It is quite dishonest to quote the American College of pediatricians as if they are a major authority. The College has about 200 members nationwide and is a political organization peddling homophobic junk-science Practically everything Mr. Doyle writes is truth upside down.

Because Hagel was nominated, Iran has said no to negotiations with the US, and yes to speeding up it's enrichment program for a nuclear bomb. They reason that with no military threat there is no need to give up anything. Why is Hagel such a sacred cow? If he can't get 60 votes in the Senate, there are much more qualified candidates.

Senator Schumer should remember how the US government's policy against bombing Aushwitz are now eerily similar to this crucial moment.

take the tremendous political risk of telling their people that years of sanctions privations was for nothing when they know their is no risk of an American military action? I believe President Obama's primary motivation in nominating Hagel is that he thinks he would help to deeply cut the Pentagon budget, and not to poke a finger in the eye of the pro-Israel constituency. But it is a very serious miscalculation of unintended consequences. Several Senators and Congresspeople have made exactly the same objections. The Senate should not confirm Hagel. Senator Schumer.and many more that take seriously the Iranian threat and have made promises to their constituents on this issue should vote no

A nuclear Iran has sworn to eliminate Israel and every mosque in Iran has a poster "Death To Israel." After Iran drops an atomic bomb over Tel Aviv, the issue of whether Hagel is anti-Israel or pro-Israel becomes mute. Iran has a high tolerance for the deaths of huge numbers of people. The war between Iran and Iraq ostensibly over a territorial dispute concerning 0.1% of Iran's land mass had a million casualties. Iran has spread it's terror all over the globe and has murdered more than a thousand Americans. It's ideology is identical to Al Quaeda, amd certainly has America, the Great Satan in it's cross hairs. A Hagel confirmation kills any chance of Iran agreeing to stop it's nuclear weapons program through negotiations. why would they

Senator Schumer is meeting with Chuck Hagel this week in private. Schumer should consider that Hagel does not believe that a military option is an option even if negotiations fail. He has recently changed his previous stated views on this issue to accept "all options are on the table", in order to advance his career. It means he now believes that it is expedient to use the threat as a public lever in negotiations, but if negotiations fail, he would advise in private, that the US should allow a nuclear armed Iran. Many of those who are in favor of confirmation such as Nicholas Kristof, writing in the New York Times, have said the same thing. Iran certainly understands this, and is rooting for him.

“Hagel was known for turning over staff every few weeks—within a year’s time he could have an entirely new office because nobody wanted to work for him,” said the source. “You have to wonder how a man who couldn’t run a Senate office is going to be able to run an entire bureaucracy.”

and Hagel has drawn additional heat from insiders who claim he lacks the credentials needed to manage a department as large and essential as the Pentagon.

But to me he is the stereotypical Archie Bunker type bigot. His policies have been anti gay (even now after his late and self serving apology he doesn't support equal benefits for gay military families. He is anti-African American (with a 17/100 rating from NAACP and admires Strom Thurmond as a great role model. anti Woman (vs choice and contraception)

if you believe that you can argue that singling out only Jews for exerting too much influence is not anti-semetic. You could argue that the US should accept an Iranian nuclear weapons program or even an Iranian ICBM program. You could argue that Israel should withdraw to the 1967 armistice lines from which it was attacked in return for nothing and still be pro-Israel.