McCain says Hagel "not qualified" as defense secretary

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

McCain says Hagel "not qualified" as defense secretary

WASHINGTON | Sun Feb 24, 2013 11:02am EST

(Reuters) - Republican Senator John McCain on Sunday said his former colleague Chuck Hagel was not qualified to be U.S. defense secretary but the Senate would likely vote on his nomination rather than hold it up with procedural hurdles.

Before going on a weeklong recess, Republican lawmakers succeeded in delaying a Senate vote on Hagel's nomination earlier this month. Hagel is expected to win confirmation if a vote is held because Democrats control 55 votes in the 100-seat Senate.

"I do not believe that Chuck Hagel, who is a friend of mine, is qualified to be secretary of defense," McCain of Arizona said on CNN's "State of the Union" show.

"I believe that when the questions are answered, and I believe they will be by this coming week that the president deserves an up or down vote" on Hagel, said McCain, who is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/24/us-obama-nominations-hagel-idUSBRE91N09F20130224

[JoePhilly]

1. McCain isn't qualified to pass out the jello at the home.

[deminks]

3. +1

I think he is trying to take a hostage and hasn't gotten what he wants yet.

[treestar]

21. LOL

I was thinking along those lines. Any words that come after the words "McCain says" are disqualified from being anything accurate.

[Xipe Totec]

2. With friends like these, who needs enemas? nt

[Angry Dragon]

4. Does President McCain say why Hagel is not qualified??

[geek tragedy]

7. Lack of experience as mayor of Wasilla. nt

[Angry Dragon]

11. Now that does make sense

[TwilightGardener]

5. "Additional revelations"= we're going to make up more Friends of Hamas/blogger notes

and filibuster again.

[geek tragedy]

6. Obama should have nominated Sarah Palin, who was qualified to be Preznit,

according to Senator Getoffmylawn.

[exboyfil]

8. To say he is not qualified is ridiculous

You can say that he holds positions that I believe are not in the best interests of the country, but a man who has served in the Senate for 12 years in the Foreign Relations Committee and Select Committee on Intelligence is obviously qualified.

Not that he is my first choice for SecDef (I don't understand why it can't be a Democrat), but he is qualified.

[EC]

9. Has anyone played that tape of him saying

he'd be happy with Hagel as HIS Defense Secretary while he's there to see it after he says he's not qualified? "State of the Union" is Candy Crowley now isn't it? So did she play the tape?

[onecent]

10. Just consider the source...Just look at the excuse of a man, "McCain"....Let him and Lindsey sail

off into the sunset together soon. They both are dried up old prunes.....and neither one will ADMIT IT.

[NutmegYankee]

12. The Man who thought Sarah Palin was qualified to be VP...

Insists that Hagel isn't qualified to be SecDef.

[SummerSnow]

18. Sarah Palin isn't qualified to be the poop manager at the local zoo.

[DFW]

30. That was my first thought, too.

The man whose lack of judgment led him to pick Sarah Palin to be next in line for the presidency of the USA says a fellow veteran who was NOT known for screwing up on a regular basis is unqualified for a cabinet position.

I think it was pretty indicative, after McCain confused Obama and Romney at a stump speech (with Romney standing right next to him!), that McCain is well on the way to dementia, and probably is holding on to his Senate seat only because he retains enough presence of mind to know that Jan Brewer would only appoint someone worse to serve out the rest of his term.

[Historic NY]

13. John what made you qualified to be Senator? Your looks or money...

definitely not your smarts.

[Hard Assets]

14. And you aren't qualified to be a Senator, President

or even a breathing human being.

[jenmito]

15. McCain was on a Sunday show? THAT'S a shocker.

[Inuca]

16. "who is a friend of mine"

That says it all, I think.

[Third Doctor]

17. Didn't Mccain say Hagel was

qualified to be SecDef a decade ago? Now that's changed because he would not lockstep for Bush's agenda?

[pansypoo53219]

19. sarah palin. STFU + sit down.

[Filibuster Harry]

20. There goes magoo again. The expert on who is qualified -- the one who gave us sarah.

[Cha]

22. That f***head is on the Sunday shows AGAIN!?

Why? Do their ratings spike when gasbag meets gasbag?

[ButterflyBlood]

23. Uh, after his 2008 running mate who is McCain to speak about qualifications?

Idiot.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

24. Ding! Ding! Ding!

We have a winner....

[damonm]

25. Came to say that...

Leaving satisfied.

[defacto7]

26. McCain and his ilk are simply

using up precious administration time for as long as possible. The less time Obama has the less he can get done. 'Just wasting America's needed time to rebuild and get on with life.

[blogslut]

27. I have to wonder, that maybe

... aside from McCain and Graham's petty pandering to their far right base, perhaps there's a bit of commissioned officer snobbery going on? Hagel would/will be the first NCO SecDef in US history.

[Lil Missy]

28. McCain thought a moron was qualified as a running mate.

McCain is a laughing stock and a bitter old man.

[BlueStater]

29. HA!

This from a jackass who thought this twit was qualified to Vice President:


[IMG][/IMG]

John McCain, you have become nothing more than a mean-spirited, petty, bitter, embarrassing bitch. All those years you spent kissing Junior's ass and selling out didn't pay off for you and now you're just an angry, resentful, pathetic old man. Please have some dignity and resign your senate seat and retire from public life instead of continuing to make a fool out yourself on a daily basis.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

31. What knows he

of being qualified?

[TwilightGardener]

32. Interesting old story about McCain, Hagel, and Senate Repubs:

Kind of unrelated to defense, but McCain used to think pretty highly of Hagel's ideas. McCain used Hagel's 2005 Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac oversight legislation to try to boost his 2008 campaign by claiming he was prescient about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac needing more regulation (Hagel got him to cosponsor it in 2006). Republicans and lobbyists secretly worked to kill Hagel's bill out of committee, because they were afraid it would dampen the housing boom--and then when Fannie and Freddie finally almost collapsed in 2008, they blamed Democrats for killing it.

http://www.cleveland.com/nation/index.ssf/2008/10/freddie_mac_secretly_paid_gop.html