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	<title>Comments on: Thomas Friedman Goes to Bat for Chuck Hagel</title>
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	<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/joseph-klein/thomas-friedman-goes-to-bat-for-chuck-hagel/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=thomas-friedman-goes-to-bat-for-chuck-hagel</link>
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		<title>By: irateiconoclast</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/joseph-klein/thomas-friedman-goes-to-bat-for-chuck-hagel/comment-page-1/#comment-4117370</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[irateiconoclast]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 07 Jan 2013 03:27:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=171150#comment-4117370</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Yep--he&#039;s apparently in the same sordid club that counts Chomsky, Finkelstein, et al. as esteemed members.  Friedman is a piece of dreck! ]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Yep&#8211;he&#039;s apparently in the same sordid club that counts Chomsky, Finkelstein, et al. as esteemed members.  Friedman is a piece of dreck! </p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>By: TheDon</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/joseph-klein/thomas-friedman-goes-to-bat-for-chuck-hagel/comment-page-1/#comment-4111114</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[TheDon]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 05 Jan 2013 10:05:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=171150#comment-4111114</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Hagel served in the military. He is as American as you can get. America does not Interfere in Israel government or Israel internal issues. So all you hating on Hagel find something else better to do. I believe he is the right man for the right job regardless of his views. Needless to say more. ]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Hagel served in the military. He is as American as you can get. America does not Interfere in Israel government or Israel internal issues. So all you hating on Hagel find something else better to do. I believe he is the right man for the right job regardless of his views. Needless to say more. </p>
]]></content:encoded>
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	<item>
		<title>By: EarlyBird</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/joseph-klein/thomas-friedman-goes-to-bat-for-chuck-hagel/comment-page-1/#comment-4104634</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[EarlyBird]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 03 Jan 2013 17:34:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=171150#comment-4104634</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Let me be clear:  I like and respect Jews a great deal.  I admire Israel and believe they are a very important ally, and one which the US is morally required to help defend.  But the US has paid a big price for that loyalty.  Israel depends upon the US for its very existence (last year Israel received $3.1 billion dollars in US military aid), and what do we get in return? Meddling in our elections, manipulation of our politics, character assassination of our president, and now even manipulation of our choice of Sec of Def.   
 
You, members of AIPAC and this entire website is an extension of the Israel First lobby inside America which consists of unpatriotic Americans.  You&#039;re a Jew first, a son of Israel second, an American third.   ]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Let me be clear:  I like and respect Jews a great deal.  I admire Israel and believe they are a very important ally, and one which the US is morally required to help defend.  But the US has paid a big price for that loyalty.  Israel depends upon the US for its very existence (last year Israel received $3.1 billion dollars in US military aid), and what do we get in return? Meddling in our elections, manipulation of our politics, character assassination of our president, and now even manipulation of our choice of Sec of Def.   </p>
<p>You, members of AIPAC and this entire website is an extension of the Israel First lobby inside America which consists of unpatriotic Americans.  You&#039;re a Jew first, a son of Israel second, an American third.   </p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>By: EarlyBird</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/joseph-klein/thomas-friedman-goes-to-bat-for-chuck-hagel/comment-page-1/#comment-4104619</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[EarlyBird]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 03 Jan 2013 17:29:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=171150#comment-4104619</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Gee, what a wonderful grasp of objective facts.  I dislike the meddling by Israelis in American foreign policy and choice of Defense Secretaries, so ipso facto I must be a &quot;Jew hater.&quot;  You&#039;re bright.   
 
Hey, I&#039;m not a big fan of rap music being played outside my house at 3:00 a.m.  I guess that makes me a &quot;black hater&quot; too, right?  Duh.... ]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Gee, what a wonderful grasp of objective facts.  I dislike the meddling by Israelis in American foreign policy and choice of Defense Secretaries, so ipso facto I must be a &quot;Jew hater.&quot;  You&#039;re bright.   </p>
<p>Hey, I&#039;m not a big fan of rap music being played outside my house at 3:00 a.m.  I guess that makes me a &quot;black hater&quot; too, right?  Duh&#8230;. </p>
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		<title>By: EarlyBird</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/joseph-klein/thomas-friedman-goes-to-bat-for-chuck-hagel/comment-page-1/#comment-4104616</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[EarlyBird]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 03 Jan 2013 17:27:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=171150#comment-4104616</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[No kidding, Juliano. But it&#039;s not either or.  It&#039;s not either A:  Have America&#039;s foreign policy be totally co-opted by Israel, or B:  Have America&#039;s foreign policy be totally co-opted by Islamic madmen.   
 
