Filibuster Chuck Hagel !!!
A GOP filibuster of Chuck Hagel would be unprecedented.
( The spineless Dems did nothing to change the filibuster rule. If the Republicans use it against Hagel, it might well be the first time it was publicly supported. Even the most ardent Obama sycophants are saying his testimony was a “disaster.” I think the filibuster has been abused. I’m praying that it will redeem itself here. – JW )
A GOP filibuster of Chuck Hagel would be unprecedented
Chuck Hagel did not do well in his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Service Committee yesterday. In fact, it was a disaster. He seemed unprepared — inadvertently saying the Obama administration supports “containment” with regards to Iran — and unable to deal with the hostility of his former Republican colleagues. If you judged solely from the hearing, you’d think Hagel, as David Frum said on Twitter this morning, was “poorly prepared, easily pushed around, and prone to saying things he later regrets.”
Even still, odds are good he’ll be confirmed. As Chris Cillizza notes, Democrats are still on Hagel’s side, and unless they abandon the nomination, the only way Hagel will lose confirmation is if “Republicans choose to block his nomination.” This would be an unprecedented move. Most presidential nominees for most positions are confirmed by the Senate, and it takes misdoing or sizable, bipartisan opposition for a president to withdraw a nomination. This is even more true when it comes to the most high-profile cabinet positions — the president has wide discretion on his nominees for State, Defense or the Treasury.
Simply put, the Senate has never filibustered a cabinet nominee, and for good reason: Staffing the executive branch is a key job for the White House, and routine filibusters would make that an extremely difficult task, given the huge number of positions. Moreover, presidents win affirmation for their agenda from a majority of the (voting) public — giving wide leeway for nominations is a justified form of democratic deference.
Since the November elections, Republicans have tried to make up for their losses by heightening their opposition to President Obama. They’ve attacked nominees, pushed bogus scandals (Benghazi), and have tried their hands — again — at legislative hostage taking. If Senate Republicans break tradition and filibuster Hagel, it will be another sign that the GOP has committed itself to another four years of senseless opposition, in which blocking governance as an end in itself — rather than even trying to find common ground to make governing possible — will remain the norm.
Jamelle Bouie is a staff writer at The American Prospect, where he writes a blog.
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WarSclerotic 
February 1, 2013 at 8:35 PM
Iranian monkey business lol
The space monkey stuff is possibly a fake
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/9842580/Is-Irans-space-monkey-a-fake.html
February 1, 2013 at 9:26 PM
Ahmadinejad’s family business.
February 1, 2013 at 9:38 PM
An amazing disclosure was revealed recently and explaining why the monkey who ”returned” from space was different from the monkey who was ”send” into space. The monkey who came back is, in fact, an iranian time traveller from the future who decided to help the ayatollahs, who are in deep sh!t in these days.
February 1, 2013 at 11:03 PM
Ha…and the monkey from the future brought them some advanced technology no doubt.
February 1, 2013 at 11:13 PM
RIP Mayor Koch….
http://weaselzippers.us/2013/02/01/former-nyc-mayor-ed-koch-dies-headstone-inscribed-with-daniel-pearls-final-words-before-jihadists-beheaded-him/
February 2, 2013 at 12:19 AM
Iran To Unveil New Fighter Jet Tommorow
February 2, 2013 at 12:43 AM
I’ve got exclusive information.
The new fighter is called the Baboon 1 and will be flown by a monkey. This is an incredible achievement. They’ve managed to decrease the size of the cockpit dramatically. Also they don’t need an ejection seat any more. My sources further disclosed that this revolutionary fighter will have an awesome new weapon not used in air combat before. It’s a quran. The pilot is supposed to read from it and calling for allah’s help when engaging in dogfights. The whole project was haunted by one major problem: They were not able to find an ape stupid enough to read the book.
There are rumours circulating in the Iranian defense community that they finally found a monkey willing to read the book amongst Ahmadinejad’s relatives.
Stay tuned for more information …
February 2, 2013 at 1:18 AM
UPDATE:
Another major breakthrough was achieved with the propulsion system.
It is a radically new design not used in any other aircraft in the world.
It is driven by camel urine instead of kerosene.
As the scientists found out, the usage of this new kind of fuel has one major big advantage.
The urine has the same chemical compositon as the urine of the IRGC-forces thus reducing the size of the required camel population. The IRGC has already begun to enforce new regulations for the handling of their latrines.
The scientists are currently working on the possible use of excrements as lubricants for the mechanical parts.
This will mean that the IRGC will take a leading role in the field of recycling applied by armed forces.
Al Gore has stated that this would be an exciting and historic achievment in the field of ecological sustainability and that he would be willing to found a joint venture with the money he got from Al Jazeera.
Stay tuned …
February 2, 2013 at 2:22 AM
Iran Successfully Stones Monkey To Death In Space
http://www.theglobaledition.com/iran-successfully-stones-monkey-to-death-in-space/
February 2, 2013 at 12:24 AM
When they shot the monkey into space I said that Ahmadinejad is getting rid of his in-laws.
Little did I know then how prophetic these words were.
February 2, 2013 at 1:16 AM
‘Israeli jets struck several targets in Syria’
TIME magazine quotes Western intelligence officials as saying that ‘at least one to two additional targets’ were hit in alleged airstrike Tuesday night, Israel had ‘green light’ from Washington to launch yet more such strikes
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4339977,00.html
…
I reckon at least 10 targets struck, and there is heavy IAF activity tonight….