranians get the bomb then he’ll deserve top billing as worse, maybe he’ll be able to beat out Neville Chamberlain as worse world leader of a democratic state in modern history.
Wouldn’t it be funny if by allowing Hagel to become SecDef the Iranians were so encouraged in their belligerency to the point Obama, the great appeaser, had to act.
BTW there is a blueprint available for understanding Obama’s choices in Leonard Mosley’s On Borrowed Time, in which the author describes Chamberlain’s machinations before WW2.
When push comes to shove, few stand by their principles.
What principles?
chuck: Schumer, is that you? 🙂
“sown up”?
}}} When push comes to shove, few stand by their principles.
In politics, even more than real life:
“When all is said and done, a lot more has been said, than done”
😀
.
Birds of a feather!
Hagel agrees with Obama that the Islamists aren’t an existential threat and that if we weren’ so chummy with the Israelis. Therfore he is the perfect fit for Obama.
That’s bad enough, but the fact is that Hagel has no real management experience. SECDEF is a really big management job. Hagel may well screw things up at DOD worse than they ever have been. Of course that may be Obama’s objective.
“Hagel will not fulfill his promises about the Middle East to Schumer, unless of course Obama tells him to.”
That is really the bottom line. It is not about Hagel it is about Obama. Although I also agree with J. J. about Hagel lacking the necessary management experience for the job. Obama’s primary motive for selecting Hagel was just to show he can get away with it.
Schumer+Boxer=Spines of vastly overcooked NOODLES.
I think conservatives tend to misunderstand the left’s attitude toward Israel. There are of course those who hate it, but there are many more who “support” Israel but just cannot abide the vulgar little right-wingers that run the country. Until Israel comes to its senses and replaces them with acceptable leftists, their attitude is that Israel will get what it deserves.
The idea that Israel democratically chose these leaders based on a rational assessment of what is in their best interest is not an idea that even shows up on their radar.
Many American Jews share this view. If and when Israel is destroyed they will tut-tut, shrug their shoulders, and lament that this is what happens when you elect a right-wing government.
Glen H,
Those same Leftists think the people in Gaza electing Hamas to power is a perfect example of democracy at work and should be respected by all, including recipients of rockets from said beacon of democracy.
We all know how Leftist double standards work: A person is a truth-seeking intellectual when arguing left-wing points, but a racist when arguing right-wing ones; a left-wing victory at the ballot box is democracy as it should be, while a right-wing victory signals the rise of fascism. If I’ve learned anything in the past few years, it’s to calibrate my political GPS to the compass of Leftist opprobrium; it’s when they praise you (“Moderate, pragmatic Republican…”) that you need to do some soul-searching.
No one is convinced. Lies, all lies, and theater for the easily fooled.
Dang, I’m cynical today.
Bob from Virginia,
No, Obama is the WORST president (in my opinion)–worse than Jimmy Carter, Grant, Harding, and the 1850’s-era presidents.
I have been interested in the Presidents for many years and have read much about them, and I can’t see how Obama avoids being the worst.
You’ll get that 2nd US Civil War soon enough. Then where will Obama be?