America is America. Israel is Israel.  The latter depends upon the former for its existence, not the other way around, at the tune of $3.1 billion dollars in direct aid, most of it military.  We&#039;ve been keeping Israel alive since the Camp David Accords by making it our #1 recipient of foreign aid, i.e., military aid.   
 
I&#039;d like Americans to have as much of a say in America&#039;s Middle East policy as do Israeli right wingers.  Imagine that.   ]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>No kidding, Juliano. But it&#039;s not either or.  It&#039;s not either A:  Have America&#039;s foreign policy be totally co-opted by Israel, or B:  Have America&#039;s foreign policy be totally co-opted by Islamic madmen.   </p>
<p>America is America. Israel is Israel.  The latter depends upon the former for its existence, not the other way around, at the tune of $3.1 billion dollars in direct aid, most of it military.  We&#039;ve been keeping Israel alive since the Camp David Accords by making it our #1 recipient of foreign aid, i.e., military aid.   </p>
<p>I&#039;d like Americans to have as much of a say in America&#039;s Middle East policy as do Israeli right wingers.  Imagine that.   </p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>By: EarlyBird</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/joseph-klein/thomas-friedman-goes-to-bat-for-chuck-hagel/comment-page-1/#comment-4101762</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[EarlyBird]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 02 Jan 2013 22:40:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=171150#comment-4101762</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Why is W. Bush, who twisted Sharon&#039;s arm to have the IDF pull settlers out of illegal settlements, a hero to right wing Zionists, and Obama, who has only asked that Bibi pull settlers off of illegal settlements, a member of Al Queda in the minds of the right wing Zionists?   ]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Why is W. Bush, who twisted Sharon&#039;s arm to have the IDF pull settlers out of illegal settlements, a hero to right wing Zionists, and Obama, who has only asked that Bibi pull settlers off of illegal settlements, a member of Al Queda in the minds of the right wing Zionists?   </p>
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	<item>
		<title>By: EarlyBird</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/joseph-klein/thomas-friedman-goes-to-bat-for-chuck-hagel/comment-page-1/#comment-4101747</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[EarlyBird]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 02 Jan 2013 22:34:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=171150#comment-4101747</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[These are excellent things to know about Hagel, Jean.  Thank you.   ]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>These are excellent things to know about Hagel, Jean.  Thank you.   </p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>By: EarlyBird</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/joseph-klein/thomas-friedman-goes-to-bat-for-chuck-hagel/comment-page-1/#comment-4101745</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[EarlyBird]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 02 Jan 2013 22:32:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=171150#comment-4101745</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&quot;Jew hating&quot;?!  Moi?  I love Jews.   ]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>&quot;Jew hating&quot;?!  Moi?  I love Jews.   </p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>By: EarlyBird</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/joseph-klein/thomas-friedman-goes-to-bat-for-chuck-hagel/comment-page-1/#comment-4101744</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[EarlyBird]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 02 Jan 2013 22:32:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=171150#comment-4101744</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Um...going bankrupt by feeding a military that takes up more of the national budget than it did at the very height of the Cold War, which still invests in weapons systems intended to be used against the Red Army on the steppes of Eastern Europe, which is bigger than the next 10 miltiary budgets combined IS doing our enemies&#039; work for us.   
 
Al Queda (and Hamas, Hezbollah, etc.) all want us to go bankrupt by doing exactly what every once-great empire did:  get overextended, fight too many wars, have it&#039;s fingers in too many pies.   
 
