The Newtish one has been known to say a few very intelligent things but he can’t help following them up by shooting himself in the foot. On This Week with Whoever Shows Up, speaking about the Hagle nomination, he responded to a comment by blurting out that Hagle was an honorable man despite how bad his performance in the Senate Hearings had been. What does one thing have to do with the other? The concept that he is an honorable man has no relevance to his ability as a public speaker.
Of course the comment was understandable considering the source. What should count, however, even to Newt and the rest of the draft dodgers in the Senate is Hagle’s war record. He is, after all, Secretary of Defense and it’s about time we have someone in that job, who knows what it’s like to get shot at, who understands, first hand, the significance of actions he will be forced to take when he sends our kids into harm’s way. Maybe if Dick Cheney had been the shootee instead of the shooter he wouldn’t have been so quick to commit Americans to two bullshit wars.
But then Newt topped his comments by saying that Ted Cruz’ McCarthyesque comments about Hagle getting money from Iran and North Korea were okay because the Democrats had fought hard against the appointment of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court. Again, what the hell did one thing have to do with the other?
It was an ridiculous comment. To compare a decorated war hero with arguably the least respected judge in the history of the Supreme Court, a man with a lower ethical standing than your average pedophile, was a truly monumental blunder. The opposition to Thomas appointment was based on his lack of qualifications for a seat on the court, opposition that has been proven correct ever since he took the bench and began a series of unethical actions that should have resulted in his impeachment.
Even John McCain, who had attacked Hagle strenuously, had the decency not to put him in the same sentence with Thomas. McCain also had the intelligence to reprimand Cruz on his, completely unfounded, allegations regarding taking money from Iran and North Korea. The beauty of the whole thing was that Cruz’ accusations were based on an offhand comment, made as a joke but accepted without question by a Republican staff member who gave the information to Cruz without fact checking it. The organization named in the accusation, Friends of Hamas, never existed but Cruz and his mentally disabled staff just weren’t up to checking on the truth of the information as long as it suited their perverted purposes. All they cared about was a chance to attack Hagle. They didn’t care if the attack was based on fact or just some Republican wet dream.
Cruz’ actions in the hearing, like many of his previous actions, were thuggish, mendacious and uncalled for. This is a man, who many claim, has a modicum of intelligence, but who thus far in his short, undignified career has proved only that he is qualified to be the attack dog for the most degerate segment of the Tea Party. He has shown almost no understanding of any issue on which he has spoken and no ability to do anything other than kow-tow to his gun loving, beer drinking, trailer park trash constituency.