Send to KindleTom Friedman weighs in on the Chuck Hagel non-nomination, with some very clear thinking. But the Obama Administration is still silent–which remains deeply unfair to Hagel, and deeply satisfying to the extremists who oppose his nomination.
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The Log Cabin Republicans took out a full page ad in the NY Times today to slam Hagel. Since when have Log Cabin Repubs cared about Republican slander to gays? They must have missed his heartfelt apology. Having never heard one before out of the mouth of a Republican, it must have gone right over their heads.
A great solution would be for Obama to find a qualified Democrat who will also avoid a war with Iran and treat Israel rationally It can, and should, be done.
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/find-and-nominate-qualified-democrat-secretary-defense/pSh57vQr?utm_source=wh.gov&utm_medium=shorturl&utm_campaign=shorturl
Remember, this is Obama's fault! I see little ire for the sickening organizations that are slandering Hagel so, but plenty of people jumping at the change to blame Obama.
People want Obama to do "something", but I don't see much specific on what that should be. There are two options; Yes or No. Yes, Obama would consider Hagel - in which case, the attacks will continue. Or No, he wouldn't consider Hagel, which is pretty unfair at it's core - you aren't nominated, but I'll just pre-refuse you.
Neither option seems terribly appealing, and consider the Fiscal Cliff situation, I think Obama's priorities and time are occupied.
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It's Obama's fault/it's the extremists fault. We got it. We read Douthat complaining about the extremists on one side against the "centrist left" on the other (a breakthrough - it's no longer left and right). Obama is who he is and always has been. He didn't fight for his best friend Susan Rice so the cries that he won't battle for the Republican Hagel seem bizarre. If the Beltway pundits don't like it they can up the rhetoric on the extremists - OR - they can blame Obama and the extremists.
I think Friedman was right with the disertation on the disgusting aspect of Hagels critics - but i don't agree with him on the philisophical aspect.
I just don't agree with those guys.
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I honestly don't know enough about Hagel's qualifications for the job but when the
media centrist elites (JK, The Mustache of Understanding) start pushing for
someone my spidey-sense goes off.
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@Paul,nnto : Probably the spidey sense kicked in when you saw "Friedman " paired with "really clear thinking " in the same sentence.
@Paul,nnto It's not just Klein. This has really rattled the Beltway. And then there's the conspiracy theories at Red State and such - that he really really wanted Michele Flournoy so he threw out Hagel's name because he was mad about Rice - and then he can easily get the one he really wants - Flournoy!
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From the article:
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"I am certain that the vast majority of U.S. senators and policy makers quietly believe exactly what Hagel believes on Israel — that it is surrounded by more implacable enemies than ever and needs and deserves America’s backing. But, at the same time, this Israeli government is so spoiled and has shifted so far to the right that it makes no effort to take U.S. interests into account by slowing its self-isolating settlement adventure."
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That's the problem both in Israel and here in the U.S. The far right in both have embarked on a course that the people don't want, don't support and isn't in the best interests of either country. But they still insist that their way is the only way and compromise means having the other side agree with them.
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Do you think THIS:
http://swampland.time.com/2012/12/21/the-timing-of-the-fiscal-cliff/
might have something to do with the delay, Joe?
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"Almost 3/4 of an inch of rain and temperatures down to 69......."
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The horror. The horror.
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I just got back. A car ran into the back of my truck. There was a car sideways on the road going down the hill in front of me and the guy in back of me slid into me. It just left a few marks on my bumper. He got a dented fender. We both pulled into the store parking lot at the bottom of the hill and got out of our vehicles. He said he'd call the police and his insurance company. We were both driving PoS so I told him that it was OK by me, but I wasn't worried about the marks on my bumper and it hardly seemed worth it for him to call. He asked if I was sure and I said yes. We shook hands and that was it.
@kbanginmotown @sacredh We had a winter storm here as well. Almost 3/4 of an inch of rain and temperatures down to 69.......
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OT, but we're having a blizzard here. We've had an inch of snow in less than a half an hour.
