Will America Be Sold Out By Senate Republicans?

If we are, it would be totally fitting that the two men who are willing to hand of the Defense to a blithering incompetent are the two men considered by the media to be the "most reasonable" Senators in the Republican party (except when they are running for president, of course, in which case they morph into right-wing nuts overnight).

Dave Carter over at Ricochet (in a piece aptly titled "A Fraternity of Scoundrels") points out how these men are prepared to betray their own words with their actions:

Regarding the nomination of the supremely inept Chuck Hagel to be Secretary of Defense (Neville Chamberlain being indisposed at the moment), John McCain concluded, "No, I don't believe he's qualified. But I don't believe that we should hold up his nomination any further, because I think it's (been) a reasonable amount of time to have questions answered." Why not nominate Oprah then? It would take even less time to establish her lack of qualification to head the Department of Defense.

Assistant Secretary of Retreat Lindsey Graham gave his considered opinion that Hagel is, "…one of the most unqualified, radical choices for Secretary of Defense in a very long time." And therefore, he concluded as surely as night follows day that, "... at the end of the day, this is the president's decision. I give him great discretion."


Jen Rubin is stunned:

Huh?

Both McCain and Graham (who termed Hagel “one of the most unqualified, radical choices for secretary of defense in a very long time”) haven’t merely said they disagree with Hagel or that other nominees would be better. They said flat-out that he’s unfit, uninformed and “radical.” So why in heaven’s name would they help him get confirmed by lifting the filibuster? They cite respect for the president’s ”discretion,” but no discretion is owed to confirm someone unfit for the job, who said he couldn’t or wouldn’t do the job.(Hagel denied he’d be a policymaker or would run anything, pleading that it didn’t matter what he thinks.)

...Let’s recap. The president doesn’t care about an inept nominee. The Democrats don’t care about an inept nominee. But Republicans are supposed to defer to the White House’s judgment? This is, frankly, nuts.

Back to Dave Carter:

Latitude to qualified nominees is one thing, but latitude to those who have established their incompetence at profound length during painful testimony is pathetically and mind-blowingly dumb. If John McCain, Lindsey Graham, or any other senator finds Chuck Hagel unqualified to lead our armed forces, they have an affirmative duty to stop this disaster before it unfolds with catastrophic consequences. To do any less is to spinelessly subordinate the security of the United States in deference to a fraternity of professional scoundrels.


Jen Rubin is a lawyer turned conservative columnists, one of a handful of Jews to occupy said niche. Dave Carter is a cross country truck driver, retired military veteran, former private detective, and now a conservative radio host.

These are tow people of quite disparate personality and professions reaching a common conclusion. Graham and McCain may yet sell the nation out in order to maintain Senate comity, but it appears as if it will not go unnoticed.

It's time for McCain, especially, to dig deep inside and find that inner POW.  America need courage and resistance now more than ever, and I believe McCain still has it in spades. He'll find that Barack Obama is much less tough than the guards at the Hanoi Hilton, and much more adverse to drawn-out, hand to hand (political) combat...