a good analsis here http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/02/03/1184379/-Was-Chuck-Hagel-Just-Plain-Bad-in-His-Confirmation-Hearing
A couple of quotes from the lengthy article
What was Hagel's main task in the confirmation hearing?
Wasn't Hagel's main task to avoid saying anything that would give any Senator a reason or excuse to vote against his confirmation? In particular, wasn't it to avoid saying anything that contradicts current Administration policy, or that might unnecessarily put the Democratic Senators and reasonable Republican Senators who are expected to vote for his confirmation - people like Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand - in a politically awkward position? Whatever one may think of Schumer and Gillibrand otherwise, they're playing on the Hagel team now. Wasn't it part of Hagel's task to protect all the players on the Hagel team, by avoiding unnecessarily saying things or behaving in a way that would make their vote for his confirmation politically more difficult?
If Hagel is confirmed as Secretary of Defense, as people in Washington overwhelmingly expect, doesn't that mean that he successfully completed his assigned task?
Wasn't part of Hagel's task to show that he will have no problem acting publicly as a loyal lieutenant to President Obama? Doesn't one want from a loyal lieutenant that he keeps his focus on the assigned task, keeping his cool even as arrows rain down upon him?
What happened in this exchange? In clarifying that terrorism can never be justified, Hagel said exactly what he had to say. But in defending the principle that you can't separate innocent Israeli and Palestinian victims, Hagel didn't give an inch. In fact, it was Senator Lee who had to give ground, conceding that in considering victims, one cannot morally distinguish between Israelis and Palestinians.
And this is about as close as you can come to a pure test of character in Washington. Because everyone knows that there is absolutely zero political price to be paid in Washington for throwing the Palestinians under the bus. If someone presses you to throw the Palestinians under the bus, you know that political expediency says: go ahead. There's no price to be paid for this. There's no-one who'd like to punish you for it politically who has the capacity to do so.
There is exactly one reason and one reason only not to throw the Palestinians under the bus in Washington, and that is that throwing the Palestinians under the bus is not the act of a righteous man. And that's why Chuck Hagel didn't do it.
Now tell me again how Hagel flubbed his hearing. I'm thinking that maybe some of the people saying this don't follow these issues very closely.
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