"That kind of thing is insulting to the American people." - (R) Sen Hagel on Palin

[pinto]

Palin has cited the proximity of Alaska to Russia as evidence of her international experience.

Hagel scoffed at that notion.

"I think they ought to be just honest about it and stop the nonsense about, 'I look out my window and I see Russia and so therefore I know something about Russia,'" he said. "That kind of thing is insulting to the American people."

A senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Hagel has been an outspoken critic of the Bush administration's handling of the Iraq war and had considered making his own run for president. He skipped the Republican National Convention in favor of a trip to Central and South America.

Hagel, who says he has no plans to endorse either presidential candidate, traveled with Democratic nominee Barack Obama to the Middle East in July.

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2835&u_sid=10435997

[Fighting Donkey]

1. I frickin' love Chuck Hagel.

I don't care what anyone says. That is a man (a Republican no less) with some integrity.

[alcibiades_mystery]

3. Totally agree

The crazies here think Hagel needed to "fix" an election in Nebraska, so they hate him. These people have no capacity to judge character.

[Fighting Donkey]

5. When he's in the election booth,

and the curtain closes behind him, you know he's voting Obama/Biden. Everything he has said and done screams it.

[pinto]

7. I'd bet on that as well. A rare (R) these days with some integrity.

[Fighting Donkey]

9. Not to jump the gun,

but Lugar, Hagel and Jim Leach should be in an Obama Administration.

[pinto]

13. Not sure I'd go that far, but interesting choices.

[Fighting Donkey]

14. If Obama is serious about moving beyond partisanship,

he's going to need a cabinet with some Republicans. But I don't want to get too far ahead.

[pinto]

16. I disagree.

[Fighting Donkey]

18. Not me. I agree with Barack Obama.

[pinto]

29. My point - Bi-partisanship isn't a number game. It's an expertise game.

I think it means less who's from what camp, than who has the real expertise to do the job. Partisan cronyism has run rampant in the Bush administration. Effective management has been decimated.

I favor a real world resume based on experience and capability, not blind political ideology.

I think Obama has that POV. I doubt he'll recruit a (R) or two just as some sort of faux bi-partisanship.

I think he means business.

[Fighting Donkey]

36. I'm confused.

So are you saying ideology is more important, and therefore Barack will appoint Democrats, but a few Dems more like Gene Taylor and Dan Boren? I don't understand what you're saying.

[pinto]

51. The Republicans have a track record of appointing blind idelogues to positions. Regardless

of experience or expertise. It is loyalty not competence, as a standard.

I don't see Obama making the same mistakes at all. While he wants to forge a bi-partisan agenda, his appointments will not necessarily carry a "you're with me or against me" standard, is my take.

My point, he'll win as a partisan, as is necessary, but won't govern as a partisan, as is also necessary. And that's the point to effective leadership.

FDR sold his agenda to a highly partisan Congress. Effectively. He managed to do that by "working across the aisle."

Realize I was unclear on my posts. Thanks for your feedback.

[Fighting Donkey]

54. I agree to an extent.

"You're with me or against me" will be out the window, thankfully.

But he will appoint conservative Democrats and conservative Republicans to cabinet-level positions (a couple) as well as lesser jobs. Are we disagreeing on this, because I don't think we are, but when I suggested Leach, Hagel, and Lugar you didn't seem to agree.

And which FDR term? 1936 was very different from 1944.

[pinto]

61. I think his appointments will be well vetted by Congress. Not rubber-stamped.

And he may well put up some (R) appointees. We'll see how it goes.

I guess my bottom line is, I really like this guy's judgment. And I think he has the savvy to help maneuver a bi-partisan federal agenda.

i.e. FDR's '36 term.

:hi:

[Fighting Donkey]

64. Well then I agree!

But in '36 FDR didn't have to do too much compromisin'.

Barack will still have to compromise with fiscally conservative Blue Dogs and the, what, 2 moderate Republicans still left? He'll also have to deliver, and the best time to do that is in the first 100 days. After that, things get more difficult.

[pinto]

74. Hear you. Social Security was a tough sell for FDR. May well take more than 100 days for Obama

to set and nail down an agenda.