And meeting with our enemies isn&#039;t &quot;appeasement&quot; it&#039;s meeting with our enemies.  It&#039;s getting inside their heads.  It&#039;s something that Reagan did.  It&#039;s what serious leaders have done forever.  W. Bush was the one who destroyed the very effective tradition of American diplomacy.   ]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Um&#8230;going bankrupt by feeding a military that takes up more of the national budget than it did at the very height of the Cold War, which still invests in weapons systems intended to be used against the Red Army on the steppes of Eastern Europe, which is bigger than the next 10 miltiary budgets combined IS doing our enemies&#039; work for us.   </p>
<p>Al Queda (and Hamas, Hezbollah, etc.) all want us to go bankrupt by doing exactly what every once-great empire did:  get overextended, fight too many wars, have it&#039;s fingers in too many pies.   </p>
<p>And meeting with our enemies isn&#039;t &quot;appeasement&quot; it&#039;s meeting with our enemies.  It&#039;s getting inside their heads.  It&#039;s something that Reagan did.  It&#039;s what serious leaders have done forever.  W. Bush was the one who destroyed the very effective tradition of American diplomacy.   </p>
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		<title>By: EarlyBird</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/joseph-klein/thomas-friedman-goes-to-bat-for-chuck-hagel/comment-page-1/#comment-4101730</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[EarlyBird]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 02 Jan 2013 22:26:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=171150#comment-4101730</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Hagel wasnt&#039; against all the sanctions against Iran, just some of them.  His desire to speak with our enemies is pretty old school (read, &quot;Reaganite&quot;) too.  It&#039;s only been fairly recently that we didn&#039;t want to engage our enemies in conversation.  Why?  Because it &quot;looks weak,&quot; to get inside the mind of our enemies?  I&#039;d take that knowledge any day.   
 
But you know what, Joseph?  I&#039;ll accept these arguments against Hagel, and I appreciate that you didn&#039;t tar him as an &quot;anti-Semite.&quot; ]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Hagel wasnt&#039; against all the sanctions against Iran, just some of them.  His desire to speak with our enemies is pretty old school (read, &quot;Reaganite&quot;) too.  It&#039;s only been fairly recently that we didn&#039;t want to engage our enemies in conversation.  Why?  Because it &quot;looks weak,&quot; to get inside the mind of our enemies?  I&#039;d take that knowledge any day.   </p>
<p>But you know what, Joseph?  I&#039;ll accept these arguments against Hagel, and I appreciate that you didn&#039;t tar him as an &quot;anti-Semite.&quot; </p>
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		<title>By: EarlyBird</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/joseph-klein/thomas-friedman-goes-to-bat-for-chuck-hagel/comment-page-1/#comment-4101718</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[EarlyBird]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 02 Jan 2013 22:22:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=171150#comment-4101718</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[What?  Is your sarcasm meter that broken?  To be clear, I am FOR Hagel, because I think he&#039;ll make an all around good Sec of Defense. I am against the campaign to slime him as an anti-Semite, merely because the slimers believe he won&#039;t work hard enough for Israel&#039;s interests.   ]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>What?  Is your sarcasm meter that broken?  To be clear, I am FOR Hagel, because I think he&#039;ll make an all around good Sec of Defense. I am against the campaign to slime him as an anti-Semite, merely because the slimers believe he won&#039;t work hard enough for Israel&#039;s interests.   </p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>By: EarlyBird</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/joseph-klein/thomas-friedman-goes-to-bat-for-chuck-hagel/comment-page-1/#comment-4101709</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[EarlyBird]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 02 Jan 2013 22:20:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=171150#comment-4101709</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[What? ]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>What? </p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>By: EarlyBird</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/joseph-klein/thomas-friedman-goes-to-bat-for-chuck-hagel/comment-page-1/#comment-4101704</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[EarlyBird]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 02 Jan 2013 22:19:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=171150#comment-4101704</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[My comment is still there, because it has nothing to do with hating Jews or Israel.  I am an American who believes the job of the US Secretary of Defense is to work for the betterment of America.  Americans who put Israel first are unpatriotic.  Israel is an important ally, it&#039;s not one of our 50 states, if you haven&#039;t heard.     ]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>My comment is still there, because it has nothing to do with hating Jews or Israel.  I am an American who believes the job of the US Secretary of Defense is to work for the betterment of America.  Americans who put Israel first are unpatriotic.  Israel is an important ally, it&#039;s not one of our 50 states, if you haven&#039;t heard.     </p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>By: Questions</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/joseph-klein/thomas-friedman-goes-to-bat-for-chuck-hagel/comment-page-1/#comment-4087448</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Questions]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 30 Dec 2012 02:48:43 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=171150#comment-4087448</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Clinton seemed to do okay in the 1996 election.  The reality:  Clinton&#039;s &quot;don&#039;t ask, don&#039;t tell&quot; gambit was a minor blip on the radar acreen.  It hurt him, but only a little, and temporarily at that.   ]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Clinton seemed to do okay in the 1996 election.  The reality:  Clinton&#039;s &quot;don&#039;t ask, don&#039;t tell&quot; gambit was a minor blip on the radar acreen.  It hurt him, but only a little, and temporarily at that.   </p>
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		<title>By: Questions</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/joseph-klein/thomas-friedman-goes-to-bat-for-chuck-hagel/comment-page-1/#comment-4087440</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Questions]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 30 Dec 2012 02:46:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=171150#comment-4087440</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Since when has he downplayed mass starvation or anything like it? ]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Since when has he downplayed mass starvation or anything like it? </p>
]]></content:encoded>
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	<item>
		<title>By: Questions</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/joseph-klein/thomas-friedman-goes-to-bat-for-chuck-hagel/comment-page-1/#comment-4087436</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Questions]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 30 Dec 2012 02:44:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=171150#comment-4087436</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It&#039;s not really his left-leaning views; there are plenty of agressive narcissists on the Right (just try having a conversation with an Ayn Rand objectivist and see how much fun it is).  The real problem, I think, is that Friedman is one of those people who never quite got over being a straight-&quot;A&quot; student in college and has to keep reminding us of that fact.   ]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>It&#039;s not really his left-leaning views; there are plenty of agressive narcissists on the Right (just try having a conversation with an Ayn Rand objectivist and see how much fun it is).  The real problem, I think, is that Friedman is one of those people who never quite got over being a straight-&quot;A&quot; student in college and has to keep reminding us of that fact.   </p>
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		<title>By: jean</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/joseph-klein/thomas-friedman-goes-to-bat-for-chuck-hagel/comment-page-1/#comment-4086124</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[jean]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 29 Dec 2012 18:21:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=171150#comment-4086124</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8220;As a manager, he was angry, accusatory, petulant,&#8221; said one source familiar with his work on Capitol Hill. &#8220;He couldn&#8217;t keep his staff.&#8221; 
 
