Our nation is paying a price for the political games Republicans in the Senate are playing. While Senate Republicans are filibustering the nomination of the Defense Secretary, the Chinese military is launching deadly cyber attacks on American companies critical to our national defense.
This is a dangerous world and our national security is no place for the party that lost the election to act like a spoiled 4-year-old brat.
What is even worse is that when they return from their latest undeserved 10-day vacation, Republicans plan to allow approval of Chuck Hagel. So they are jeopardizing our national security just to embarrass the president. This is unconscionable and they need to pay a price for doing so!
When Democrats in Congress dared to question the Bush/Cheney “phony” Iraq war, Republicans attacked their patriotism and accused them of providing aid and comfort to the enemy. Yet, Democrats approved every nomination Bush made for CIA and Secretary of Defense because we were at war. We are still at war. That is why Republican behavior is unacceptable.
It was revealed over the weekend that a massive cyber attack was traced to a building in Shanghai, China that houses the Chinese Military. Not only do China and Russia have cyber attacks as part of their war plan, but so does Iran. This latest attack is an attempt by China to test our vulnerabilities.
While China is attacking, a lame duck is in charge of the Defense Department--not for cause, but for raw political posturing.
We have not only been tested by the Chinese during this drama but also by North Korea which conducted a test of a new miniaturized nuclear weapon that could be easier to arm terrorists and rogue states with. The Korean people may not watch TV, but its military does and the drama on the Hill did not go unnoticed.
Republicans are weakening our nation on the world stage. Our friends and enemies are both watching. The first filibuster of a Defense Secretary in the history of out nation weakens soon-to-be Secretary Hagel, or any person President Obama will nominate once he takes the reigns of the Pentagon.
We are not talking about an Agriculture Secretary here. We are talking about the person who will head up the Pentagon. Republican games are sending the new Secretary into battle with one hand tied behind his back. And, they are doing the same with the president’s nominee to head up the CIA.
There used to be an unwritten rule that politics ends at the water’s edge. The filibuster was never used to block a Defense Secretary. Sure, John Tower was not confirmed for Defense Secretary, but he was given a vote, and he lost for cause, not political payback. The move against Hagel is nothing other than pay back by Republicans because he did not support the surge in Iraq, and he failed to support John McCain in 2008 because of McCain’s love affair with that war.
Senators John McCain, Lindsay Graham, and their side-kick Senator Ayotte, are opposing Hagel to punish him. Rand Paul and Marco Rubio are out to make a name for themselves for their 2016 presidential bid. Rand Paul used a non-existent organization—the Friends of Hamas, as justification to block Hagel. Senator Inhofe is a war monger and Ted Cruz is out to prove he is the moral head of the Tea Party.
Most Republican Senators are just going along for the ride on this Neo- McCarthy train. They lack the courage to stand up and do the right thing. They try to justify the filibuster by saying it is not a filibuster, just a delay—a distinction without a difference. What a pity!
Perhaps voters will remember in November 2014.
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