I don't expect him to be the be all and end all of of our federal disaster. Yet I look forward to his leadership to help make it happen.

[Fighting Donkey]

77. Obama in the Oval Office will be powerful, itself.

Regarding his agenda, it was the same with Johnson's Great Society - he had to ram in Medcare, Civil Rights, etc. right away, while he still had the nation's good graces. Progressive presidents have such a limited amount of time - if even that. Bill Clinton was not even granted a honeymoon period for godsakes.

[medicswife]

101. Hagel is going to be seriously considered for Sec. Def. if you ask me. nt

[RollWithIt]

17. I think Hagel definitely deserves some sort of cabinet post....

He's not even running for reelection. He knows what's going on and he has integrity. I respect that about him.

[abumbyanyothername]

46. Jim Leach????

OOOOOOOOoooooohhhhhhh Nooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!

[Fighting Donkey]

50. Dude needs a job.

Since Congressman Dave Loebsack knocked his ass out of the House.

:)

Leach is a good guy though. He endorsed Obama at the convention, publicly, didn't he?

[abumbyanyothername]

57. Well as a former constituent and

current online poker player this (prohibiting Internet gambling) did not suit me.

As I recall Leach was in the middle of the S&L deregulation mess also.

Of course, I am a litmus, "choice", sort of democrat.

[Fighting Donkey]

58. Well. Obama isn't. Good thing too, or he'd win like 18%.

Maybe that much. We're the BIG TENT. I still have to remind some people of that.

[abumbyanyothername]

66. I invite the anti-choice people in, but I disagree (politely) with them

I just saw Jim Lynch up close and personal for most of his career (before I moved to CA).

He is essentially consistently wrong on every social issue including war most of the time.

If even he is supporting Obama, this ain't gonna be close. I suspect he is behind Obama because of ethanol -- the one issue that Obama has wrong.

[Fighting Donkey]

69. Well I politely disagree with pro-murder Democrats.

Jim Leach was one of 6 House Republicans to vote against the Iraq Authorization bill in 2002. That deserves respect, at least from me.

[abumbyanyothername]

76. This is what I was thinking about -- yuck!

The legislation he is perhaps best known for is Gramm-Leach-Bliley which is considered one of the seminal pieces of banking legislation of the 20th century. Gramm-Leach-Bliley (1999) overturned part of the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 which separated commercial and investment banking. Glass-Steagall was passed in 1933 to curb excessive risk-taking and conflicts of interests which contributed to the Great Depression. The passage of Gramm-Leach-Bliley has been criticized as contributing to the subprime mortgage crisis.

[Fighting Donkey]

79. Okay, but how many people know that?

Or care? I'm just saying, sometimes we nitpick too much. If Jim Leach or Chuck Hagel want to endorse Barack Obama or NOT endorse John McCain, but yet have done some things in the past that we disagree with, should we really quarrel with them, or far more importantly, quarrel with Democrats that like and/or respect them (like me)? No. It's not worth it.

"I like Jim Leach."

"Yeah, but Jim Leach sponsored some bad banking legislation in 1999."

"Oh really? You know what? I still like Jim Leach."

[Inuca]

93. Same line of thought

I saw Susan Eisenhower this morning, CNN I think. Smart and knowledgeable lady. And what a last name!

[The Brethren]

19. very rare!

:dem:

[Inuca]

92. Exactly

drives me nuts! And when I sometimes try to explain that such a thing would be completely out of character, that you have to look at the whole picture, and that unexpected results does not automatically equal cheating no matter what company you were associated with, I am called names. Anyway, that's not the point. The point is that I am glad Hagel has finally spoken out on this. He has a way with words, doesn't he :-)?

[ContinentalOp]

22. LOL, all of this Hagel love sounds like what people used to say about McCain.

They're still Republicans in the end.

[Fighting Donkey]

25. Right, and all Republicans are evil.

:eyes:

Go back to your parents basement.

[ContinentalOp]

38. Hah! And of course all you can offer is a personal insult.

Where did I mention the word evil? As far as I can tell I disagree with Chuck Hagel on pretty much every single issue of any substance.