&#8220;I remember him accusing one of his staffers of being &#8216;f&#8212;ing stupid&#8217; to his face,&#8221; recalled the source who added that Hagel typically surrounded himself with those &#8220;who basically hate Republicans.&#8221; 
 
Sources expressed concern about such behavior should Hagel be nominated for the defense post. With competing military and civilian interests vying for supremacy, the department requires a skilled manager, sources said. 
 
&#8220;The Pentagon requires strong civilian control,&#8221; a senior aide to former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld told the Free Beacon. &#8220;It&#8217;s already swung back in favor of the military over the past five years. A new secretary of defense should push it back in its rightful place, but it&#8217;s doubtful Hagel would be that guy.&#8221; 
 
&#8220;It&#8217;s not clear that [Hagel] has the standing, the managerial prowess, or the willingness to gore some oxen,&#8221; said the source. 
 
One senior Bush administration official warned that Hagel is ill informed about many critical foreign policy matters. 
 
&#8220;He&#8217;s not someone who&#8217;s shown a lot of expertise on these issues,&#8221; said the source, referencing a recent Washington Post editorial excoriating Hagel&#8217;s record. &#8220;That [op-ed] was extraordinary.&#8221; 
 
&#8220;Only in Washington,&#8221; the official added, &#8220;can someone like [Hagel] be seen as a heavy weight. He&#8217;s not the sharpest knife in the drawer.&#8221; 
 
Hagel is likely viewed positively by the administration mainly because he is a Republican who often criticizes his own party, the source said. 
 
&#8220;He&#8217;ll dance to a tune played by the White House,&#8221; said the former official. &#8220;That I think is the real problem.&#8221; 
 
As lawmakers consider a deal to avoid sweeping budgets cuts and tax hikes, Hagel&#8217;s support for slashing spending at the Pentagon has irked many defense hawks. 
 
&#8220;This is a time when a secretary of defense needs to be raising hell about the sequestration cuts,&#8221; said the Rumsfeld aide. &#8220;It&#8217;s not clear that Hagel has any interest in picking that fight.&#8221; 
 
Hagel&#8217;s reluctance to chastise Iran also remains a central concern. 
 
As chief of the Pentagon it is expected he would avoid planning for a military intervention should Tehran refuse to end its clandestine nuclear enrichment program. 
 
&#8220;The military brass is already reluctant to offer up any military options on Iran even        though it&#8217;s their job to have something on the books and to leave the options of the commander in chief open,&#8221; said the Rumsfeld aide. &#8220;Hagel will only reinforce these worrisome tendencies.&#8221; 
 
&#8220;Chances are he&#8217;ll view any legitimate effort to talk about military options with Iran as some plot by the &#8216;Israel Lobby&#8217; to box him in,&#8221; the source said. 
 
