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It was nearly two weeks ago when the Senate first considered Chuck Hagel's Defense Secretary nomination, and at the time, Americans saw something that's never happened before: the Senate minority filibustered a cabinet nominee, blocking an up-or-down vote for the first time ever.
Even at the time, Republicans conceded they were unlikely to kill Hagel's nomination, but the GOP minority wanted a delay.
Today, the delay ended. The Senate voted 71 to 27 to end debate and bring Hagel's confirmation to the floor for an up-or-down vote. The bipartisan majority included several fierce Republican critics of Hagel, including John McCain and Lindsey Graham.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said he expects a final vote later today, perhaps as early as 4:30 p.m. (ET).
While we wait for Hagel's now-inevitable confirmation, I'm still not altogether sure what Republicans were thinking when they launched his doomed crusade against Hagel in the first place. Indeed, other than allowing everyone to laugh at Republican media over the "Friends of Hamas" fiasco last week, what was the point of forcing delays?
What did GOP officials hope to accomplish? There were a few fundraising letters, McCain got to appear on a few more Sunday shows, but the strategy never seemed to come together for the right in any kind of coherent way. They saw President Obama nominate a Republican to his cabinet; it drove them batty; they launched a weak smear campaign; and the whole effort collapsed without anything being accomplished. Last week, several Republicans, on the verge of defeat, even pleaded with the White House to pull Hagel's nomination anyway, just because. Today, with the benefit of hindsight, the request looks even more pathetic.
If there was a point to the GOP's anti-Hagel campaign, it hid well.
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jennifer rubin found all sorts of benefits in this hagel debacle.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2013/02/26/hagel-confirmation-winds-up/?hpid=z2
to her (demented?) mind the very fact that hagel is now a seen as a weak dod secy is a big win. nevermind that it's not good for the country. it makes conservatives feel good about harming the obama legacy. hooray!
It's very simple.
The number of legislative days to get anything progressive done is very small. Every day spent on something other than what the Dems want to be working on is a day the GOP considers well spent.
Does this mean Santorum will stop trying to raise money off this BS?
Probably not.
Definitely not.
The point was to underline the insanity and pettiness of the congressional GOP, in case anyone had missed the memo. The rapidity at which they will turn on even their own would offend a piranha.
Once again, their accusations prove to be impotent.
News flash, Lindsey Graham has a hang-nail and the tip of her hair really hurts!
-MSM and the "Friends O' Hummus"
"... what Republicans were thinking when they launched his doomed crusade against Hagel in the first place."
LMAO, Steve you've got jokes. As IF the GOTP actually think about anything. They listen to the voices in their heads (FAUX NOOZ, Limberger et.al).....
One can only hope that they start to pay a price at the voting booth!
Poor Rick Santorum wasn't able to raise the ten thousand dollars he needed to defeat the Monster Hagel.
NIMRODS!!
Republicans do it because they are too stupid to see how stupid they look and their constituents won't hold them accountable in any meaningful way. Embarassing.
If President Obama is for it, they're against it . . . which explains why they insist he's muslim -- because, if he's a christian, they'll have to come out against Christmas and Easter.
LOL thank you I needed the laugh (however it's so true that I have to laugh or I'd cry)
As many have said before...The Obama's just have to come out against sun heated mayonnaise and ecoli laden burgers and half our country's problems would be over. An added benefit for the Shooters of the world would be the boost in profits for funeral homes.
How about, "please don't throw me in the briarpatch!"? On the con side: I don't think they're that smart.
Again, what Republicans did was take up time. It's part of their strategy to bottleneck things to a standstill. That leaves less time for anything else.
i think they're just sour about obama's reelection that they're just being bratty petulent children who cry about not getting what they wanted so they're making it hard on everyone else.
Lets just wait and see how much defense spending gets cut in Ted Cruz's backyard.
Benghazi. That was the point. Benghazi.
Disgusted is correct. This is an inept extension of the "McConnell Doctrine," obstruct everything from the White House. It leaves the twerp, Mitch, to concentrate on deflecting Ashley Judd's challenge, provides a momentary illusion of no filibuster, and provides absurd displays of 'senatorial' egos for TV. I can't wait until we get to a future Supreme Court nominee.