Republican Senator Chuck Hagel To Retire
By Logan Murphy Friday Sep 07, 2007 5:29pm
Via Omaha.com:
Chuck Hagel will announce Monday that he is retiring from the U.S. Senate and will not run for president next year, people close to the Nebraska Republican said Friday.
Hagel plans to announce that "he will not run for re-election and that he does not intend to be a candidate for any office in 2008," said one person, who asked not to be named.
Hagel has scheduled a press conference for 10 a.m. Monday at the Omaha Press Club.
According to one person interviewed, Hagel told Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky on Friday morning that he had decided to retire. Hagel's staff learned of his decision that afternoon.
The North Platte native earned national recognition as perhaps the most vocal, at times angry, GOP critic of the Bush administration's Iraq policies. Read more...
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Bye.
Did I miss something, or is this totally out of the blue?
Yup. The ones with real ethics (regardless of their political beliefs) never stick around long.
one hopes that this man has not given up the fight...
he is one of the few decent republicans one can name at the moment...
Tom (Not Tom) @ 2:
I agree. Where is this coming from? And why?
As a liberal and former Nebraskan I found that Hagel often voted the way I liked more often than the "Democrat" Ben Nelson. His staff also send letters to my emails explaining his position which I liked.
I'm worried about Bob Kerrey after reading the Moyers interview transcript
If Bob Kerry doesn't replace Hagel it will be a loss for America.
I think he see's that the next 6 to 10 years are going to be a beating trying to fix all the fuckups that this admin had accomplished.......OT...am I the only one who is having a hard time getting through...or is the govt fucking with us again...
Don't fall for the good cop/bad cop act. Hagel nearly always voted Republican and for Bush's intiatives. Since he is from Nebraska the chances of the seat going to a Democrat is slim. Hell, even with a Nebraskan Democrat Bush almost always gets his support.
Good riddance to an election fixing scum. Google Hagel's history with electronic voting.
He was CEO of the voting machine company ES&S.
The same company who's machines counted the votes in his election.
It was called "an amazing victory".
Rather make that "an amazing upset"!
Hagel's presser a couple months ago that had all the pundits declaring he was going to announce a pres bid, and then he announced nada. That was weird as hell by itself, but his decision now to retire is really strange. I wonder what the hell is really behind all of that? It's almost as if he's being pushed.
justabill @ 13:
The leaders of the GOP view Hagel as the Jack Murtha of the Senate.
Only he's worse because he's more conservative, more powerful, and a member of their own party.
justabill @ 13:
Larry Flints list maybe??...make ya wonder don't it?
mudshark @ 15:
Larry Flints list maybe??...make ya wonder don't it?
I didn't want to say it, but that's exactly what I was thinking.
mudshark @ 15:
Chuck is to boring to have any sexual kinks.
Bob Kerrey will take his place--but that's no blessing. I'm afraid he'll just end up being another Joe Lieberrman.
The Hill article that uncovered Hagel's ties to ES&S has been taken down, but the WayBackMachine still has it.
Norcal @ 18:
....Says who?..Seems to me they thought the same thing of Haggard.
Norcal @ 18:
Chuck is too boring to have any sexual kinks.
Yeah, but aren't they always the ones. :P
Although I personally like Sen. Hagel i often found that his connection to the electronic voting scam was extremely troubling. However, in a "bigger picture" way, i am concerned so many are starting to opt out of re-election runs. Is it because
a) They are all aware our country is nearly completely down the tubes?
b) They all being forced out with someone threatening to release skeletons in the closet.
c) Do they realize there is no longer any way to beat the corporate-controlled state?
My fear and initial thought is a fourth answer: All of the above.
mudshark @ 21:
justabill @ 22:
Yeah, but aren't they always the ones. :P
Haggard was alweays flambouent.
he realizes he can't win.........
Hagel promised in 1996 that he'd serve two terms only, if elected.
Meanwhile, people are right to be critical of him. He is one of the Senate's most conservative members, despite his critical stance toward this WH on the war. He votes against lots of bills that serve and protect average Americans on conservative grounds.