If President Obama nominates him even though he is the opposite of what most of his Democratic base believes, he will not get enough Democratic votes to confirm him. 
 
This would be a major fiasco for his second term. Remember what happened to Bill Clinton when he tried to bring gays into the military early in his term and got pulverized and could never regain power. ]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>&ldquo;As a manager, he was angry, accusatory, petulant,&rdquo; said one source familiar with his work on Capitol Hill. &ldquo;He couldn&rsquo;t keep his staff.&rdquo; </p>
<p>&ldquo;I remember him accusing one of his staffers of being &lsquo;f&mdash;ing stupid&rsquo; to his face,&rdquo; recalled the source who added that Hagel typically surrounded himself with those &ldquo;who basically hate Republicans.&rdquo; </p>
<p>Sources expressed concern about such behavior should Hagel be nominated for the defense post. With competing military and civilian interests vying for supremacy, the department requires a skilled manager, sources said. </p>
<p>&ldquo;The Pentagon requires strong civilian control,&rdquo; a senior aide to former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld told the Free Beacon. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s already swung back in favor of the military over the past five years. A new secretary of defense should push it back in its rightful place, but it&rsquo;s doubtful Hagel would be that guy.&rdquo; </p>
<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not clear that [Hagel] has the standing, the managerial prowess, or the willingness to gore some oxen,&rdquo; said the source. </p>
<p>One senior Bush administration official warned that Hagel is ill informed about many critical foreign policy matters. </p>
<p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s not someone who&rsquo;s shown a lot of expertise on these issues,&rdquo; said the source, referencing a recent Washington Post editorial excoriating Hagel&rsquo;s record. &ldquo;That [op-ed] was extraordinary.&rdquo; </p>
<p>&ldquo;Only in Washington,&rdquo; the official added, &ldquo;can someone like [Hagel] be seen as a heavy weight. He&rsquo;s not the sharpest knife in the drawer.&rdquo; </p>
<p>Hagel is likely viewed positively by the administration mainly because he is a Republican who often criticizes his own party, the source said. </p>
<p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;ll dance to a tune played by the White House,&rdquo; said the former official. &ldquo;That I think is the real problem.&rdquo; </p>
<p>As lawmakers consider a deal to avoid sweeping budgets cuts and tax hikes, Hagel&rsquo;s support for slashing spending at the Pentagon has irked many defense hawks. </p>
<p>&ldquo;This is a time when a secretary of defense needs to be raising hell about the sequestration cuts,&rdquo; said the Rumsfeld aide. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not clear that Hagel has any interest in picking that fight.&rdquo; </p>
<p>Hagel&rsquo;s reluctance to chastise Iran also remains a central concern. </p>
<p>As chief of the Pentagon it is expected he would avoid planning for a military intervention should Tehran refuse to end its clandestine nuclear enrichment program. </p>
<p>&ldquo;The military brass is already reluctant to offer up any military options on Iran even        though it&rsquo;s their job to have something on the books and to leave the options of the commander in chief open,&rdquo; said the Rumsfeld aide. &ldquo;Hagel will only reinforce these worrisome tendencies.&rdquo; </p>
<p>&ldquo;Chances are he&rsquo;ll view any legitimate effort to talk about military options with Iran as some plot by the &lsquo;Israel Lobby&rsquo; to box him in,&rdquo; the source said. </p>
<p>If President Obama nominates him even though he is the opposite of what most of his Democratic base believes, he will not get enough Democratic votes to confirm him. </p>
<p>This would be a major fiasco for his second term. Remember what happened to Bill Clinton when he tried to bring gays into the military early in his term and got pulverized and could never regain power. </p>
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		<title>By: jean</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/joseph-klein/thomas-friedman-goes-to-bat-for-chuck-hagel/comment-page-1/#comment-4086122</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[jean]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 29 Dec 2012 18:21:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=171150#comment-4086122</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[There are many reasons to oppose Chuck Hagel for Secretary of Defense besides Israel, Anti-Semitism and Iran. 
 
Thomas Friedman and many others that are now supporting Hagel are using magical fairy tale thinking not logic and facts. They believe Hagel will slay the ogre Netanyahu and then everyone will live happily ever after. 
 
if you believe that  
you can argue that singling out only Jews for exerting too much influence is not anti-semetic. You could argue that the US should accept an Iranian nuclear weapons program or even an Iranian ICBM program. You could argue that Israel should withdraw to the 1967 armistice lines from which it was attacked in return for nothing and still be pro-Israel. 
 