- He's anti-abortion with a 100% pro-life voting record
- Rated 11% by the NAACP
- 0% on gay rights
- Rated 100% by the Christian Coalition
- Supports prayers in public schools
- Supports mandatory 3 strikes sentencing
- Supports absolute right to gun ownership
- Opposes federally funded health coverage
- In favor of privatizing social security
- Rated 36% by the NEA
- Rated 0% by the League of Conservation Voters
- In favor of tax cuts for the wealthy
- Rated 92% by CATO
- Opposed to campaign finance reform

Gee, what's not to like? :eyes:

Oh yeah, that's right, he's against the war now. Even though he voted for it.

http://www.ontheissues.org/senate/Chuck_Hagel.htm

[Forkboy]

85. I don't get the Hagel love either.

I didn't get the McCain love in 2000 that I saw, and I don't get this. It's like all you have to is agree with us on one thing and all your sins are forgiven. Kind of scary.

[ContinentalOp]

89. Thank you. I thought I was going insane here for a minute.

I've been in a major "told you so" phase for months with a very liberal friend of mine who always praised McCain and now has to pretend that McCain somehow flip-flopped and changed who he was.

As a big Daily Show fan I was always mad that Stewart gave McCain so much love and I think he and the rest of the media helped perpetuate this myth of the maverick among otherwise intelligent, liberal people. I can see the appeal of embracing a member of the opposition who seems to be causing trouble in their party. The Republicans are playing this game with Lieberman now. But apart from BS rumors that McCain was going to pick him as VP, they are too smart to give him too much power. As soon as he finally switches parties I predict that he will become a powerless, irrelevant joke.

[TwilightGardener]

26. Perhaps--but it's rare to hear a Republican say what he REALLY thinks anymore, damn the torpedoes.

Hagel is the only currently elected Republican at his rank to speak the truth, at least on matters that he cares about--foreign policy is his main interest, and we Nebraskans knew he just had to be cringing at the choice of Palin. I just wish he'd turn his guns on McLame and publicly question the old man's judgment and sanity, but they are still friends.

[Fighting Donkey]

28. I agree with you.

And hey, we're neighbors, state-wise. Hello from Wyo!

[Fighting Donkey]

30. And I'd take Ben Nelson and Hagel over my 2 dumbshit senators anyday!

:)

[TwilightGardener]

32. Yeah, I can certainly understand that.

:hi:

[ContinentalOp]

40. Right, so the lovefest is based on one issue only: the war.

Which he voted for. That and occasionally criticizing his own party even though he votes with them the majority of the time. And that doesn't sound exactly like John McCain to you (replace "war" with "campaign finance reform").

[Fighting Donkey]

45. Not for me.

I've always been a Hagel fan.

[ContinentalOp]

53. On which issues do you agree with him? -nt-

[Fighting Donkey]

56. Social issues mostly.

Guns, death penalty, abortion, that sort of thing. By the way, Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt and Eisenhower were pretty good Republicans.

[ContinentalOp]

60. Right, so you like him because you're conservative on those issues...

not because he's liberal on those issues. Which is fine but that doesn't necessarily make him a friend of Democrats.

[Fighting Donkey]

67. Hmm.

I like him more, because he really has become a maverick (last couple of years), unlike McCain, who only claims to be. And I like mavericks, real ones.

I've read his biography too, and he served with his brother Tom in Vietnam throughout, which was very rare. And Tom Hagel is a hardcore Democrat. So that tells me that Hagel has to listen to the other side, at least at the Thanksgiving table.

But as others have said, he's close to Biden, Dodd, and several Democrats.

[ContinentalOp]

73. See, I never bought into the "maverick" line.

Not because I didn't think McCain was a genuine maverick, but because I see no value in that claim. What is the point of being a maverick just for the sake of it?

I agree with the Democratic party platform on pretty much every issue so I'm not looking for much of a maverick there. And I disagree with the Republicans on every single issue so somebody that has the "guts" to break with their party and happens to be right 10% of the time doesn't really impress me.

I think this shows the utterly sad and disgusting state of our political process that we have to praise a politician for standing up for what he believes in when that belief is in opposition to his own party. That should be the bottom line, normal behavior of any honest person.

I absolutely believe that Barack Obama has those same qualities of honesty and standing up for what he believes in. It's just that he, like me, happens to agree with most if not all of the party's official platform so he has no need to be a "maverick." It's a phony yardstick.

