The trouble with Hagel - response to Chicago Tribune editorial

The Trib's January 15 editorial "The trouble with Hagel" tries, with misinformation and sophistry, to paint Chuck Hagel, President Obama's pick for Defense Secretary, as a far left fringe nominee opposed by Democrats and Republicans alike, who will likely weaken our national defense. Nothing could be further from the truth. What is true is that Hagel has been pre-emptively and viciously attacked as a homophobe and an anti-Semite even before his rumored nomination was made precisely because he offers the first glimmer of hope that we may have a Defense Secretary not under the thumb of the neocon war party and the Lukid wing of the Israel Lobby. While the Trib's editorial doesn't dredge up all these scurrilous charges, it falsely frames Hagel as dangerous by pretending we haven't had the eight year reign of neocon rule under Bush, slavishly supported by the Trib editorial board, that gave us two murderous and failed and bankrupting pre-emptive wars of choice. These trillion dollar descents into madness that claimed hundreds of thousands of innocents, including 6,663 GI's, are anything but mainstream policies that should be continued by the likes of those who should be sitting in prison rather than befouling our landscape seeking new wars. Hagel's only real sin, one the Trib never fesses up to, is that he completely sees through the insanity that the Trib posits as being "mainstream".

Some of the editorial's statements are so preposterous they parody legitimate editorial content. "Democrats are puzzled that Obama has selected a Republican". Bunk. Choosing close advisors from the opposition party is a time honored tenant of good governance. "Republicans don't think he is a Republican". Preposterous. Republicans, most of whom are neocons or opportunistic paid off members of the war party, may despise Hagel because he can't be conned and can't be bought, but know he is a better Republican than they could ever be. After the neocons practically bankrupted America with criminal wars and worthless weapons systems, the Trib agonizes that Hagel will not warn the President "when the zeal for proposed spending cuts puts national security at risk". Hah! Where was the Trib when President Bush's pre-emptive wars on the Muslim world were what has really put our national security at risk. 

But the corker is the ludicrous statement that Hagel's positions on defense spending and Iran, being far left and near the fringe of the Senate, are not some neoconservative assessment but "the assessment of the Washington Post editorial page". Poppycock! The Washington Post editorial page is significantly more neoconservative than the neoconservative Tribune. They consistently put the national interests of Israel and the monetary interests of the Military-Industrial Complex, far, far ahead of us poor blokes who must navigate through their endless warmongering.

Guys and gals, its time to own up to your historic role of propping up our failed policies of Israel first and war always. You can expiate some of the guilt you bear for these atrocities by getting on board the Chuck Hagel peace train. He nearly died fighting in our criminal Vietnam War and will work to prevent one more soldier from being served up as canon fodder for cowards who would never, ever get near harms way.

Having read Trib editorials since 1952 when Col. McCormick was still railing against foreign entanglements, I only wish he could come back for one day and give you folks a lesson in editorial writing. After reading this nonsense he'd send you to the woodshed to brush up on two novel concepts: putting America's interests ahead of all other nations, and doing everything possible to prevent the next senseless war.