Take a step back and look at what McCain is saying...
From McCain's POV- which I partially agree with, partially not- Hagel opposed the surge which was by all accounts a brilliant and successful strategy... and didn't have the ability to give McCain a straight answer whether he stood by that view or not at the hearings
So McCain sees some one who was wrong on one of the major military issues of the past several years and unwilling to either stand by it or rebuke his prior view
Also- Hagel has never run a bureaucracy, has no experience as a leader in DOD or any other of our national security agencies or departments, and has been out of government for some time now....In some ways, the Hagel pick is like when Bush nominated Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court... perhaps a fine woman, who held views in agreement with many Americans', but hadn't been a judge...
You all should stop trying to smear McCain with attacks on his dignity whenever he says something you don't agree with!
On whether the surge was a good idea or not - it's been a few years since it happened. Whether or not it was a good decision won't be revealed for a long time when historians can fully evaluate all of the Iraq War. And it's hard to say whether or not something that never happened would still be a good idea.
Hagel was President and CEO of the USO; he was COO of the 1990 G7 summit; he was a deputy administrator in the VA; and he's served in some type of governing capacity for numerous companies... he has quite a bit of executive experience, including bureaucratic when he was in the VA.
Please excuse me... I meant specifically a bureaucracy within the national security realm (DoD, CIA, etc...) and didn't mean to ignore his admirable service as #2 of the VA, head of the USO, and other roles
I'd argue that those roles qualify him more to lead the VA then SECDEF but they are good qualifications nevertheless....
My point isn't to argue his qualifications but to argue those who accuse McCain of being absurd in his posiition when it is in fact a legitimate one