[TwilightGardener]

55. Well, the difference to me is this: being a campaign-funding reformer

was just empty "maverick" grandstanding for McCain, a way to erase his Keating Five black mark--he's since been trying to circumvent his own legislation. Hagel's opposition to the war in Iraq and to starting war with Iran are genuine and come from his personal experience with getting shot at in a pointless war--and are much more difficult positions to reconcile within his party. I appreciate his tireless support of our military and veterans, no matter what lunacy the rest of the GOP is up to.

[ContinentalOp]

65. I think it's great that he's on the right side of those issues but it's also incredibly depressing..

that the bar is set so low that we have to praise a member of the opposition party because he opposes an illegal, unjust war, when there are members of our own party who supported it and voted for it.

But then again, he voted for the IWR too!

[TwilightGardener]

72. True--it's sad that we are excited about ANY sign of sanity from a GOPer.

Can't blame us, though--it's as novel as snow in July.

[Quantess]

71. Chuck Hagel has seemed fairly smart for an R, for a while, now.

However, am I wrong, or has he only been critical of some of Bush's policies for about 2 or 3 years now..?

[TwilightGardener]

75. No, he's always said what he thought--actually took Gore's side during the FL recount.

Also worked with Joe Biden in 2002 to try to limit Chimpy's war plans in Iraq and the Middle East, and was very conflicted about voting for the IWR--he knew it was probably a bad idea, and said so (but still voted for it). He was also one of the first, last October or so, to start warning that our economy was headed into deep shinola--I heard him say this during a local radio interview while I was in the car, and it was the first I'd heard someone saying that our housing and economic problems would go beyond the subprime mortgage fiasco. He said a "perfect storm" was coming. He was right. He speaks up when it's important, and stays blessedly quiet on issues like "family values" and RW religious/social crap, which is why a lot of Dems in Nebraska approve of him.

[Quantess]

86. So he's one of the good ones, if there are any.

Thanks for the info. If the voters of Nebraska are happy with him, then it's all good.
Oregon has Senator Gordon Smith-R, who also spoke out against the Iraq invasion too late, but his job may be in jeopardy.
Jeff Merkley is a popular Democrat running against him, and I really hope he wins. Gordon Smith is running scared, has run some lie-ads about his opponent Merkley. And I mean, total, desperate, shameless lies. Lies like John McCain would say.

[TwilightGardener]

87. I will say this for Gordon Smith--I read an interview of his last year

in which he described his Iraq position, and he did seem sincere in wanting the war to end. I understand that he recently lost his son (suicide), and I can't remember if it was him or someone else who made the connection between losing his child and not wanting to see other parents pointlessly lose theirs in Iraq, but it softened me towards the guy--though I know the suspicion is that he's all about political posturing and trying to pander to Dems while still voting with Bush most of the time.

[Bluenorthwest]

106. Well...

Smith did not speak out against the invasion. Years later, when his State was very opposed to the continued occupation, he kinda sorta said he thought it was bad now. He never apologized for being wrong in the first place, and he did not speak out against the invasion, he fully supported the invasion.
He's running ads like mad about his 'working across the aisle' with Obama. McCain says all the time that Obama has never worked across the aisle. Smith is allowing McCain to lie openly about both Smith and Obama, and that is the action of an amoral coward. He's also running the nastiest campaign I have ever seen, just a desperate mud fling with no content at all, just attacks and smears and lies with no regard even to having Smith's lies match the Republican nomiee's lies.
Smith is the most replusive and craven candidate I have seen in years.

[Inuca]

95. I did not know about the FL thing

care to elaborate a bit?

[Danger Mouse]

2. Hagel is one of the few Republicans with the spine to say such a thing

[NYC_SKP]

4. Love Hagel, he's got some courage. nt

[Patsy Stone]

6. Thanks, Chuck!

Every little helps.

[DebbieCDC]

8. I've heard he's anti-choice; true?

I don't know -- any DUers?

