Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced his support Tuesday for the nomination of former senator Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense, delivering a key vote for the Nebraska Republican’s confirmation after weeks of voicing doubt about his positions on security issues related to Israel and Iran.
Schumer, the No. 3 Democrat and most senior Jewish senator, made the decision after a 90-minute meeting Monday in the West Wing, a secretive huddle that Schumer and White House officials kept under wraps until the decision to announce his support Tuesday.
…for given values of ‘too bad.’ Watching Hagel crawl, backtrack, and show his belly to Schumer over Hagel’s views on Israel is itself highly enjoyable. It does the Republic good to have our mouth-breathing, pro-Palestinian – but I repeat myself – rabid Democratic partisans understand that there is a sharp upper limit to just how much you can hate on the Jews in public and still retain some semblance of a national political career. Hagel, of course, still remains a downright awful pick for Secretary of Defense, but then we knew that going in. Fortunately, it’s also a self-correcting problem.
Moving on, it looks like Hagel’s been sufficiently neutered over Israel that the Left may now safely switch over to the former Senator’s views on gays and abortion. Speaking as a partisan political hack: THAT’S going to be win-win, from a schadenfreude point-of-view; either Hagel offends Democrats by sticking to his guns, or he offends Republicans by throwing them to the ground. He won’t be able to do both…
Moe Lane