Much of the political world was transfixed yesterday by the grilling Chuck Hagel received by the Senate Armed Services Committee, and the consensus seems to be that the Defense Secretary nominee generally failed to impress. In terms of practical impact, I'm not sure it matters -- the confirmation hearing didn't appear to change many minds on the merits of Hagel's qualifications.
What struck me as more interesting than Hagel's halting answers were the quality of the questions, or in this case, the lack thereof.
The Washington Post's Rajiv Chandrasekaran made this observation last night, doing a word count on the hearing transcript. Some, including Jesse Berney, have argued persuasively that these can at times be misleading, but after watching much of the lengthy hearing, I think Chandrasekaran's point has real value -- it shows, at a minimum, where the senators focused their attention when evaluating the nominee for Secretary of Defense.
Indeed, going through the transcript, one might be tempted to believe there are only three countries on the planet -- the United States, Israel, and Iran -- and that Iran poses some kind of existential threat to America's future.
Al Qaeda wasn't deemed important, nor was North Korea. China was brought up only a handful of times, and the use of drones wasn't mentioned at all.
In Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the next Pentagon chief, Afghanistan -- the country where American troops are fighting an active, hot war right now -- was largely treated as an afterthought.
And why did the hearing play out like this?
No More Mister Nice Blog's Steve M. had an argument that resonated with me: "The discussion, like most discussions in Washington, centered on what Republicans wanted to talk about, and what they wanted to talk about was -- exclusively -- whatever they thought they could use for political advantage.... [N]obody talked about Mali because Republicans haven't yet figured out a way to use Mali to hurt Democrats. Republicans can no longer use Al Qaeda and Afghanistan to hurt Democrats, because it's not Bush's first term anymore, so Al Qaeda and Afghanistan barely came up.... On foreign policy, the Republican Party was once dominated by isolationists, and later by realists and by interventionists -- but now the party is dominated by Republicanists. It's all about politics. Republicans have no greater concern."
After yesterday, it's hard to draw any other conclusion. Yesterday wasn't about an exploration of the future of U.S. military policy, Hagel's record, the Obama administration's agenda for the next four years, the ongoing war, or the limits and scope of military force. It was about proxy fights, talking points, and scoring points.
Even when executing this strategy, GOP members of the committee pursued Hagel with the same questions about Iran and Israel, over and over again, in the clumsiest and most ham-fisted way possible. As Rachel noted on the show last night, we saw Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) "not seeming to know very much about what she was talking about" and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) "try a sort of like cable news-style stunt against Chuck Hagel that really fell flat."
In a big world with plenty of national security challenges, much of the Senate Armed Services Committee has adopted an exceedingly narrow view, which is unfortunate, and pursues this course in an often mindless, reactionary way, which is even more unfortunate.
Did Hagel dazzle the committee and its audience with crisp and commanding answers? No. Were his Republican inquisitors worse? Clearly, yes.
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Republicans can no longer use Al Qaeda and Afghanistan to hurt Democrats, because it's not Bush's first term anymore,
...And the black guy nailed Osama...Can't be reminding anyone about that. Better to gin up your next attempt at perpetual war.
Like Hillary's snarlfest last week, and Kerry's bromance later, Hagel's version of the Washington Kabuki was just more performance art for the beltway scribblers to chew on.
"I HAVE to ask these questions, for Pete's sake! I'm running for President/re-election/my next Meet the Press appearance!"
policy by ego
very Freudian I like it.
"And why did the hearing play out like this?"
In a word: grandstanding.
Hagel acted like the parent of several misbehaving children. He very patiently sat there, ignoring and deflecting ridiculous questions that Republican senators weren't really all that interested in having him answer. They were pushing each other out of the way so they could mug for the camera and get attention.
It was like Hagel was saying, "OK, OK, just get it out of your system. I'll smack you down if I have to, but I don't want to. Just finish your attempts at attention-getting and we'll move on to the important stuff."
Hagel did what my long-dead grandpa used to say you should do when confronted by
idiots... like these Republicans are now...
"Never wrestle with pigs. You get dirty, and besides, the pigs like it."
The real tell is how many questions were asked that actually were relevant to the position of Secretary of Defense. The questions were better suited for someone being nominated for Sec. of State! Oh, I guess they missed their chance at Sen. Kerry's hearings!
Though we are witnessing men in power embarrassing themselves, and our nation by extension, we are also clamoring for these men to shed their ideological blinders, their political machinations and their myopia when it comes to their roles as elected officials!
