ANY nominee to the USA Department of Defense is about money. Just that simple.

I don't care if Chuck Hagel doesn't like aggressive gay men. He has a right not to be sexually harassed.

Posted by Greg Sargent on December 21, 2012 at 4:01 pm
...But in an interview this afternoon, (click here) the target of the 1998 slur, leading gay philanthropist James Hormel, told me he never received an apology from Hagel himself, questioned the sincerity of the apology, and said the incident should still raise questions about whether Hagel is the right man to oversee the repeal of don’t ask don’t tell....

If Hormel came on to the Senator then it is he that should apologize. I think Senator Hagel is married. The former Senator is not being nominated to Secretary of State, it is the DOD and Hagel has a reputation that dictates prudent decision making when approaching the role of the USA in the world. 

Senator Hagel is a conservative in the truest sense of the word. He doesn't like WASTEFUL SPENDING, putting young American lives in harm's way without a definitive reason and he won't put up with pork barrel projects and costly overruns.

The real reason for opposing Senator Hagel to the Department of Defense was stated in The Washington Post:

...The editors of the Washington Post (click here) surprise us this morning by opposing Hagel strongly for his views on defense cuts and Iran: “Mr. Hagel’s stated positions on critical issues, ranging from defense spending to Iran, fall well to the left of those pursued by Mr. Obama during his first term — and place him near the fringe of the Senate that would be asked to confirm him ....

Senator Hagel's greatest strength is his ability to be honest, examine the facts and change his mind. He changed his mind on Iraq and while he saw no reason for sanctions with Iran, he may change his name. 

The greatest hurdle to effective sanctions with Iran is the demand for natural gas as an alternative to Russia's Gasprov. It is why the EU doesn't like to move on sanctions to Iran. They want Iran's natural gas. 

Senator Hagel can speak for himself, but, I always believed he didn't endorse sanctions with Iran because they are unenforceable. Pakistan was going to continue a relationship with Iran no matter what the EU and USA did to limit foreign trade and impose sanctions. Once Musharraf was no longer in the Presidency and Zadari was elected, the change in Pakistan's position with Iran was obvious and the pipeline is still under contention. So, Senator Hagel may very well see the USA relationship with Iran has changed and the sanctions more enforceable.

Senator Hagel's greatest strength is he does not endore war as a first strategy against any country, including Iranb.

The Debt Ceiling is not about entitlements, it is about paying the bills.

The USA economy and it's national debt are not about guessing what will work, it about knowing what the numbers are and what will work.

It is not about skating along waiting for the next set of rhetoric to 'get it right.' It is about the nation knowing what the facts are and paying the bills.

Understanding where the country is, where it is going is not about trusting instincts or what seems natural; it is knowing the facts by asking questions and getting honest answers.

Living in the USA, believing in the truth, understanding the course we are mapping out to solve our problems is what we call leadership. 

If Eric Schmidt can go to North Korea without fear and look for hope in new relationships through in roads; then the people of the USA can come to terms with the truth and bring understanding to the fiscal condition of the USA and why the Republicans can no longer take the country hostage for political reasons.

Google exec chairman to visit NKorea (click here)

By By JEAN H. LEE
Associated Press – 2 days ago

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Google's executive chairman is preparing to travel to one of the last frontiers of cyberspace: North Korea.

Eric Schmidt will be traveling to North Korea on a private, humanitarian mission led by former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson that could take place as early as this month, according to two people familiar with the group's plans who asked not to be named because the visit had not been made public.

The trip would be the first by a top executive from U.S.-based Google, the world's largest Internet search provider, to a country considered to have the most restrictive Internet policies on the planet.

North Korea is in the midst of what leader Kim Jong Un called a modern-day "industrial revolution" in a New Year's Day speech to the nation Monday. He is pushing science and technology as a path to economic development for the impoverished country, aiming for computers in every school and digitized machinery in every factory....

Do Americans want to solve the problems we all face so our children don't have to? Or do we want to play games with their future?