Hagel to step down? Already?
The broadcast news is reporting without any details that Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel is stepping down fro that position. Jennifer Griffin on Fox News reports that he tendered his resignation to the President this morning and that they mutually agreed.
He never should have been the SecDef. His service in Vietnam was enviable, but he is out of his depth. Hagel was appointed because he is a politician, but with the world going to shit, we need a leader and none of the last few Defense Secretaries have fit that bill.
Hagel performed poorly at his confirmation hearing and that should have been a clue. Republicans voted to confirm him while they complained that he wasn’t a good fit – that makes no sense to me. But, hey, Hagel is the only Republican to have the support of VoteVets, so he had that going for him.
But, I’m sure they can find someone less competent and more political than Hagel to make the situation at DoD and in the world worse. Maybe they can get Wesley Clarke. Wouldn’t that suck?
Category: Big Pentagon
Wesley Clarke? Please, Jonn, DON’T give them any ideas.
I served on his staff when he was EUCOM. He was a platoon leader trapped in the body of a four star. He is a world class micromanager.
Yeah! He became the Ops Group commander at the NTC when I was an Observer-Controller. He changed the OPFOR’s ROE so they couldn’t really surprise the Blue Force. After that, the Blue Force started to win … a lot.
He was then identified as one “with flames coming out of his ass” … i.e., a political “fast burner.”
Oh goodie. Now he hits the talk-show circuit, becomes an expert consultant on all matters military, and writes a book to let is know that the Golfer in Mom Jeans is no leader. These guys slay me with that crap. Men of principle do not work for the Golfer in Mom Jeans–but men of principal and interest do.
My thoughts exactly. Rip Van Hagel pulls a Gates/Panetta in 3..2..1. Fuck him. He won’t be missed.
Jim Webb?
Webb just announced his candidacy for the 2016 Presidential race, so I think he’ll be too busy and I’m pretty sure that he’ll want to distance himself from this administration.
We need Chuck Norris.
Good riddance!
Seriously-Gates has been the best of the bunch since the war started.
68W58…What you said!
the old Russian saying will soon apply (again) to DoD: “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.”
it will be Michele Flournoy.
Let’s not read too much into this. Spaced out in the next few months the entire cabinet will quit. It happens everytime there is a lame duck president. No one wants to stay till the end.
My money is on Tom Harkin. Liberal pedigree. Key supporter of Obama in 2008. Former vet (with his own Stolen Valor history), Navy pilot. Leaves the Senate after this term. There is time for the current Seanet to confirm him, given the fact that the Senate gives deference to each other as a matter of “collegiality of the Senate.” His confirmation would go through, especially since Ted Cruz Republicans won’t filibuster National Security appointments. Expect Harkin to be fast-tracked in December.
Chuckie was over his head and useless, but he’s not the prime reason for the mess: see Valerie and Jugears.
I like how the NYT article said he had the loyalty of enlisted troops. Ummmm, no. You don’t get loyalty without giving loyalty, and we all saw him as the token Republican hatchet man, selected because only a Republican can suggest the kind of cuts we’ve taken. We also see the number of general officers that are still in the service and we realize that the bureaucracy, military and civilian, is out to protect itself, not us.
Fmr Deputy Secy of Defense Ash Carter is believed to be the lead candidate to replace Hagel. Reportedly Carter ran much of the day to day Pentagon business when Panetta was SecDef. Apparently Carter was on the shortlist to be the SecDef nominee to succeed Panetta, but instead Hagel was tapped.
A fmr under secy of defense for policy (#3 position in DoD) Michèle Flournoy is also believed to be a strong frontrunner.
Hagel just simply wasn’t up to the most complex job in gov’t except perhaps the Presidency…now I suppose he courts a book deal or something.
Greta van Susteren is saying that Hagel was fired, and they’re making it look like a resignation. Her theory is that after PrezBO called ISIS the “junior varsity” Hagel came behind him and said ISIS was a serious threat. Makes PrezBO look bad, don’t you know.
Now that the ship is taking on water, how many rats are going to go over the rail before Mom Jeans leaves in the only lifeboat?
Any bets?
No, no, no. It’s bodaprez.
Firing Hagel wouldn’t surprise me. He should have quit while he was ahead, six weeks after he got the job.
I heard that on the radio this A.M., Wretched. I don’t know which program my local station went to, but the talking heads were saying the Øbola fired Hagel, because he was suspected of dissing Øbola and Susan Rice. And, especially heinous in their eyes, he may have said it out loud.
I thought it humorous that Øbola constantly referred to Hagel as “Chuck” when he talked about him, not Sec. Hagel. But, even better was that Hagel didn’t hardly mention Øbola at all during his remarks.
So long Chuckles. Don’t let the door hit your ass on the way out!
I think it may have to do with two issues.
Hagel was not comfortable with the GTMO release policies of Obama, particularly with keeping Congress in the dark. He may have used his last “But sir,” on the last release.
The second is Ukraine. We have had ZERO impact in NATO since the Euromaidan Uprising that began one year ago this month (notice the lack of “anniversary” stories in the MSM?). Hagel may have protested the total absence of political currency being used by Obama in Europe, particularly since Hungary recently aligned itself with Russia in the conflict. Hagel may be as dumb as the floor times he stands on, but he was a Cold Warrior who remembers why we have NATO in the first place. Obama is jettisoning the guy becuase he is growing a spine.
Floor times = floor tiles.
Hagel named his choice for his successor in July.
So long, and please have the decency to leave quietly and stay quiet.
I know it won’t happen, but I can dream.
I understand that Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, needs a job. At 44 or 45, his resume is rather short but he did serve in the US Navy and probably doesn’t use drugs daily.
True, AirCav. Word is that Hunter only does cocaine the day before, or the day of, his urine drop.
Good riddance, and I wonder who B. Hussein Obama will pick for his successor once he’s done golfing or gets back from his next fundraiser if it doesn’t interfere with his next vacation?
It could be that paragon of virtue Corrine Brown. She be on da Vetrans Affairs committee and she sho knows stuffs.
Go Gata.
May I suggest Jesse (Janos) Ventura?
He’ll keep the Oval Office busy with paranoid conspiracy theories, and have an income, too.
Besides, he was a UDT guy (frogman), so he knows stuff, too.
Wouldn’t the SecDef actually have to live in the USA in order to fulfill his duties? I just don’t see Jesse “The Jackass” Ventura moving out of his compound in Mexico. Besides, his ass is grass in the military community after his recent lawsuit.
Yeah, but, see, he’d have to stay in Mexico because he can’t afford to move to the US and he’d never dare to come up here for anything because everybody in the military hates him, and someone might shoot him or punch him in the face.
That would solve the entire problem.
I heard it was going to be Bill Ayers. Or was that Bill Cosby?
I just heard that Obama said Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is a front runner.
I think they need some real new blood in there. Like that Bergdhal kid. He has intimate knowledge of the Taliban, I mean REAL intimate, and the lefties would love him.