Moe Lane

It’s actually… pretty simple: Chuck Hagel is a bit of a schlemiel.  I’m not actually trying to reference Hagel’s Jewish problem*, here: it’s just that Yiddish has an excellent word to describe a sad-sack bungler, and English wants the useful words.  It wants all the useful words.

…Anyway, Hagel is a schlemiel.  Now, I know what people are thinking: they’re thinking “But… but… but being a schlemiel has NEVER been a barrier to acquiring a Cabinet post!”  And they would be correct.  We – read, both parties – have traditionally taken the opportunity given to us by the Cabinet to store inconvenient, superfluous, and/or ineffectual politicians for a while until they can be safely retired**.  This is, in fact, a time-honored tradition.  The problem here, though, is that we typically do not nominate schlemiels for Secretary of Defense; a quick review of the list of them reveals a group of sharp-tongued, tough-minded, and generally strong-willed men who would have gone through Thursday’s Armed Services Committee hearings like a hot knife through soft butter. (more…)

Not a cock-crowing three times moment, mind you: Chuck Hagel deserves to be left twisting in the wind by an administration suddenly gun-shy about nominating an anti-Israel, anti-gay, anti-war suck-up*. From Buzzfeed:

“The White House was never actually all that close to naming Hagel, and to a degree feels awkward about the dust-up about him, however, they have no real interest in defending him because they don’t plan to pick him and see the issues being raise as hard to defend,” the insider said. “The Hagel dust-up is the best thing that could have happened for the President and the party. It nets out well, giving easy sailing to their real choice when the time comes.”

Via Hot Air Headlines. I have to say: it’s kind of fun to torpedo Obama’s Cabinet picks.  Who’s next?

Moe Lane

*I wonder when Hagel’s fellow antiwar loons will finally get tired of supporting a President who is just like George W. Bush on foreign policy, only without the competence and ability to play well with others.  Probably never.