Oh, and the e-voting thing is fair ground too.
Norcal @ 24:
Haggard was alweays flambouent.
That I don't know...so I'll take your word for it...and I'll stand corrected..thanks
Nobody elected Haggard. He was a garden variety hypocrite, as opposed to lawmakers who demonstrate their mendacity.
Hagel was on the right side of the war and on the wrong side of everything else. His voting record: http://www.ontheissues.org/senate/Chuck_Hagel.htm
Nebraska is one the deepest red states in the nation so there's little doubt that Hagel's replacement will be just as big of a wingnut extremist as he was....only more so because I'm sure his replacement will most likely be pro-war to boot.
Whatever the reason, something turned Chuck from Presidential aspirations to retiring from politics altogether in just a matter of weeks. That's an awful lot of smoke.
Anyone who saw his presser where he announced that he wasn't announcing anything yet, the best way I could describe it was he looked and acted a lot like someone who just gat the call from Larry Flynt's team 10 minutes before showtime.
mudshark @ 27:
That I don't know...so I'll take your word for it...and I'll stand corrected..thanks
Ah, if only someone had caught Santorum having his way with a pooch. That would have been in grand style.
Ruthless People @ 29:
Do you really think that a fresh GOP face can afford in 08 to be gungho on Iraq? I have significant doubts in that regard.
The Daily Show on Hagel’s Non-Announcement
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/03/13/the-daily-show-on-hagels-non-an...
whom ever is elected in the next elections...from bottom to top.....will have a work load so intimidating and arduous ......well.......good luck....cause their gonna need it.
BlueKnuckle @ 32:
I would think not but, this IS Nebraska after all.
If "Nebraska is one the deepest red states in the nation" (I honestly don't know) then why is it the "Washington Post called his 1996 election - the first Nebraska senatorial Republican victory in 24 years - “the biggest upset in the country.” "
just askin
Ruthless People @ 35:
Touche'
(Blueknuckle is a former resident of both Louisiana and Idaho, but now resides in blue CT, though he retains his rather shameful status as a RINO).
Watch Hagel actually announce Monday that he is running for Pres. after watching the TDS clip of his non-announcement it wouldn't surprise me one bit if he screwed with the msm again.
I read that the nukes on the B52 wasn't an accident.......anybody got anymore info?
mudshark @ 39:
What would it possibly have achieved, having been over nothing but mainland USA?
BlueKnuckle @ 37:
As a native southerner who moved to NYC I say welcome to political civilization!
Everything's fishy around here anymore.
I suppose the goose-steppers in his party have purged him for speaking out. Probably have dirt.
Ruthless People @ 41:
Thank you. Thank you.
Now I'm waiting for the Dems to give me a reason to switch. And waiting and waiting and waiting. See, in CT, I can't vote in primaries if I declare as an Independent. I see myself, at best, as a Teddy Roosevelt Republican. Oh well...
mudshark @ 39:
Just what Larry Johnson had to say about it.
http://noquarterusa.net/blog/2007/09/05/staging-nukes-for-iran/
BlueKnuckle @ 37:
....why don't you call yourself a Dem?
BlueKnuckle @ 40:
getting it to a staging point...for the middle east?....
justabill @ 36:
Don't take my word for it. See for yourself http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/pages/results/states/NE/P/00/index.html Nebraska voted for Bush over Kerry by a 2-1 margin in 2004.
Doesn't get much redder than that my friend.
Good riddance! One less GOP is one step closer to regaining our nation back once again!
mudshark @ 45:
I find the stereotypes to be too true . . . still. Dems are spineless. Where is the end to the War? Where is the end to lobbying support? Where is the emphatic bucking of corporate America?
Meanwhile, the GOP is equally true to their perceptions of divisiveness, hypocrisy, mendacity, you-name-it.
I want a positive reason to be a Dem . . . and I'm desperate to find it.
quitter.
He never fooled me. The republicans abused America for the last eight years. They won't even help us clean up the mess. Yeah , he's probably on the madams list.