[TwilightGardener]

10. Hagel? Very much so--socially conservative.

[FKA MNChimpH8R]

15. So what - make him Secretary of Veterans' Affairs

he gives a shit about vets and being anti-choice means little there when O and Joe are setting policy,

[TwilightGardener]

20. Well, my Dem Senator (Ben Nelson) is anti-choice too--it's a red state, that's

how they win elections here. As long as they're not picking SCOTUS justices, I don't care much, Catholic that I am.

[Fighting Donkey]

21. Oh good, a Litmus Test Democrat.

Send your survey of what a "true" Democrat is to Barack Obama and see if even he passes it.
Sorry, but you're going to need pro-life, gun-loving Americans to win a national election.

[Skip Intro]

80. Well yeah, let's wave bibles and shotguns at people, vote Democratic!

we only stand for what wins

:eyes:

[Douglas Carpenter]

52. domestically he a solid Reaganite .. but he is NOT a foreign policy neoconservative

He is no dove by any means; none of them are whether Democrat or Republican.

But he is a realist and a pragmatist and he would be an influence for peace in the Middle East.

My hope and prayer is that he will be Secretary of State. He is more progressive on issues of Middle East peace than many leading Democrats who would be considered for that post.

[TwilightGardener]

62. Nope, definitely not a neocon--in fact, one of the few Repubs that actually

uses the word "neocon" in disgust. I think he'd make a good SoS, too.

[Fighting Donkey]

11. I'm "anti-choice" too. So is Bob Casey. And Dennis Kucinich before he "switched."

So what? You're "pro-murder." It's all fun with words.

[ContinentalOp]

49. He's anti- pretty much everything Democrats believe in.

But hey, as long as he's criticizing his own party now and then... WE ACCEPT HIM ONE OF US.. GOOBLE GOBBLE... ONE OF US... ONE OF US!

http://www.ontheissues.org/senate/Chuck_Hagel.htm

[Inuca]

100. What about if

being "one of us" is not what really matters? No US vs. THEM, but recognizing quality whatever label happens to be attched to it. Hagel is smart, principled, knowledgeable, honorable and has guts. The fact that we do not agree on everything does not change any of that.

[FKA MNChimpH8R]

12. Hegel says what The Rock says:

"Get your ass back to the intersection of Jobroni Drive and Know Your Role Boulevard." That is a smackdown of epic proportions. No question that he is voting for Barack, even if it is out of nothing but disgust for his own party,

[TTUBatfan2008]

31. Well, it's not just out of disgust...

the man genuinely likes and respects Barack. I would love to see Hagel in Obama's administration.

[vaberella]

23. Hagel is voting Obama...and everyone knows it. n/t

[1corona4u]

24. I'd bet my house on it.

:-)

[1corona4u]

27. Just a treat for the Hagel lovers....

:-)

[Fighting Donkey]

33. Hagel is a badass!!

I love that Hagel-as-Biden pic - I have it hanging in my apartment from when it was in the NY Times almost a year ago!

[1corona4u]

41. It's my fav too....

:-)

[Fighting Donkey]

47. Needless to say,

you are a badass as well! Thank you for posting it.

:)

[Jennicut]

34. Hagel is very very close to Biden. They are good friends.

Hagel is retiring this year, that says it all. I doubt he like being a Rethug anymore. Yes he is conservative on some things but I really respect him and I bet he would rather vote for his good friend Joe than McTemper. He is kind of like Joe Loserman for the Democrats except I think he is a better guy than Loserman. Lugar is a good guy as well. Conservative yes, but never the less a good man. Joe Biden is one of the most bipartisan Senators out there, he is friends with Arlen Spector as well and he rode the train with him for years. I think Joe just sees people as people. I love how the MSM brought up the Bork hearings and said Joe brought in the nasty partisan culture of Washington. That was Newt Gingrich who did that. Anyways, Hagel is right, Palin is insulting to us.

[TTUBatfan2008]

37. Lieberman is an asshole...

he couldn't give two shits about America. It's all about America funding Israel. That's all he gives a damn about. Hagel's different in that respect. His #1 concern is looking out for our soldiers. And after the disaster of what's gone on the last 5 years with the Iraq War, it's no wonder he's so angry at the Bush administration -- and other Republicans who tote the party line for the sake of politics and nothing else.

[ContinentalOp]

43. "He is conservative on some things"?

