Committee approves Hagel nomination

The Senate Armed Services Committee just voted 14 to 11 to approve the nomination of former Senator Chuck Hagel as the next Secretary of Defense.

It now goes to the full Senate for a confirmation vote.   Petty, petulant Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has said he will put a hold on the nomination until President Obama answers more questions about the Benghazi assassinations.   He wants the president to say where he was at the time of that attack.

What possible relevance does that have?    Suppose he was at a fund-raiser, or playing golf, or out to dinner with his wife?    The president is never away from his communications and security network.  He can handle whatever comes to him, wherever he is.   Graham is just playing pouty politics.

Majority Leader Harry Reid says he will not honor a hold on the nomination.  And Sens. McCain and Hatch have both said they will not support a filibuster.

So it looks like Hagel is going to be our new Pentagon chief.

That's very very good, especially combined with the advanced leak that President Obama will announce in his State of the Union speech tonight an accelerated withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.

Ralph