BlueKnuckle @ 49:
I find that Dems throughout the last 60 years have shown plenty of backbone.....look at the repubs for being spineless...thay can't even risk voting their concience for fear of retribution from the party for not toeing the party line(Iraq)...not to mention this is the most corrupt and POWERFULL admin in history.....and yet again this Dem majority is still only less than a year old...no offense blueknuckle...but me thinks you buy into the hype too much.........
BlueKnuckle @ 49:
What, the lesser of 2 evils reason ain't enough for ya? Not an exciting reason I admit but it's all I can come up with myself these days.
mudshark @ 51:
Yea, you have to go back 60 years to find a Democrat with backbone. But what haye you done for me lately?
blockquote>I find that Dems throughout the last 60 years have shown plenty of backbone.....look at the repubs for being spineless...thay can't even risk voting their concience for fear of retribution from the party for not toeing the party line(Iraq)...not to mention this is the most corrupt and POWERFULL admin in history.....and yet again this Dem majority is still only less than a year old...no offense blueknuckle...but me thinks you buy into the hype too much.........
Hey, you'll get no argument from me regarding Republican faults, flaws, and feints.
I am only 33. I think in terms of my lifetime. Carter. Mondale. Dukakis. (Clinton). Gore. Kerry. The Dems never nominate their strongest to the highest positions, with Clinton as a possible exception, though Tsongas was the better man. Reid and Pelosi have not impressed me a bit.
Chuck is the only Repub I ever liked.
gotta go folks...see ya later...have a nice weekend......(I just got off work.....and I'M TIRED)....and I watched the ending of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee......now I'm pissed off too......be well folks
curiousme @ 55:
Spector? Chafee?
mudshark @ 56:
You too. ;D
Maybe it's common sense; a nice neat departure from Washington while he still has a good name. 2008 ain't gonna be pretty for the Republicans, nor is the lead up to it. Observe now...
Ruthless People @ 53:
1992-2000...........I think Bill Clinton did damn good.......and when you think of all the Dems have done like SS...Civil Rights...and all the other things ....sure we're in a slump right now.....But we will come out of it soon....it's a helluva lot better than the alternative that's for damn sure...........ok ...hasta
flamethrower @ 10:
very accurate , hagels just another repig doushbag!
BlueKnuckle @ 54:
Hey, you'll get no argument from me regarding Republican faults, flaws, and feints.
I am only 33. I think in terms of my lifetime. Carter. Mondale. Dukakis. (Clinton). Gore. Kerry. The Dems never nominate their strongest to the highest positions, with Clinton as a possible exception, though Tsongas was the better man. Reid and Pelosi have not impressed me a bit.
Agreed. If go aaalllll the way back to Robert and John F Kennedy and FDR you will find backbone....and I will give you Bill Clinton too considering he was up against a anti-democratic Republican congress who was trying to overthrow him..... whereas today we have the likes of Nancy Pelosi who can't even put impeachment on the table.
Anyone with an ethical standard is fleeing the repugnacan party, the only thing left are the bottom feeders.
Ruthless People @ 52:
I'm not American, so I'm neither. I am anti-right-wingnut, and anti-religious zealots, wherever they hail from. All politicians are a bit twisted, everywhere you go. Where does that leave us? The lesser of two evils. Looks like.
Smart man. i guess that's why he's been so outspoken against Bush.
while I was in the shower It came to me........What have the Republicans EVER done for you?...I will always go Dem.
Edwin @ 64:
Anyone given a 100% by the Taliban Coalition.......I mean the Christian Coalition..... should tell you all you need to know about Hagel.
Since FDR...there have been...6 Dem Pres. and..6 Repub Pres....first the Dems...Fdr,Truman,JFK,Johnson,Carter and Clinton...now the Repubs....Eisenhower,Nixon,Ford,Reagan,Bush1 and Boosh 2.....you tell me who has served the country better.
Ruthless People @ 67:
Funny I've heard Republicans say the same thing about Democrats and the ACLU.
CD @ 69:
the funny thing is the ACLU serves ALL Americans...can't say the same for the CC
mudshark @ 70:
Yeah, republicans didn't seem to mind it one bit when the ACLU succesfully represented Rush Limbaugh, Ollie North, or Jerry Falwell.
mudshark @ 70:
The Republicans hate the ACLU because the ACLU is a firewall that stands between them and a theocratic fascist dictatorship.
Christian Coalition Citizens Project......CCCP....
justabill @ 71:
And you never hear of a Republican complain about a trail lawyer either when the trial lawyer is one of their own keeping their crooked asses out of jail. Or if it's a team of their own corporate trial lawyers up against the little guy in a gross negligence lawsuit.
Which brings me back too.....What have the Republicans EVER done for you?
mudshark @ 70:
Yeah well just because the CC supports him doesn't mean that's all we need to know about him.
CD @ 76:
A 100% rating by the Christian Coalition? I have to disagree. I think it does.
But in case you need more reasons, here they are again http://www.ontheissues.org/senate/Chuck_Hagel.htm
RickMac @ 23:
Hagel is a Republican. He's beginning to realize that as a brand the GOP is going to be about as popular as Malaria in the next decade or so.
I once again submit that Bush may well be the last Republican President ever, if not for a very, very long time. If the GOP ever comes back as a political entity in the next generation, it will be after a huge purge of the maniacal elements of the party. I think the GOP of 20-25 years from now will likely resemble and have absorbed today's Libertarians.
It seems increasingly obvious that the people driving the bus of today's GOP represent the views of a tiny, vocal, acerbic minority who are completely out of touch with reality.
Zenrage @ 3:
Ya know, I was thinking about this.
Hagel and Warner, both people I may not agree with on most issues, but definitely do on Iraq... both are retiring.
Both have seats that have a fair chance to be captured by a Democrat in the next cycle with them being open. (I'm fairly sure both would have held their seats fairly easily if they'd chosen to stay on, but now its an open race)
I'm thinking there's a combination of things at play, a big part of which is a final "eff you" to the Republicans who both Warner and Hagel realize have pretty much turned their party into a corrupt cesspool.
There's more to it I'm sure as well; but I think in the end this could well have been a very smart and calculated move on both of their parts.
It's just too sudden for there not to be a reason beyond the simple "Eh, I'm done here" bit.
Then again, I freely admit that while disagreeing with Hagel on virtually everything else, he has always struck me as a man with some integrity and guts. So perhaps I am just looking to see this in the best possible light as well.
Regardless, the results mean we have a much better chance of getting a progressive into that seat than we ever did before. Not a *great* chance - we're looking at a pretty moderate Democrat if there's going to be a win for this one, but still; it could be a good thing regardless of intent.
#78 - *I once again submit that Bush may well be the last Republican President ever, if not for a very, very long time*
With Hillary the likely Democratic nominee, I hope you won't be eating those words.
Perhaps Hagel is going to make a CLEAN exit while he can.
Maybe, the years of voting for the bush agenda is weighing heavy on his mind.
Whatever the reason, my sainted Nana from Sicily always said;
"Goodbye and good luck."
I wish the same.
Strawberry @ 5:
Tom (Not Tom) @ 2:
Sounds to me like someone received an offer he couldn't refuse. Maybe a Tony Saprano kind of offer?
slippytoad @ 78:
I generally agree with you.
The GOP of the next generation will almost certainly be of a more libertarian bent.
I also believe we'll see a big rise in Liberal Christianity over the next 20 years.
Why? Because in talking with a lot of folks my own age who self-identify as Christians, almost all of us are of a very liberal progressive bent on things. Even those who think of homosexuality as a sin tend not to think it should be a crime or anything; and a fair number don't even go that far with it.
Now obviously my scope is fairly limited here; but I'm 24 right now, if people in my age group and thereabouts are thinking this way, then what will politics be like in 20 years? I'm sensing a drastic shift for the better; and I'm also sensing a distinct drawdown in the power of the Church in secular affairs; as much because of religious folks pulling their churches back into the realm of the spiritual as anything else.
Hey Ruthless...Thanks for the link...that was great stuff...tanx again