Can you name me one issue on which he's not conservative? Just one please?

As far as I can tell, maybe immigration is the one issue where he's not ultra-right?

http://www.ontheissues.org/senate/Chuck_Hagel.htm

[TwilightGardener]

59. All foreign policy, torture, immigration, and some banking and intelligence matters.

Most of the time he votes with his party, but he does make exceptions on some key issues.

[Jennicut]

105. I don't mind a conservative expressing their views. I don't like a conservative being an ahole

Like Bush, Cheney, McLame. Remember Rick Santorum? That is the worst conservative alive. Hagel may be conservative on lots of things but he is not an ahole nor is he willing to drag Dems through the mud and lie about them. He is a better guy than Loserman.

[Cha]

35. It's surprising that someone needs to point out the

inanity of that comment..that she claims to have foreign policy experience because she can see Russia(if she really can) from Alaska.

[TwilightGardener]

42. Yes, finally someone said it's just "nonsense" and insulting. You would think

it would be obvious and wouldn't need to be said, and yet...

[Kablooie]

91. It's really weird that this is one of the official scripted answers in McCain's campaign.

They seem to think the imbecile vote will put them over the top.

[Douglas Carpenter]

39. I find it implausible to believe that ANY serious conservative-Republican genuinely believes

in the heart and in their mind that Sarah Palin is fit to assume the duties of Commander and Chief of the strongest military power in the history of the world.

Even a conservative, providing they are rational and providing they hold any emotions of patriotism whatsoever, must at the end of the day know perfectly well that she is completely unqualified for the job and would make an utterly inept Vice President or President.

Some may support her for perceived or real strategic advantages. But if they have any rational attachment to reality - they must know that this strategy is dangerous and irresponsible and certainly is not driven by a desire for what they honestly believe to be the good of the country.

[Colobo]

44. GoHagel! A good Republican, and a good American.

[pdxmike]

48. I keep saying, Hagel is an old style Republican

He's a conservative, make no mistake. But he's a throwback to when the GOP wasn't run by the lunatics we have now. What would Eisenhower, Ford, Dirksen, have to say about the current state of the GOP. Hell, Nixon, Reagan, and Goldwater would be appalled.
I have no problem with honest conservatives. I think our system is best served when there is at least the appearance of some reasonable give and take. What's happened to the Repubs is that they've morphed into a criminal enterprise that doesn't have any interest in governing. They just want to rule.

[Cha]

63. Who knew they'd become such

a rare breed?

[ContinentalOp]

68. See, that's the issue. Some of us DO have a problem with so called "honest conservatives"...

and "old style Republicans." I mean for fuck's sake, I wouldn't praise Nixon just because he was somewhat more liberal than Bush/Cheney!

[Fighting Donkey]

70. Well, some of us have to learn to get along with other people!

"We can disagree, without being disagreeable."
-- Barack Obama

[ContinentalOp]

81. So I'm being "disagreeable" because I don't agree with Republican policies?

This from the guy who told me to go back to my parent's basement?

Look, I believe in progressive taxation, public education, a strong social safety net and other Democratic principles. I don't believe in supply side economics, tax cuts for the wealthy, "cutting spending" when it relates to social programs while allowing defense spending to balloon endlessly. In short I basically disagree with the past 100 years of Republican policies whether they're neocons or "good old school republicans."

But I guess I'm not allowed to say that because it's "disagreeable?" I suppose we should just hand out cabinet level positions willy nilly to people who oppose civil rights and want to get the government "down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub"?

[Fighting Donkey]

82. This is what you said:

"LOL, all of this Hagel love sounds like what people used to say about McCain. They're still Republicans in the end."

Rather broad. Abe Lincoln was a Republican. Teddy Roosevelt was a Republican. Jake Javits, Wayne Morse, and Dwight Eisenhower were Republicans. Jodi Rell, Jim Douglas, Chris Shays, Chuck Hagel, Dick Lugar, Lincoln Chaffee are all Republicans too. And they're all pretty good.

[ContinentalOp]

83. Sorry, I forgot to show the proper respect to Lincoln, Roosevelt and Eisenhower.

Sometimes I get so focused on the realities here in the 21st century that I forget to consider the full 150 years of the Republican party's history.

