Posted on 02/26/2013 12:36:24 PM PST by SeekAndFind
I told you the yays would be closer to 70 than to 60. Final tally: 71-27. You didn't seriously think these losers would go to the mat to block a nominee just because he's manifestly unqualified, did you?
Eighteen Republicans voted yes, according to Fox's Chad Pergram. The roll of glory:
R's voting to end debate on Hagel: Alexander, Ayotte, Blunt, Burr, Chambliss, Coburn, Cochran, Collins, Corker, Flake, Graham, Hatch ...
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) February 26, 2013
R’s voting to end debate on Hagel (con’t): Johanns, McCain, Murkowski, Sessions, Shelby and Thune.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) February 26, 2013
Remember, Maverick has said publicly that Hagel’s not qualified. He voted for cloture anyway, and now he’ll try to cover his ass by voting no on the completely meaningless final vote for confirmation. NRO’s Dan Foster marvels at the GOP’s heroism:
Hard to overstate the courage of the Senate Republicans who delayed Chuck Hagel’s confirmation by a few days. Think Thermopylae.
— Daniel Foster (@DanFosterNRO) February 26, 2013
The most interesting no vote here was, of course, Rand Paul’s. That’s one I got badly wrong; I thought for sure he’d try to placate the isolationists in his base by voting yes this time after voting no last week. Nope. He stuck to his guns, even though he had political cover to vote yes from no less than interventionist extraordinaire John McCain. Amazing. I think he’ll lose more votes from disaffected Ron Paul fans in 2016 than he’ll gain from mainstream conservatives by opposing Hagel, but oh well. Hope he knows what he’s doing.
Exit question: Was it worth putting up a fuss about Hagel for a few weeks notwithstanding this embarrassing cave by the GOP? Some say no. I’d say yes. Hagel’s chief value to Obama is his party affiliation; he’s supposed to give The One “bipartisan” approval for his defense plans over the next four years. Having Republicans spend a month tearing him up was useful as a way to drain him of that “bipartisan” cred; he ended up being all but excommunicated from the party, even by people who voted yes today. (Recall Susan Collins’s long, long, long critique of Hagel, with her intent to vote for cloture almost a footnote.) He’ll start his tenure as the single weakest member of Obama’s cabinet, which will come in handy when he inevitably carries Obama’s water to the Hill to demand defense cuts. The result is disappointing but the process wasn’t a complete waste of time. Just mostly.
The GOP is the Washington Generals of politics.
=== = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Don’t pick on the Generals. They at least won A game in ‘71.
Talk about a nation being led by a ‘Ship Of Fools’:
pRes B OBAMA
VP J BIDEN
SP HOU BOEHNER
SEC ST J KERRY
SEDDEF HAGEL
ATTY GEN HOLDER
A WHOLE DECK FULL OF ACES COULDN’T BEAT THAT CREW.
It is definitely a case of taking STUPID to a new low.
Damon Runyon couldn’t come up with a more motley crew.
Joseph Heller couldn’t write a book to make the lot of them seem real, even his characters in “Catch 22” had a purpose.
The only place in Hollywood where they could fit in naturally would be “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” but they would probably be better off in “OZ”.
It’s pretty sad that the Senators listed thought Obama’s lack of candor on Bengazi was a good reason to block Hagel, but his obvious inability to do the job wasn’t. Makes you agree with the liberals they’re just a bunch of political hacks.
Notice Rand Paul’s name on those voting to confirm the worthless Hagel. Let me clue you in on Paul. He is exactly like his old man, he’s an Israel-hater. Like the old man saying “Israel is tough enough to defend themselves”. This is junior’s view. He also hates the military, just like the old man, but does not have the guts to admit it, unlike the old man.
The four Republican senators voting in favor were Thad Cochran (Miss.), Mike Johanns (Neb.), Richard C. Shelby (Ala.) and Rand Paul (Ky.). All 41 no votes came from Republicans.
If the GOP doesn’t have the courage to impose an anti-Semitic, islamist appeasing hack like Hagel, who will they oppose? And why are they getting paid to take up space and income in the Senate?
So long as my son doesn’t have to go from Afghanistan to Syria, I’ll be happy.
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