Hagel: Because What the DoD Needs is a Little More UN Interference.

So... Chuck Hagel.

Yes, technically he's a Republican. He has a 100% pro life rating from the National Right to Life. He gets a 0% from NARAL. So far, so good. Right?

Hagel's rating from the American Conservative Union was 85%, which is considered to be a fairly reliable conservative.

He was for the war in Iraq before he was against it. That's nothing special, any way you look at it. The same could be said for Hillary Clinton, if I'm not mistaken.

Hagel has been quoted as saying that an American Ambassador was "too openly gay" to properly serve the United States in such a capacity.

All that said, it's difficult to see why someone who opposes everything Hagel seems to stand for would want him as a cabinet member. The word from the White House is a little double talk wrapped up and tied neatly with the phrase "when it comes to the defense of our nation, we are not Democrats or Republicans, we are Americans."

So you say.

And then you hear about the rest of what Chuck Hagel stands for. Because if he becomes the Secretary of Defense, what will his opinions on the sanctity of life or homosexuality (or any other conservative principle, really) matter? He won't be voting for anything related to such topics.

His views on American Intervention sound dangerously like former FDR VP Henry Wallace, who once  blamed Stalin's invasion of Poland and the beginning of his assault on Eastern Europe on the "insistent meddling" of the United States.

His tacit support of Iran (by only half-heartedly supporting soft restrictions on their nuclear programs and refusing to vote for any harsher sanctions) points to a failure to support our only democratic ally in the Middle East - Israel. That position is further supported by Hagel's statements in regards to the "oppressed state of Palestine" and his expressed concern that the United Nations is not strong enough where international relations are concerned because the United States doesn't ceded them quite enough power.

In case you weren't already worried about our relationship with Israel, let me point out the fact that, since the resolution that gave Israel a homeland in 1948, nearly every United Nations resolution that concerns Israel in any way comes down sharply in favor of anyone but Israel. Ceding the UN more power in regard to international relations is not likely to end with Israel still standing at all, much less as the Democratic stronghold it is today.

And now we know why Obama wants him. Because he can use Hagel's conservative record in the Senate to get him past the objections of at least a few Senate Republicans during his confirmation hearings. And once he is confirmed, he can use him to further undermine the strength of the United States in the global community.