Memo to the Candidates - Hagel posts at HuffingtonPost

[Inuca]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sen-chuck-hagel/memo-to-the-candidates_b_109681.html#postComment

What it means, I have no idea, but Sen. Hagel seems to have joined the liberal blogosphere.

Edited to add: may I suggest that if you like what he says. maybe you should post a comment in the HuffPo thread. I think it is interesting bordering on great that he posted over there, and it should be encouraged.

[JeffR]

1. Stranger still,

I found myself agreeing with a lot of what he said.

[Inuca]

3. I know that many here consider it anathema

to say something positive about Hagel, but IMHO he is honest, well-intentioned, open-minded and very smart. The fact that I do not agree with some of his positions does not make him any less so. He is right, or at the very least worth listening to, on much more than Iraq.

[Faryn Balyncd]

15. Not many have the integrity to stand up for principles when their party goes nuts.

[FrenchieCat]

2. Damn....I like what he's saying........

as he is pointing to Obama from all that I can tell.

Read....
"All citizens of the world must confront the threats of nuclear proliferation, terrorism, pandemic health issues, endemic poverty, environmental degradation, and the most insidious and difficult of all, despair. These are Twenty First century challenges that will require Twenty First century thinking within a Twenty First century frame of reference. ..... But wise leadership exercising wise judgment that results in wise policy is never outdated.

and here, looks like Hagel is getting us all ready for Obama's upcoming world tour! :)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/uselection2008/2208856/Barack-Obama-to-visit-Britain.html

I believe that America and the world will follow an honest, competent and accountable American president. To seize this moment, the next president will not have the luxury of extra time to prepare to govern. The candidates must begin that work now as they earn the trust of the people over the next four months.

What better optic for the world to see than a presidential campaign of relevant, vital and imaginative ideas and inspirational leadership. That would make a difference in the ability of the next President to move quickly and confidently to form a government based on a consensus to govern with the hope and goodwill of the world with him.

More.....

[Inuca]

4. Thanks for the link

I have heard about the trip to Iraq and Afghanistan, did not know about the European stops. Great!

ANd don't feel too guilty for liking what Hagel has to say :-).

[snowbear]

5. Back in March, Hagel said Obama was the best candidate to unify the country..

Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) said last night that, among the 3 remaining candidates, he thought Barack Obama had the best chance of bringing the country together. While he did not dismiss McCain (he's done that in the Senate) or Clinton (she's had some success in the Senate, not as much as McCain), he said that he believed that Barack Obama, for generational reasons, could best bring the country together.

Hagel also stated that he believes the inventory of problems the next President will face is unprecedented and that that is why it is so important that the country be brought together so that it could really solve problems. Although Hagel did not endorse Obama, he did not rule out the possibility.

Continued: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-abrams/hagel-barack-best-to-uni_b_94003.html

So.. if they link up as a duo.. .. will Hagel use his electronic voting machine connections?

[NYC_SKP]

6. I've always liked Chuck Hagel, her reminds me that...

...party affiliation alone is not a determinant of character

[Pirate Smile]

7. Barack posted over there once.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/barack-obama/on-my-faith-and-my-church_b_91623.html

I remember back when he post on Daily Kos and caused a blog storm.

Did you see this article on Hagel today:

Hagel, Republican for Now, Says He Has No Plans to Back McCain

Christopher Stern
Fri Jun 27, 3:12 PM ET

June 27 (Bloomberg) -- Senator Chuck Hagel declined to endorse his party's likely presidential nominee, John McCain, and said he would consider serving as secretary of defense in a Barack Obama administration.

-snip-
``I don't have any plans to endorse any candidate,'' Hagel, 61, said in an interview on Bloomberg Television's ``Political Capital with Al Hunt,'' to be broadcast today.

The Nebraska senator broke with his party over the war in Iraq, calling it a ``catastrophic mistake.'' He voted with Democrats to withdraw troops and against President George W. Bush's so-called surge that boosted the number of soldiers in Baghdad last year.

Hagel criticized McCain, his close friend, for saying that Obama, an Illinois senator and the Democrats' likely nominee, misunderstands the war in Iraq and was wrong for opposing the troop surge. Hagel called McCain's criticism a ``superfluous, gratuitous political comment.''

Because Hagel has been a critic of the Bush administration, his name often surfaces as a high-level appointee for both parties. Hagel said he would have a duty to consider a request to serve from any president including as secretary of defense in an Obama administration.
``I would have to consider it,'' Hagel said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/20080627/pl_bloomberg/aq0hfm1krlp4

[Inuca]

14. It would be interesting

to be a fly on the wall (or more likely some kind of strange bug able to tap into wireless connections) when Hagel and McCain talk these days. Given everything I read about McCain's erratic temper and how he is said to react to perceived disloyalty I wonder how much is left of that "close friendship".

[tblue37]

8. Unfortunately, a lot of Dems forget that except for the issue of the Iraq War,

and to some degree, the unitary executive (though when he was in the Senate, he helped rubber stamp CheneyBush's power grab), Hagel takes a stand opposite that of progressives on virtually every key issue. Furthermore, even his election to the Senate was suspect, because of his association with the ES&E voting system.