But to me he is the stereotypical Archie Bunker type bigot. His policies have been anti gay (even now after his late and self serving apology he doesn&#039;t support equal benefits for gay military families. He is anti-African American (with a 17/100 rating from NAACP and admires Strom Thurmond as a great role model. anti Woman (vs choice and contraception) 
 
and 
 
Hagel has drawn additional heat from insiders who claim he lacks the credentials needed to manage a department as large and essential as the Pentagon. 
 
&#8220;Yes, Hagel has crazy positions on several key issues. Yes, Hagel has said things that are borderline anti-Semitism. Yes, Hagel wants to gut the Pentagon&#8217;s budget. But above all, he&#8217;s not a nice person and he&#8217;s bad to his staff,&#8221; said a senior Republican Senate aide who has close ties to former Hagel staffers. 
 
&#8220;Hagel was known for turning over staff every few weeks&#8212;within a year&#8217;s time he could have an entirely new office because nobody wanted to work for him,&#8221; said the source. &#8220;You have to wonder how a man who couldn&#8217;t run a Senate office is going to be able to run an entire bureaucracy.&#8221; 
 
Others familiar with Hagel&#8217;s 12 year tenure in the Senate said he routinely intimidated staff and experienced frequent turnover. 
 
&#8220;Chuck Hagel may have been collegial to his Senate colleagues but he was the Cornhusker wears Prada to his staff, some of whom describe their former boss as perhaps the most paranoid and abusive in the Senate, one who would rifle through staffers desks and berate them for imagined disloyalty,&#8221; said Michael Rubin, a former Pentagon adviser on Iran and Iraq. &#8220;He might get away with that when it comes to staffers in their 20s, but that sort of personality is going to go over like a ton of bricks at the Pentagon.&#8221; 
 
Multiple sources corroborated this view of Hagel. 
 
 ]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>There are many reasons to oppose Chuck Hagel for Secretary of Defense besides Israel, Anti-Semitism and Iran. </p>
<p>Thomas Friedman and many others that are now supporting Hagel are using magical fairy tale thinking not logic and facts. They believe Hagel will slay the ogre Netanyahu and then everyone will live happily ever after. </p>
<p>if you believe that<br />
you can argue that singling out only Jews for exerting too much influence is not anti-semetic. You could argue that the US should accept an Iranian nuclear weapons program or even an Iranian ICBM program. You could argue that Israel should withdraw to the 1967 armistice lines from which it was attacked in return for nothing and still be pro-Israel. </p>
<p>But to me he is the stereotypical Archie Bunker type bigot. His policies have been anti gay (even now after his late and self serving apology he doesn&#039;t support equal benefits for gay military families. He is anti-African American (with a 17/100 rating from NAACP and admires Strom Thurmond as a great role model. anti Woman (vs choice and contraception) </p>
<p>and </p>
<p>Hagel has drawn additional heat from insiders who claim he lacks the credentials needed to manage a department as large and essential as the Pentagon. </p>
<p>&ldquo;Yes, Hagel has crazy positions on several key issues. Yes, Hagel has said things that are borderline anti-Semitism. Yes, Hagel wants to gut the Pentagon&rsquo;s budget. But above all, he&rsquo;s not a nice person and he&rsquo;s bad to his staff,&rdquo; said a senior Republican Senate aide who has close ties to former Hagel staffers. </p>
<p>&ldquo;Hagel was known for turning over staff every few weeks&mdash;within a year&rsquo;s time he could have an entirely new office because nobody wanted to work for him,&rdquo; said the source. &ldquo;You have to wonder how a man who couldn&rsquo;t run a Senate office is going to be able to run an entire bureaucracy.&rdquo; </p>
<p>Others familiar with Hagel&rsquo;s 12 year tenure in the Senate said he routinely intimidated staff and experienced frequent turnover. </p>
<p>&ldquo;Chuck Hagel may have been collegial to his Senate colleagues but he was the Cornhusker wears Prada to his staff, some of whom describe their former boss as perhaps the most paranoid and abusive in the Senate, one who would rifle through staffers desks and berate them for imagined disloyalty,&rdquo; said Michael Rubin, a former Pentagon adviser on Iran and Iraq. &ldquo;He might get away with that when it comes to staffers in their 20s, but that sort of personality is going to go over like a ton of bricks at the Pentagon.&rdquo; </p>
<p>Multiple sources corroborated this view of Hagel. </p>
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		<title>By: objectivefactsmatter</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/joseph-klein/thomas-friedman-goes-to-bat-for-chuck-hagel/comment-page-1/#comment-4084363</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[objectivefactsmatter]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 29 Dec 2012 05:55:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=171150#comment-4084363</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&quot;The only twist is that their number one priority is the destruction of Israel, not its preservation. &quot; 
 
Precisely. Kill Israeli Jews first, then the Christians in the region, then Europe, Russia and America. 
 
