The talking heads on every network question why Hagel acted
the way he did during his confirmation hearings before congress. The answer seems so trite it is almost comical—it
was preplanned strategy. He went into
the hearing believing he had the majority of votes in his favor. He knew Senators Cruz, Graham, and McNasty
were going to do what they did. I
mentioned in a previous blog post that each senator “acted” in the same manner
but for different reasons. The word ‘acted’ is in parentheses because that is
exactly what they were doing: they were acting; it was drama; and they were
playing a part in front of TV cameras. Hagel
is also a smart politician.
There is what is commonly referred to as a political pie. A
tough issue is one in which 50% support it and 50% do not. The leader has to
decide. After he or she makes a decision, half the people agree and half do
not. In the case of Hagel, he had enough votes for confirmation and did not want
to alienate any votes. I am sure he could have chewed up and spit out the inane
McNasty comments about the success or failure of Iraq surge and do it with one
word, yes or no. Hagel could have been nasty in return but that would have
alienated senators on both sides. He could have pointed out that it is not the job
of the Department of Defense to make such policies. It is the job of both the
President and Congress to make policy and the job of the President as Commander
in Chief to carry out that policy. Had Hagel pointed that out the failures of
the Iraq war were because George W. Bush allowed generals to dictate to him
what the policy were to be—especially the surge—he would have alienate senators
that otherwise would support him. If he
would have pointed out that the Pentagon strong-armed Obama into making the decision
that resulted in the surge in Afghanistan he would have alienated Democrats. By
keeping his mouth shut, he is sure to
win because he proved he is a man of
intelligence and character but also because he is a politician.
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