Just as low-information Dems get sucked in by the Ron Paul hype, they also get sucked in by Hagel. As a general rule, Hagel is not on our side. I will say, though, that having a prominent Republican, one known for his unwavering conservative positions, in agreement with us does help our argument against the Iraq War.

[Inuca]

9. Did you read the article?

It is about much more than just Iraq. You may not agree with everything hr writes, but I think you would agree with much and probably even some things you do not agree with you may find worthy of consideration.

Ah, and the ESS thing is in my humble and moderately researches opinion nothing but BS.

[WinkyDink]

10. Let me know when his "R" switches to "D". Thanks.

[mtnester]

11. Ding...we have a winner

spot on

[Inuca]

13. Would he become a different person then?

What about focusing on ideas and possible solutions to the current mess instead of worrying about suffixes or prefixes? You do not have to like him, you do not have to agree with everything he says, but Hagel is an intelligent and well-intentioned voice worth listening to.

[muryan]

16. A rose by any other name...

While hagel is no rose, his party affiliation should not prevent us from agreeing with the man on occasion.

[Inuca]

17. Thanks for the sanity

I find automatic and un-nuanced US vs THEM attitudes very disturbing and demoralizing.

[muryan]

22. Its very rumsfeldian

and thus, idiotic.

[Douglas Carpenter]

12. brilliant analysis, a moving and hopeful speech.

There are two issue that overwhelm all other issues and make every other issue pale in comparison.

Promoting peace in the Middle East

Saving the environment while transiting away from reliance on fossil fuels

On these issue Chuck Hagel gets it so right, perhaps better than most Democrats, even if he gets many other things wrong.

[L0oniX]

18. Tired to read it all but then I got distracted by the Lara Logan Sex Scandal.

:evilgrin:

HuffintonPost has its down sides.

[Inuca]

20. Yeah,, well what can I say...

she's definitely better looking :-).

[AllentownJake]

19. Wouldn't it be nice

if He Zell Millered McCain :evilgrin:

[Inuca]

21. Doubt it will happen n/t

[Arkana]

23. If we could put Hagel in a position where he'd have no input on domestic issues,

he might be a good fit.

[Mass]

24. I finally read the article and it confirms that I disagree with Hagel on most issues that are not

foreign policy:

- entitlement program,
- energy program (well, I do not disagree we have to get rid of oil (not only foreign oil), but I know enough to know that his energy program is market driven, and, if it was working, we would be fine by now.
- globalization: NO, we cannot support the pending trade agreements as they are written. They do not help either American workers or foreign workers.

And of course, I disagree deeply with Hagel's positions on women's right, GLBT rights, and workers's rights.

(in addition, Huffington Post is more and more a space where anybody with any claim to some sort of fame will post, whether they have some authority on the domain or not. In this, Hagel's post is refreshing because he knows what he is talking about, even if I disagree).

[Inuca]

26. I never said he is perfect :-)

Entitlements: I think he proposed some SS changes a while back that, while more thought out than what Bush was saying, were still involving some form of privatization, and that I am 100% against.

Energy: doesn't it have to be partially market driven? I don't know anything more about his stance on this but what he says here, while far from detailed, seems to make sense to me, I do not see anything wrong with it

There is no near-term substitute for oil, natural gas, and coal. But our next president needs to initiate policies that will eventually break our long-term reliance on oil. This includes more investment, research and focus on technology, alternative and renewable sources of energy (particularly nuclear energy), conservation, mass transit, and seriously improving our mileage standards. This is an area where the American people are ahead of the politicians. There is no perfect energy policy or solution that will satisfy everyone; there is no risk free society. Increased energy production and supply must be organizing principles of our economy and government policies.

Globalization: I have no idea where Hagel stands on the specifics. Something that he (and many others) says that I agree with though is that globalization is here to stay and wishing it away is not a solution. Many globalization-related issues, the way they are implemented now both here and elsewhere in the world, are glaringly unfair and unjust, and personally I know too little and have thought too little about the issue to be able to suggest ways in which it can be bettered even as a lazy Sunday afternoon conversation. But I hope that there are enough smart and informed people of good will out there who will try to find a way to at least try to move towards a way to make things right.

As to Hagel's social positions, I wish I could understand them but I don't. To me they seem inconsistent with his general way of thinking, and I hope that they are motivated at least partially by his desire to actually represent the views of most of the people that voted for him. It may be just wishful thinking on my part :-) because I really like his way of thinking and his whole approach to dealing with problems on the issues where I agree with him, and also his whole political persona.

[Sensitivity]

25. It takes enormous courage to have taken the consistent sound-minded positions Hagel has in the face

of facile, corrupt and inconsistent policies of his party.

Hagel is a rare leader and is rightly being seriouusly considered in the democratic V.P. debate.

[Inuca]

27. Much as I like him, I am not sure

how I feel about him as VP, though it surely would be interesting. I am not also sure that he would actually want it, he seems to be a "I am in charge" kind of guy, and my guess is that he would prefer to be in charge of some important department. We shall see....