connecting*the*dots

5 Responses to “Chuck Hagel: Leadership Personified”  

1. 1 mw Jan 26th, 2007 at 2:03 am

   Hagel was in no way late to the table on Iraq. In fact, he was ahead of almost every single Democratic candidate for President except possibly Biden and Obama. If you want to really appreciate how far Hagel was ahead of the curve on Iraq, check out this video of his speech at Kansas State University in February of 2003 (Landon Lecture Series - warning it is long some 50 minutes).

   Filmed a few weeks before we went into Iraq, Hagel warns about almost every single thing that has happened as a consequence over the last three years. Not hindsight, real foresight. It’s scary how on-target he was - He
   sounds like a friggin’ prophet now. It makes you want to cry to watch it. Nobody was listening to him. Not in the administration. Not the American people. Just a voice lost in the winds of war fever. I include myself among the deaf, as I was as gung-ho as every other yahoo at the time.

   It is going to be tough road for him . The President has now put us on a path that insures that the War in Iraq will be the only issue that matters in 2008. The Republican right is now so out of step with the majority of Americans over the War in Iraq, that I cannot see how Republicans can nominate an electable candidate.

   Chuck Hagel is a rock solid conservative in the Goldwater tradition. He is more conservative than McCain, Giuliani, Romney, and certainly more conservative than Bush. He has been on the right side of this war since 2002 and that makes him the only electable Republican in the field. Too bad he won’t make it through the gauntlet of Republicans who have redefined being a Republican with the single litmus test of blind support of the President’s policies on Iraq. You don’t have to be a fiscal conservative to get their support. You don’t have to be a social conservative to get their support. You just have to put on your blinders and march lockstep on a flawed war strategy.

2. 2 Grendly Jan 26th, 2007 at 10:30 am

   I will see your passionate clarity Mr. Hagel, but might I point out to you, what bush was actually saying at the state of the union….

   http://www.gotuit.com/player/index.html?c=SM_News&t=7355&s=54020

   Conviction trumps clarity.

3. 3 sean coon Jan 26th, 2007 at 1:11 pm

   thanks for the link and your thorough perspective, mw. i’m half-way through the video link you provided and my respect for hagel has grown exponentially.

   to be clear, when i said “late to the table,” i wasn’t coming from a partisan position. hagel did support this war with his vote. i was against the direction i felt this administration was heading directly following 9/11 (i lived in brooklyn at the time) and as the war kicked into gear.

   i wasn’t one of the aforementioned yahoo’s (at least on this issue ;)

   that’s my rationale for my position.

   but i do agree with you about hagel; the guy is a stand-up, take ownership, no nonsense kind of guy, who also is a student of history, a veteran and someone who *listens*. i don’t gravitate towards cliche politicians spinning narratives — especially in the oval office. thats why, as an independent, hillary clinton isn’t an option for me (unless she runs into a mccain or guilliani in the presidential race).

   as it stands right now, i’m gravitating towards obama and biden on one side and hagel on the other.

   bottom line: we need more outspoken leaders in all levels of government.

4. 4 sean coon Jan 26th, 2007 at 3:02 pm

   @ grendly: that was hilarious.

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