Republicans seem to revile Obama’s new Secretary of Defense, Chuck Hagel.

I will admit, I haven’t liked him either. But WHY don’t we like him? For my part, it has been a result of what I have heard and seen on Fox News. But maybe… just maybe, Republicans and Fox News don’t like him just because he was Obama’s choice.

It seems that he has said some stupid things, but when I look at the entire context of some of those comments it makes me wonder if Republicans are trying to “create” a problem for Hagel. Take for instance his statement on the Jewish lobby in Washington, “the Jewish lobby intimidates a lot of people up here”. On the face of that statement, one might assume that he is anti-Israel. But consider the entire quote….

“The political reality is that… the Jewish lobby intimidates a lot of people up here…. I’ve always argued against some of the dumb things they do, because I don’t think it’s in the interest of Israel…. I’m not an Israeli senator. I’m a United States Senator. I support Israel, but my first interest is, I take an oath of office to the Constitution of the United States, not to a president, not to a party, not to Israel.”

That quote in its entirety could easily be construed to demonstrate his fundamental support for Israel. Instead, it has been widely used to beat him over the head.

Here is some information that seems to have been ignored by Republicans and the Fox News reports: He earned an 84 percent approval rating from the American Conservative Union; a zero rating from abortion-rights group NARAL and a 100 percent National Right to Life Committee ranking for his consistent opposition to abortion; 100 percent from the Christian Coalition for, among other things, his support for teacher-led prayer in schools; and an A rating from the NRA.

Is it possible that other comments and positions have been mis-characterized as well?  An open and HONEST discussion of his positions and statements could be helpful to evaluate him.

I don’t yet like him or trust him, but I am going to withhold judgment for a bit longer until I see how he performs as the new Secretary of Defense.

***Gordon Howie is a nationally syndicated author, host of Liberty Today TV and CEO of Life and Liberty Media***

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