As the Monty Python skit goes - Republicans are a bit too tinny! Too tinny! Too tinny! -Kevo
Missing opportunities at relevance . With our brother and sister Republican resumé this may just be another career builder .
Facts are heavy things like the earth old or young tireless and strong
The choice to play with the unyielding may seem less weighty
Than the dainty fainting crowds eye upon a clock
Choosing amongst proud delicate fibers , matte or gloss
What rocks our hands to learn the truth is often just getting out of bed
What delicate bromides cleanly glossed or matte attest
Have traveled four times around the block
McCain needs to exit Political Life, when a yes or no answer is never good enough. The American people want to hear the full story of what went on not just a yes or no answer where you are just covering up what went on. McCain is the typical example of why the American People get pissed off about government and too many times the American people are deceived. No wonder we never got the full truth of 911 and other political issues, when you have these politicians that act so blatantly arrogant and corrupt. This confirmation hearing of Hagel is just another example why we don’t want these worthless Republicans. All these Republicans did was make things worse for the American people and the world. And as usual the Republicans are as dumb as ever. This is no time for worrying about your precious little ego’s being hurt, when there is more important issues to be worrying about than some Republican nonsense again.
No they have the same concerns they have always had. Money and staying in office.
People say it all the time "The only thing they are afraid of is a primary from the right" and considering the narrow cold war mentality of the base and the vast amounts of money and influence wielded by defense contractors and the religious wing of the party none of these people should have been expected to behave any differently.
"My day job is running for re-election. When I find a spare moment or two, I run the country."
"I'm not actually a Legislator but I play one on TV"
Oh, I am sure that was on purpose!! Do you think those Senators wanted to remind the country that, because of REPUBLICAN decisions, we have now been in Afghanistan longer than the Russians were there, and that we have accomplished less that the Russians did? And that the only way out of there, is to retreat with our tail between our legs?
When Bush was President, we hit Iraq. If McCain was President, we'd be in Iran now. If Romney were President, we'd be headed there to
defend Israelget their oil.War mongering is an excellent reason never to elect another Republican President again.
The GOP Senators need clips of themselves browbeating the nominee so that they can show them to their party organization back in their home State and say "Look, you see how tough I am. There's no need to replace me with a Tea Party candidate." That's why they all asked the same questions, again and again.
Is the Hagel nomination about the security of the United States or Israel. It's a wonder the spanish inquisitors did'nt ask him if he is prepared to go to war if Mr.Netanyahu orders him to do so. MCcain, still smarting from his loss to President Obama acted like a complete ass as did Lindsay Nelson etal. This was'nt a question answer, it was a skewering by republicans scorned by one of their own. In other words REVENGE.
It's ALWAYS about Israel.
Hagel committed the same unpardonable sin that Huntsman did.
He said yes when asked by a wartime President to help his/our country.
Good thing the Repubs were not the opposition party in WWII, or we might have lost.
BTW-- Vietnam proved that it is possible for the US to lose a war against a small nation.
Do these Repubs want to prove that again? Do they care?
So the vast majority of questions revolve around Israel, the worst ally the United States has other than Afghanistan, and Iran, which is not, and never will be, an existential threat to the US. How about more questions about the cuts the Pentagon has to make? How does Hagel feel about the hundreds of billions wasted on the unflyable F-35 program, or the nearly-as-unflyable F-22? Or maybe he can be asked about the problems with the LCS-1 Littoral Combat ship, one of the worst pieces of garbage built for the Navy in many years? Maybe he can comment about the fact that the Navy admits it has no effective countermeasures to the Mach 2.2 cruise missiles that would be aimed at big targets like aircraft carriers, and has no plans to come up with any? For all I care, Israel and Iran can fall off the surface of the earth when it comes to SecDef hearings. Those are in the realm of the State Department. The military is the last resort for each of those areas, and involve the same response, wiping Iran off the face of the earth if they are stupid enough to launch a nuclear strike on anyone. If anything, our nukes would only be used to bounce the rubble around, as the 200+ nukes that Israel has would sterilize all of Iran long before our nukes could get there.
Steve, during WW II the Republicans were the opposition party but back then, republicans actually cared about this country. They were the "Loyal Opposition" not the total jerks they are now.
@Duluthian
I know that. I said "Repubs", which to me refers to the current group of Republicans (since they started calling the Democratic Party, the "Democrat" Party, in mid-90s or so). The Republican Party was the opposition party then, not this Repub Party. OK?
I have never been so saddened and disappointed in the "Senate"...our august collection of great minds and...oh who am I kidding...these folks are way past their shelf life..
