he
confirmation hearing in the Senate for Chuck Hagel, President Obama's
nominee for Secretary of Defense, was painful to watch because it
displayed the tomfoolery, pretense, self-righteous know-nothingism, and
embarrassing lack of contact with reality that dominate the landscape of
America's broken democracy. It was like watching a Nebraska ordinary
Joe set upon by circus freaks– a phalanx of moral midgets, stalking
cat-men, vicious lobster boys and ethical werewolves.
Those who regretted that Hagel seldom stood his
ground, often just deflected persnickety questions, and sometimes was
made to recite the catechisms of Neoconservative orthodoxy, should
remember that what is important in Washington is willingness to conform
orally, regardless of what one actually believes or how one acts. Hagel
might agree to look like he is being pushed around by his former
colleagues, for the sake of their face and his. He won't agree actually
to be pushed around once he is in office.
Very disturbing that most of the questioning(grandstanding)... pertained to Israel.
ReplyDeleteDisturbing and revealing. The strings pulling the puppets are barely hidden now. Everyone can see who's pulling them too.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteThis is an excellent review of the whole sorry mess!
"I'm not really exaggerating when I say these three themes accounted for practically 80% of the questions asked of Hagel, particularly by Republicans. In fact, according to a tweet from Washington Post reporter Rajiv Chandrasekaran that made the rounds yesterday evening, Israel was mentioned 136 times in the hearing and Iran 135 times:"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/feb/01/chuck-hagel-senate-hearing-discredit