Chuck Hagel will probably be confirmed as the next Secretary of Defense. The president wants him and the Senate is majority Democrat.
Hagel testified last week before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and he seems to have undergone what they call confirmation conversion.
Nothing to worry about, he indicated, when it comes down to previous comments about the Pentagon needing to be "pared down," his opposition to a U.S. missile defense system, his support of eliminating nuclear weapons (my view is our enemies should go first), his long history of opposing sanctions on Iran, and of course his reference to "the Jewish lobby," which is often a code word for opposition to Israel, support for her enemies and, in some cases, reveals a strain of anti-Semitism. Perhaps not in Hagel's case, but he should be asked about it.
The president is cleaning house for his second term to better implement his agenda of retreat and apology for what America has been. He's living up to his promise to transform this country. In the end I suspect we won't like it much.
I'm Cal Thomas in Washington.
Publication date: February 4, 2013
