Chuck Hagel: GOP Has ‘An Astounding Lack Of Responsible Leadership’

[Lakhota]

By Tanya Somanader

Former GOP Sen. Chuck Hagel (NE) can’t muster any praise for his Republican colleagues’ behavior in Congress over the past few months. In an interview with the Financial Times, Hagel blasted GOP leadership for their “irresponsible actions” during the debt ceiling debacle, noting that “I think about some of the presidents we’ve had on my side of the aisle — Ronald Reagan, George Bush Sr., go right through them, Eisenhower — they would be stunned.”

“Disgusted” with the debt ceiling negotiations, Hagel called it “an astounding lack of responsible leadership by many in the Republican party, and I say that as a Republican.” “Does anyone not believe what’s happened here the last couple weeks in the market was not a complete, direct result of the lack of confidence that came out of that folly, that embarrassment?” he asked.

More: Former GOP Senator Chuck Hagel: Republican Party Has ‘An Astounding Lack Of Responsible Leadership’ | ThinkProgress

 

[Lakhota]

I think Hagel would have made a good, maybe great, president.

 

[rightwinger]

Responsible Republicans?

 

[Mr. Shaman]

Responsible Republicans?

Yeah....it's lookin' like they're gettin' ready to.....

....go Swiftboat, on him.

"In the bitter debate that led up to the American invasion of Iraq in 2003, Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska said that some of his fellow Republicans, in their zest for war, lacked the perspective of veterans like him, who have “sat in jungles or foxholes and watched their friends get their heads blown off.”

Those Republicans in turn called him an “appeaser” whose cautious geopolitical approach dangerously telegraphed weakness in the post-Sept. 11 world.

The campaign now being waged against Mr. Hagel’s nomination as secretary of defense is in some ways a relitigation of that decade-old dispute. It is also a dramatic return to the public stage by the neoconservatives whose worldview remains a powerful undercurrent in the Republican Party and in the national debate about the United States’ relationship with Israel and the Middle East.

To Mr. Hagel’s allies, his presence at the Pentagon would be a very personal repudiation of the interventionist approach to foreign policy championed by the so-called Vulcans in the administration of President George W. Bush, who believed in pre-emptive strikes against potential threats and the promotion of democracy, by military means if necessary.

“This is the neocons’ worst nightmare because you’ve got a combat soldier, successful businessman and senator who actually thinks there may be other ways to resolve some questions other than force,” said Richard L. Armitage, who broke with the more hawkish members of the Bush team during the Iraq war when he was a deputy to Secretary of State Colin L. Powell. "​

 

[onecut39]

Responsible Republicans?

That designation has become an oxymoron

 

[Mr. Shaman]

Here come the....

...Israeli-Lobbyists!!!

 

[Mac1958]

.

I don't blame Boehner. How does a reasonable person deal in a cooperative legislative situation with people from his own party, who think that even the slightest hint of cooperation is complete capitulation to the enemy?

Holy shit. And further, why in the hell would he want that job?

.

 

[Staidhup]

Former Senator Hagel suffers from a major case of reality disconnect and is unfit to serve as Secretary of Defense. Those at the Pentagon, state department, and in the armed services understand the implications of his confirmation. When you think things can not get worse the Lord will prove other wise.
A very poor choice by a very poor leader.

 

[GoneBezerk]

He can shove his comments up his ass.

 

[Mr. Shaman]

Those at the Pentagon, state department, and in the armed services understand the implications of his confirmation. When you think things can not get worse the Lord will prove other wise.

wow.....where do you find the time to do such in-depth research.

 

[Katzndogz]

To democrats there are no responsible republicans. To republicans there are no responsible democrats. It's time to give it up and divide the nation. It's going to happen anyway.

 

[Mr. Shaman]

He can shove his comments up his ass.

You Porky Limbaugh fans are.....

....tooooooooooooooo obvious!!

​

 

[Avatar4321]

Responsible Republican leaders are difficult to find as responsibile Democrat leaders. Fact is, we have no real leadership in Washington. Just a bunch of people trying to enrich themselves at our expense.

 

[Avatar4321]

He can shove his comments up his ass.

While he is free to try, i dont think it's likely that he is going to be able to do that unless he spells them out using some sort of blocks. and if that's the case, I dont know that it would be wise to do anything like that.

 

[Avatar4321]

He can shove his comments up his ass.

You Porky Limbaugh fans are.....

....tooooooooooooooo obvious!!

​

Trolls are even more obvious

 

[Avatar4321]

.

I don't blame Boehner. How does a reasonable person deal in a cooperative legislative situation with people from his own party, who think that even the slightest hint of cooperation is complete capitulation to the enemy?

Holy shit. And further, why in the hell would he want that job?

.

To push forward the policies his party elected him to push

 

[g5000]

Hagel is correct, which will earn him the eternal enmity of the current GOP establishment.

Another "RINO" is born!

 

[Mr. Shaman]

January 15, 2013

Hagel;
Punished For Being CORRECT!!​

"Sometimes, it hurts to be right. Just ask the many skeptics of the Iraq war. In the face of fears of chemical weapons, and amid patriotic demands for action expressed everywhere from the White House, where President George W. Bush delivered his ultimatums, to suburban carports, where drivers pasted flag decals on their SUVs, some people dared to raise questions. For their courage, many were written off as troublemakers (Army General Eric Shinseki), egotists (French President Jacques Chirac), or myopic bureaucrats (United Nations weapons inspector Hans Blix).

It’s surprising that, a decade later, so many of those who accurately predicted the convulsions set off by the war would still be regarded in that same light — as fundamentally off-center in their thinking. One might have assumed that having been proven right would have raised their standing. But not really. While then-backbenchers like Barack Obama, who wasn’t a national figure in 2003, were able to use their opposition to the war to build bases of support, many of those who were in the thick of the national debate are still tarred with disloyalty.

Chuck Hagel is one such case."

UPPA U.S., Teabaggers!!

 

[Antares]

(sigh) He is PART of the GOP establishment.

He "retired" because he was going to lose his reelection bid....which is the SAME reason Nelson retired.

When Nelson cast the deciding vote for OCare he was finished here in Nebraska.

Hagel is correct, which will earn him the eternal enmity of the current GOP establishment.

Another "RINO" is born!

 

[Mr. Shaman]

January 15, 2013

Common Sense on Cuba​

"Foes of Chuck Hagel have found another reason to oppose his nomination for secretary of defense: he supported ending the 50-year old embargo on Cuba. Hagel also called the idea that the government in Havana constitutes a terrorist threat to the United States “goofy”, referring to Fidel Castro as a “toothless old dinosaur.” Supposedly, this proves he’s weak and won’t stand up to world dictators when vital U.S. interests are at stake.

In reality, Hagel belongs to a growing group of conservatives who have come to realize the failure of U.S. policy towards Cuba. This group includes former senator Richard Lugar, who until recently was the highest ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Senator Jeff Flake, a freshman Republican from Arizona. Even Paul Ryan (R-WI), the GOP’s former VP candidate, voted against the embargo the last time it came to a vote in the House in 2005."

​