&quot;First comes Saturday, then comes Sunday&quot; 
 
Google that you traitors. 
 
Little to they know China is already hoping for this outcome and if they made it that far, would ruthlessly destroy them. Their evil plans are a joke, but they are also incredibly destructive in any case. And those who appease or otherwise empower them are mortal enemies of the West. It&#039;s just that simple. 
 
You can&#039;t be partly pregnant or partly dead. They want us dead, all the way. We must each choose sides and right now, they&#039;ve joined the enemies of the West. ]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>&quot;The only twist is that their number one priority is the destruction of Israel, not its preservation. &quot; </p>
<p>Precisely. Kill Israeli Jews first, then the Christians in the region, then Europe, Russia and America. </p>
<p>&quot;First comes Saturday, then comes Sunday&quot; </p>
<p>Google that you traitors. </p>
<p>Little to they know China is already hoping for this outcome and if they made it that far, would ruthlessly destroy them. Their evil plans are a joke, but they are also incredibly destructive in any case. And those who appease or otherwise empower them are mortal enemies of the West. It&#039;s just that simple. </p>
<p>You can&#039;t be partly pregnant or partly dead. They want us dead, all the way. We must each choose sides and right now, they&#039;ve joined the enemies of the West. </p>
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		<title>By: objectivefactsmatter</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/joseph-klein/thomas-friedman-goes-to-bat-for-chuck-hagel/comment-page-1/#comment-4084351</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[objectivefactsmatter]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 29 Dec 2012 05:50:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=171150#comment-4084351</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&quot;It wouldn&#039;t matter if Hagel was the most qualified possible Secretary of Defense in history.&quot; 
 
1) That is obviously highly subjective analysis 
 
2) You&#039;ve given us no reason to trust your analysis and every reason to reject it.  
 
 &quot;Given that he&#039;s more interested in putting American strength first...&quot; 
 
Strength through budget cuts and appeasement of our most intransigent mortal enemies. You see, you made it so easy to destroy your arguments. I didn&#039;t even have to say anything, but I&#039;m informing you merely as a courtesy. 
 
 
&quot;It&#039;s disgraceful and typical among Israel Firsters and ultimately degrades support for Israel inside the US.&quot; 
 
This rhetoric sounds a lot coughing to me, or &quot;yada yada&quot; because you totally ignore the fact that you&#039;ve already lost the argument. What degrades support for Israel is Jew hatred and delusional freaks who listen to leftist liars and their lies. That and listening to lying jihadis who worship the cheese god. 
 
So appeasement is not really very smart for those who love America as it exists in the real world, and who care about the values (and laws!) that made it great. ]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>&quot;It wouldn&#039;t matter if Hagel was the most qualified possible Secretary of Defense in history.&quot; </p>
<p>1) That is obviously highly subjective analysis </p>
<p>2) You&#039;ve given us no reason to trust your analysis and every reason to reject it.  </p>
<p> &quot;Given that he&#039;s more interested in putting American strength first&#8230;&quot; </p>
<p>Strength through budget cuts and appeasement of our most intransigent mortal enemies. You see, you made it so easy to destroy your arguments. I didn&#039;t even have to say anything, but I&#039;m informing you merely as a courtesy. </p>
<p>&quot;It&#039;s disgraceful and typical among Israel Firsters and ultimately degrades support for Israel inside the US.&quot; </p>
<p>This rhetoric sounds a lot coughing to me, or &quot;yada yada&quot; because you totally ignore the fact that you&#039;ve already lost the argument. What degrades support for Israel is Jew hatred and delusional freaks who listen to leftist liars and their lies. That and listening to lying jihadis who worship the cheese god. </p>
<p>So appeasement is not really very smart for those who love America as it exists in the real world, and who care about the values (and laws!) that made it great. </p>
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