HAGEL

Hagel's first trip out to visit the troops has not been too smooth.

IN YOUR FACE. This is what Republican Lindsay Graham and Mitch McConnell have accused the president of; an "In Your Face" strategy for the coming months. Accusing the president of telling them to "kiss off" sounds like a winner to me. I would have used, go f..k yourself but read where Boehner used that line to Harry Reed. LOL. Although Reid comes across as pretty weak, still for Boehner to say it--pretty unseemly. OK, for me, hell, I am an opinionated blogger.

And, Graham is opposing Chuck Hagel? Give me a break. The next few years are going to be tough times for "Defense." We need an enlisted guy in there. We've tried officer leadership/politicians. Look where that's gotten us? Rumsfelt and Bush gave us Petraeus and Allen and a host of other ethically challenged generals. And, before them, Chaney who could not go to Vietnam because he had "other priorities." Come on!

This is one that gets me. Some f..king columnist calls Hagel anti Jew and people get all shook up. I am a big time supporter of Israel but they constantly f..k up. It is almost like they sit around some table and say, "What can we do to piss our neighbors off?" Oh we know, we'll just build some houses in the Palestinian area. So what that Hagel shoots from the hip. About time. Most in Washington wouldn't know plain talking if it ran over them. They stick their finger in the air to determine the direction of the prevailing political bullshit. Hagel has been accused of being a maverick. Good for him. Presently at almost all levels, what I see is "group think." The generals in particular need their asses kicked. Most of them love to hear their own voices and are working on their memoirs on "Company" time. Think Petraeus, spending all that time with a biographer that he was f..king. And, he was suppose to be overseeing the troops.

Hagel will have his hands full. There's a kind of military mafia: (I just know the Army) West Point graduates who look after each other. They are "ring knockers" and help each get promoted and get choice assignments. They talk about looking after the troops but don't overall do "s..t." Their mantra is mostly, "Nothing is too good for the troops and that is what the troops get, nothing." Hagel has been an enlisted guy, he gets it.

Like Downton Abbey? There's an example: the Aristocracy (Officers) are upstairs, the Servants (enlisted) are downstairs.

Biggest challenge I think for Hagel will be the military itself. We do what we always do after wars. We downsize the military. Shrink it to where it is questionable about its effectiveness. Not to mention the fact that we get rid of some of our best men and women. In to many cases, we absolutely treat them awful. We have used them up and throw them out. The Army is already way to small. The All Voluntary Force is a bust in my estimation. Those in now are good, quality soldiers but we have deployed them over and over. They are spent. Deployed over and over. Unlike Vietnam, if we needed more "cannon fodder, we drafted more. Now, we merely sent them to war over and over.

This is an aside but so fits into the present equation. We let Melvin Laird and economist icon Milt Freeman sell us a bill of goods when we ended the draft. We could have easily turned the draft into a community service, requiring our young people to serve. After 9-11, we discovered this vast amount of patriotism across the board, the children of the "have" and the "have nots" lined up to serve and we squandered the opportunity. And, now, of course, it is too late. We don't have the political will to bring back a Community Service, giving Amerrica's youth choices. Many would have chosen the military.

Hagel is a good choice for SecDef. Those who don't think so, "F..K you very much."