GOP challenges Chuck Hagel one last time

[ProSense]

GOP challenges Chuck Hagel one last time

By Steve Benen

Defense Secretary-designate Chuck Hagel will take the oath of office later today, which will likely be a satisfying resolution to a difficult confirmation process. But before he's sworn in, Senate Republicans issued one last challenge to their former colleague.

As Chuck Hagel proceeded toward confirmation Tuesday, several Republican senators said that he will have a lot of work ahead of him to prove himself and repair his relationships in the Senate after the Pentagon nominee's long and bruising confirmation battle. [...]

Several GOP senators who were directly involved in the Hagel fight ... said they were willing to work with Hagel but that it was Hagel's responsibility, not the Senate's, to mend fences and prove that he can do the job.

This has to be one of the more amusing things I've heard from Senate Republicans in quite a while. In effect, the line from the GOP minority is, "We smeared Chuck Hagel, we questioned his patriotism, we questioned his loyalties, and we accused him without proof of having ties to America's enemies. Now that he's confirmed, we expect Hagel to start mending the relationship we destroyed on purpose as part of our partisan scorched-earth campaign."

Even by Republican standards, this is pretty nutty.

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So, ultimately, what was the point of Republicans launching a half-hearted war against Hagel? Steve M's take rings true:

What this reminds me of is high school -- no, junior high. I wasn't seriously bullied back in those years, but I went through some low-level harassment, and I saw some directed at others.

You know the guy who'd slump in his seat as you'd walk down the aisle, so you'd trip over his feet? Or the guy who'd shove you into a bank of lockers and then just keep walking? These weren't beatdowns. They didn't cause real pain or leave marks. It was all just meant to throw you off stride, and to make sure you knew where you (and the perpetrator) stood in the pecking order.

The people who did those things in my school years obviously derived satisfaction from them. Their political counterparts are modern-day Republicans.

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/02/27/17116502-gop-challenges-chuck-hagel-one-last-time

It has become a party of Romneys.

Statement from the President on the Confirmation of Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense

With the bipartisan confirmation of Chuck Hagel as our next Secretary of Defense, we will have the defense secretary our nation needs and the leader our troops deserve. From the moment he volunteered for military service in Vietnam, Chuck has devoted his life to keeping America secure and our armed forces strong. An American patriot who fought and bled for our country, he understands our sacred obligations to our service members, military families and veterans.

I will be counting on Chuck’s judgment and counsel as we end the war in Afghanistan, bring our troops home, stay ready to meet the threats of our time and keep our military the finest fighting force in the world. Most of all, I am grateful to Chuck for reminding us that when it comes to our national defense, we are not Democrats or Republicans, we are Americans, and our greatest responsibility is the security of the American people.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/02/26/statement-president-confirmation-chuck-hagel-secretary-defense

[TwilightGardener]

1. John McCain said Hagel will basically have to come crawling to him to patch things up.

I am not making that up:

Still, not everyone was eager to bury the hatchet.

Arizona Sen. John McCain, who faulted Hagel and joined his Republican colleagues in their delay tactics, said the responsibility for mending fences belongs solely with Hagel. Asked about whether the relationship across the Potomac would improve, McCain answered, “It depends on what he does.”


Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/02/hagel-survives-opponents-make-nice-88136.html#ixzz2M6wVGdQX

[ck4829]

2. Only the TPGOP could kick someone and then expect the victim to apologize for hurting their foot