Then there's the old saying, empty wagons make the most noise...
The sad part is that Obama does not operate like the Repukes... If there was any justice, Hagel would shut down every military base in the states of the shameless pigs that make the business of America a joke.
American Extinctionalism!
McCain's tantrums at Chuck and Hillary need to be stopped. His grudges now take precedence over the needs of the country. Pathetic and downright unpatriotic set of priorities. It's past time for McCain to retire.
"And why did the hearing play out like this?"
1) Because the GOTP are so "self" focused and need their sheeple base to see them "acting tough".
2) Because the corporate owned librul media will parrot what they say without analysis, making them "appear tough".
3) Because neither the politicians nor their sheeple actually don't want to know and don't have a clue about the rest of the world.
4) Because they haven't received their Luntz approved talking points.
5) And finally because NONE of them served their nation (except John McShame - & he was show-boating that's why he got captured) - and they haven't a clue about what the job itself is supposed to entail, so they can't ask proper questions.
Sen. Hagel is qualified to do the job, the real problem is that he was asked by this President to do the job and a real rethugniCon would have said NO, period!
I watched the entire hearings online yesterday. I've served 10 and a half years both active and reserve in the United States Navy. My opinion from the hearings was that although I thought Hagel could've been better prepared I thought most of the senators were asking too many questions on Iran and Israel and not enough on the Pentagon budget, the post war Afghanistan, China's military buildup, military suicides and sexual assault, which from my experience, IS a big problem in the military, and we go through training after training on sexual assault and the consequences of it. What I was watching yesterday was mostly political stunts and "gotcha" questions to smear a former senator and Vietnam veteran.
McCain and his buddies behaved exactly like the ^$$holes they are. What did you expect? Here's what I wonder. Do we want a mealy-mouthed, ill prepared, sit there and take it at any cost guy like Hegel to head our DoD? What's he going to do when the crap really starts flying? I still think it's not too late for PBO to find a Democrat who could do this job well, and stand up to the likes of "Crash" McCain and his mob. Not one Democrat could do this job?
Memo: Hagel did fine, you must have seen cherry-picked highlights that only showed his responses to certain questioners. The S.O.D. job is one that answers directly to the POTUS, and works directly with the rest of the Cabinet, only a tiny number of the questions Hagel fielded were relevant to the job. Hagel is an honest man, and will be confirmed. Stooping down to McCain/Graham level is nothing we want our leaders to do, so Hagel not fighting back against disengenuous nonsense is actually good IMHO.
Politicians such as Mr. McCain and Mr. Graham through to their younger colleagues, Mr. Rubio and Mr. Cruz, are convincing me that we need to put an end to career politicians. We need to set term-limits for Representatives and Senators.
Yep. If there are term limits for the president and governors in many states why can't there be term limits to senators and congressmen?
Individual congressman also have their own agendas to use these moments of free publicity for re-election or fundraising. If a soundbite gets picked up on tv, no matter how stupid or clumsy, the base often gets motivated.
As someone who lives in Israel it's really tiring to be used as a pawn for political gain. And the left isn't much better, just for different reasons.
Carol: Oy Vey... Americans have moved way past this "both sides do it" nonsense. The left is far from perfect, but our broken politics are squarely one-sided...
That's rich, coming from you. Israel manipulates the US and the world, at the cost of peoples like the Palestinians, because they had the foresight to make themselves The Chosen People in a book they wrote.
Lebowsky Dude-My point was that while Israel is a staunch ally of the US we shouldn't be a litmus test for political figures. If someone thinks Israel is just okay versus someone who cheerleads for Israel it shouldn't mean the Israel is just okay guy won't do a good job.
NeedMore Coffee- The Jews were a people from the land of Israel before we also became a religion in the organized sense which happened in Sinai when we recieved the Torah or as you believe wrote it. History is why we live in Israel. It is our historical homeland and there has been a constant Jewish presence on the land even during the exile.
The Spanish were conquered and they did not return and reconquer Spain for 8 centuries yet no one questions their right to be there. They retook the country by force in bloody battles not by developing the land and building. Israel too was invaded just like Spain.
The fact that there are Arabs who now call themselves Palestinians that share a history in the land does not make our history and ties to our homeland any less legitimate.
Your points are filled with historical antisemitic imagery. The idea that we can manipulate the world and the twisting of what is meant by the chosen people are classic antisemitic themes.
Having Hagel answer a question with just a yes or no answer and not being able to explain his answer is like asking someone "Yes or no, have you stopped beating your wife? Yes or no." Either way you answer that question, you're screwed.