:eyes:

[Fighting Donkey]

84. I bet people in the "real world" love you!

You seem so pleasant!

[ContinentalOp]

88. Yeah, and you're really making friends here...

when you respond to a joke with "go back to your parents basement" and refer to pro-choice Democrats as being "pro-murder."

Anyway, I'll just reiterate my point: On the issues, Chuck Hagel is hardly a friend to Democrats. John McCain was praised by Democrats for years including many DUers, Hillary Clinton, hell even John Stewart. And now we find ourselves running against a man who we built up as a "maverick war hero" and realizing that he was wrong on just about every issue all along.

It's nice to see your opponents fighting amongst themselves but that doesn't mean you pick out the "maverick" from the other party and help him into a position of power. McCain is not planning on giving Hillary Clinton a cabinet level position just because she said he was more qualified to be president than Obama. In fact as we have seen with people like McCain and Lieberman, these "mavericks" often turn out to be the most opportunistic sort of flip floppers who will do anything to be near power.

[pdxmike]

108. um... I wasn't praising Nixon

or Reagan et al "for fuck's sake". I just mentioned them as a reference point.

[Imagevision]

78. Having the VP campaign for the possible prez watching in the background is pathetic

All Mccain does is watch Palin, smile and applaud her, this is the future fu*king president?!

[Kablooie]

90. It's not insulting to morans. They are duly impressed with comments like that.

[GreenEyedLefty]

94. Chuck Hagel is one of the very few Republicans with an ounce of integrity.

He has also expressed his dismay at what the GOP is now vs. when he first joined.

[Alter Ego]

96. Senator Hagel--please endorse Barack Obama.

You know you want to.

[budkin]

97. Hagel needs to swtich

We can trade him for Holy Joe

[Hope And Change]

98. K & R!Sen. Hagel ROCKS!

[medicswife]

99. Yay Chuck!!!!!

lol Hagel is going to vote for Obama. lol I'm sure of it. If McCain/Palin keep this shit up, he might just come right out and endorse too.

[flpoljunkie]

102. Dupe.

[flpoljunkie]

Traveling with Obama to the Middle East is an endorsement. Too bad Hagel won't say it.

I wish he would take another Republican's lead--Susan Eisenhower, who spoke at the DNC, and was on MSNBC this morning where she reminded everyone that John McCain, like his party, has always been for deregulation.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

103. Hagel has been an outspoken critic of Bushco not too long into the Iraq war began and

this doesn't surprise me in the least.

[Inuca]

104. Two views on Russia - you be the judge

Palin - Russia makes a nice window dressing

Hagel - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-clemons/previously-unknown-hagel_b_127360.html#postComment

[tbyg52]

107. Don't forget the voting machines (a blast from the past)

I take you back to 2003:

http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0131-01.htm

The respected Washington, DC publication The Hill (www.thehill.com/news/012903/hagel.aspx) has confirmed that former conservative radio talk-show host and now Republican U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel was the head of, and continues to own part interest in, the company that owns the company that installed, programmed, and largely ran the voting machines that were used by most of the citizens of Nebraska.

Back when Hagel first ran there for the U.S. Senate in 1996, his company's computer-controlled voting machines showed he'd won stunning upsets in both the primaries and the general election. The Washington Post (1/13/1997) said Hagel's "Senate victory against an incumbent Democratic governor was the major Republican upset in the November election." According to Bev Harris of www.blackboxvoting.org, Hagel won virtually every demographic group, including many largely Black communities that had never before voted Republican. Hagel was the first Republican in 24 years to win a Senate seat in Nebraska.

Six years later Hagel ran again, this time against Democrat Charlie Matulka in 2002, and won in a landslide. As his hagel.senate.gov website says, Hagel "was re-elected to his second term in the United States Senate on November 5, 2002 with 83% of the vote. That represents the biggest political victory in the history of Nebraska."

What Hagel's website fails to disclose is that about 80 percent of those votes were counted by computer-controlled voting machines put in place by the company affiliated with Hagel. Built by that company. Programmed by that company.

[ContinentalOp]

109. No, no, no he's a GOOD GUY though. A real HONEST Republican. Don't you see?

:eyes: