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-- Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) on MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell Reports, suggesting that liberals might not exactly wrap their arms around John Brennan for CIA director because of his ties to President Obama's increased use of drones.
Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., talks about the possible roadblocks to the confirmations of Chuck Hagel and John Brennan.
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If Brennan runs into trouble, maybe Obama can take a page out of the NRA playbook. Drones don't kill people, people do.
haha, Darth Vader is funny.
I am a drone.
Hah is right - let's arm everyone with drones and see if the good guy drones can beat up the bad guy drones. Heck, why don't we just arm everyone with nuclear bombs - wouldn't that be as effective at taking out the bad guys? After all, bombs don't kill people.
Better a drone than boots on the ground. I am one that has no problem with the use of drones. I say to those that have a problem with them, if you aren't doing anything bad, or are not in with some terrorist group, are not on the CIA or FBI's top ten list, then you have nothing to worry about.
This is also my view in regards to the choice of the president in picking Chuck Hagel for SOD:
The bigger picture here is not Democrat or Republican when it comes to the pick of Chuck Hagel. The Republican leadership does not want a fiscal hawk anywhere near the Defense Dept. and that is exactly what Chuck Hagel is and he has voiced very strongly that he would make deep cuts into defense and that scares the crap out of war mongering Republicans. Why do you think one of his closest friends, John McCain, has expressed "serious concerns" over Hagel being picked? John McCain is one of the biggest "Let's go to war" mongers in the Senate.
Chuck Hagel is a boots on the ground decorated war veteran who will bring fresh eyes to the President when it comes to the men and women in this country who keep us safe. After watching an interview with him on CSPAN lastnight(2005 interview) I am moving into a positive position in regards to Mr. Hagel.
AlaskaGirl . . .
EXACTLY! Nice post!
akgirl -- did you know much about hagel before last week? i did not. vaguely remembered him as a senator.
to what level are you advocating deep cuts in defense? reducing the size of the armed forces? to clinton levels? reducing the bureaucracy in dod and firing unnecessary government workers? closing some or all of our foreign bases? eliminate or sharply reduce r&d for new weapons?
as the third largest expenditure in federal spending it truly needs to be looked at but cuts in defense alone will not solve our spending and debt problems.
we recently did the symbolic tax increase (while preserving tax loopholes for corporations) and now it seems the democrat leadership wants another trillion -- that level on top of the last one will necessarily have to impact the middle class. broadening the tax base by ensuring that everyone pays into federal tax is another alternative.
Al, good one.
Alaska Girl, well said.
Sorry, Senator Corker, I happen to find the "priestly" GOPers in Congress more disturbing than drones. After all, it was the "priestly" GOPers who lied us into a war in Iraq. In addition, when Brennan served during the Bush administration, he followed the orders of Bush, Cheney and the others.
While I do not particularly like the idea of drones for many reasons, I am not included in the intelligence briefings. I also recognize that drones are far less risky to our men and women in uniform than putting boots on the ground in the dark of night placing them at risk. I also feel certain that President Obama wants to wind down the war in Afghanistan and end the war games as quickly as possible. There is an end point coming. Hagel and Brennan along with John Kerry will help President Obama get there sooner rather than later.
BillyBob,
I, for one, would like an overhaul of the defense departments expense of military equipment. It has been noted many times over the last couple of years that the army has thousands of MA1 tanks sitting around, and that congress wants the army to refit those tanks, upgrade them, and add more to the inventory. I read that getting rid of most of those tanks, and building newer designed, more efficient tanks in the same buildings could eliminate several million dollars from defense budget. There is also the ?F-32 fighter jets for the air force, ones not even being flown, and cost up to a billion a plane.
Lets look at the duplicates in the defense budget, and eliminate waste. How about getting rid of the low ball defense contracts, and have actual bidding for the jobs with Boeing, and other defense contracts.
I don't think reducing the troop levels, government workers, and overseas bases are what many are talking about. We do need some overseas bases in allied countries so if something should happen, we can get equipment and personnel to the sites quickly and with cooperation from allies.
i think drones are great but i do not agree with killing Americans with them. regardless of the nastiness of the individual involved they must be protected by our laws.
And who was the first to say he'd have problems with Brennan? John McCain - of course! Is that a surprise to anyone. McCain has become the "loser" posterboy!
The purpose of a drone is to save lives, not take them.
billybob, I think that Secretary Hagel will look at all aspects of the Defense Dept. and make his recommendations from that. I am not an expert, obviously, but from what I have been reading about Defense and about Hagel and his views, I really think that he will have good sense, and it's not like he will be working solo. We have what we need to annihilate a country as it is. What we need now in the 21st century is the ability to fight cyber terrorism. That is what would bring this country and the world to its knees. I think our country can handle the other stuff, but cyber terrorism? That is scary.
To your comment 1.9: We are in a war, and when in a war, if there is evidence that one of our countrymen is in the middle east(or other foreign land) and that person or persons are in cahoots with terrorists, then that American is considered an enemy and I say, shove that drone up his/her ass.
thanks. we can agree to disagree on killing American citizens without due process.
Sen. Corker----please don't suggest how the President's supporters should view his appointments. Unlike the GOP, we trust the President. We may not agree with every decision he makes, but we trust his judgment, intelligence and hard work to make the best decisions he can. That is why we voted for him twice and supported him financially and with hard work during his campaigns.
Bob Cocker is too cocky and arrogant.
SF, exactly. Apparently the "priestly" Corker doesn't understand President Obama's supporters at all; doubt he understands liberals who tend to moan and groan, disagree and then agree. As you said, we voted for Obama twice.
We enthusiastically voted for him and we were well aware of the drones the second time; we trust that he is choosing the right people and the people he feels most qualified and that he trusts as well as likes.
People seem to think a president knows each of his nominees intimately. The fact is that the president has advisors who have staffs that research possible nominees and then give the president a list of possible candidates from which the president makes the final decision. It is that way with Obama and was with Bush and Clinton, Bush, Reagan and on and on all the way back to G. Washington. Unless some surprise is revealed during the confirmation hearings there should be no problem with anyone nominated by any president.
adler -- generally agree, daschle, solis, geithner all had issues when their failure to pay taxes was exposed.
hopefully those that do the background checks for this administration have added a question regarding their honesty with respect to paying taxes.
Wonder who put Palin on McCain's VP list? If he didn't have a problem with her, he can't have a problem with Brennan or Hagel.
" ... a priestly figure that sits in a room in the White House with no windows and decides each day who he’s going to execute."
Now that is a damn fine piece of imagistic writing.
It definitely paints a picture, doesn't it?
....priestly figure?
Is he talking about Elvis?
Elvis Priestly?
No. Jason! LOL
Good one, little miss piggy!
BCWC, no kidding. Quite the visual Corker painted; too bad, that seems to be his visual description because I don't recall the White House ever making any remotely similar comment other than maybe Brennan's office doesn't have a window.
Elvis Priestly, hmmm. Corker is from Tennessee.
Pigotry---perhaps it was the Senator's homage to Elvis on his birthday?!
Hey RedDevPMS - true, bombs don't get up and kill people. Another person has to make the bomb. A person has to place and arm the bomb and cause it to be triggered. But, by all means, go ahead and blame the bomb. That's probably simpler for you. Ya gotta know your limitations...
RedDev's comment is a sarcastic poke at the NRA; you know, "The Onion" kind of humor.
Jody, The Onion is sooooo lost on most Republicans. They are a very uptight bunch.
Alaska Girl - Republicans are war-mongerers? Hmm, that certainly puts lie to most of American history then, doesn't it?
I'm talking modern Republican party. Gosh, don't be so literal. Your screen name is really ironic considering your comments.
Yes, modern republicans, you know the neoconservative crowd are war mongers. No one is talking about our entire history. The necons would bomb Iran in a heart beat without ever so much as assessing the consequences. Remember John McCain, "bomb, bomb, bomb...bomb, bomb Iran"? The neocons of Cheney, Bush, Dan Senor, Bill Kristol, McCain, Graham were pushing for pre-emptive strikes in Iraq, Iran and North Korea but they only managed Iraq. Nearly every GOP presidential candidate was talking tough about bombing Iran.
Gee Whiz Jody, I guess that wasnt Clinton bombing the crap out of Iraq in 1998 , huh.
NoPrudes,
No kidding!!!
Guess the adage of "guns don't kill people, people kill people" that RedDev was referring to doesn't count. Funny how I can turn what you wrote and turn it around for guns too. A person has to make the gun. A person has to buy or steal the gun. A person has to buy ammo for the gun. A person has to load the ammo into the gun. A person has to hold the gun and pull the trigger. Same analogy.
RedDev was making an analogy to the NRA's stance of lets arm everyone, esp. at America's schools, because those armed guards will keep bad guys away.
JackieK, nicely done!
Chicago has armed guards in the schools. Seems to work well in one of the most gun restricted cities in the nation. Also one of the most violent. Emanuel is doing the good Dim thing though. Throw money at it. Pay the street trash mot to kill each other. Pay the street trash to drag their victims in the alleys before they rob. beat , or kill them.
While I credit Corker for remaining neutral publically, his comments concern me. Corker plans to focus on the nuclear component. Seriously? That is his biggest concern. He stated that we aren't investing in nuclear modernization but that's not entirely true. We are modernizing and upgrading the weaponry under the Obama administration. Too bad that in that process, the engineers and scientists are having difficulty figuring out how to disarm or revamp the weapons because the people who designed them and drew the plans are dead. Scarey thought but true. We have weapons we can't update or disarm because too many of today's engineers and scientists don't have the skills and knowledge and the original designers are gone. We have enough nuclear weapons to destroy the entire world several times over. That said, I guess I'll wait to see what exactly Corker means by his remarks.
If you seriously believe that , you are deluded. Nuclear weapons are simple. You can build one at home, if you can obtain the material.
Jody, I completely agree. I worry about all the nuclear weapons and America's ability to maintain and disarm our current supply, plus the entire worlds. We have been losing the experts over the years, and not sure how we are educating the younger generation regarding nuclear weapons.