memeorandum: Why Chuck Hagel Should Be Secretary of Defense (Rick Jacobs/The Huffington Post)

8:30 PM ET, January 7, 2013

Top Items:

Fred Kaplan / Slate:

The Real Reason Republicans Hate Hagel — It has more to do with President Obama than the former senator from Nebraska. — It's good news that President Obama will nominate Chuck Hagel as his secretary of defense, despite the frantic campaign against him that's been mounted by certain Republicans.

Discussion: Politico, The Daily Caller, BuzzFeed, The Moderate Voice, Via Meadia, Quartz, The Agonist, ABCNEWS, Right Turn, The Daily Dish, Mondoweiss, The Week, p m carpenter's commentary, The Atlantic Online, Daniel W. Drezner and The Hill

Lee Enterprises / Lincoln Journal Star:

Exclusive: Hagel says critics distort his views on Israel, Iran — Chuck Hagel said Monday an accurate assessment of his record will demonstrate “unequivocal, total support for Israel” and endorsement of tough international economic sanctions against Iran. — Critics have “completely distorted” …

Discussion: CNN, Politico, Mondoweiss, The Daily Caller, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, Right Turn, The Hinterland Gazette, Post Politics, Washington Examiner, The Fix and Washington Post

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

Why Hagel Matters — According to various reports, Obama will nominate Chuck Hagel for defense secretary. Beinart puts the nomination in context: … To my mind, this is his core qualification. Unlike so many of the lemmings and partisans of Washington DC, Hagel actually called out the catastrophe of the Iraq War as it happened.

Discussion: Right Turn, The Other McCain, Weekly Standard, Guardian, American Spectator, Mondoweiss, Business Insider, Connecting.the.Dots, Mother Jones, p m carpenter's commentary, Wired and Firedoglake

Hayes Brown / ThinkProgress:

FLASHBACK: Bill Kristol Wanted Chuck Hagel To Be Vice President — The lead-up to today's nomination of former GOP senator from Nebraska Chuck Hagel to be the next Secretary of Defense has been marked by an aggressive smear campaign by neoconservatives determined to scuttle the bid.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, msnbc.com, Salon, The Maddow Blog and Little Green Footballs

Steven Hayward / Power Line:

Hagel the Kyoto-Slayer — So far most of the critical discussion about Chuck Hagel for SecDef is that he said mean things about homosexuals, or is hostile to Israel, if not in fact anti-Semitic. So far I'm curious that people on the Left in particular are forgetting Hagel's key role …

Dovid Efune / Algemeiner.com:

Ed Koch on Chuck Hagel Nomination: Obama's Reneging on His Conveyed Support for Israel Has Come Earlier Than I Thought — Chuck Hagel in Kuwait. — In an interview with The Algemeiner, former Mayor of New York, Ed Koch, a lifelong Democrat who supported President Obama's recent re-election …

Discussion: Foreign Policy, Washington Free Beacon, Israel Matzav, National Review and The PJ Tatler

Kenneth P. Vogel / Politico:

Bill Kristol's big plans start with Hagel nomination — In the weeks since Election Day — as Mitt Romney faded into obscurity, John Boehner lost control of the House GOP and tea partiers turned on one another — Bill Kristol has been busy charting the future of the Republican Party.

Discussion: New York Times, Hullabaloo, Daily Kos and msnbc.com

Lanny J. Davis / The Hill:
Hagel must address ‘Jewish lobby’ comment

Discussion: Firedoglake and Daily Dot

Peter Beinart / The Daily Beast:
Why Hagel Matters — If the former senator is confirmed …

Discussion: NationalJournal.com, Crooks and Liars, Washington Monthly, Weasel Zippers, AEIdeas, CNN, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Week and ThinkProgress

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:
Dick Cheney Apparently Didn't Mind The Term “Jewish Lobby”

Discussion: Weekly Standard

Rick Jacobs / The Huffington Post:
Why Chuck Hagel Should Be Secretary of Defense

Discussion: Mother Jones, Advocate, CNN, Texas on the Potomac, Towleroad News #gay, The Daily Dish, Politico, ABCNEWS, The Daily Caller and ABCNEWS

Jeffrey Goldberg / The Atlantic Online:
AIPAC's Uncertain Role in the Upcoming Hagel Nomination

Discussion: Business Insider, News Desk, The Daily Caller and The Back Channel

First Read:
First Thoughts: Hagel — a man without a party

Discussion: The Page, ABCNEWS, Reuters, Business Insider, New York Times, The Moderate Voice, Blue Jersey, New Atlanticist, The National Memo, Washington Examiner and msnbc.com

Bryan Bender / Boston Globe:
Still a potent gay rights voice, Barney Frank dials back opposition to Chuck Hagel nomination

Discussion: Washington Blade, Advocate, Talking Points Memo, The Huffington Post, Politico, The Maddow Blog, Right Turn, The Back Channel and American Prospect

Valerie Jarrett / White House.gov Blog:
Hagel for Secretary of Defense

Discussion: BuzzFeed, AMERICAblog and The Democratic Daily

Zeke Miller / BuzzFeed:
How The White House Is Selling Chuck Hagel

Discussion: The Page and CNN

Devin Dwyer / ABCNEWS:
Obama Taps ‘Patriot’ Hagel for Defense

Discussion: ABCNEWS, NationalJournal.com, CNN, Politico, Guardian, Ricochet Conversations Feed, The Week and The Atlantic Online

Paul Krugman:

Be Ready To Mint That Coin — Should President Obama be willing to print a $1 trillion platinum coin if Republicans try to force America into default? Yes, absolutely. He will, after all, be faced with a choice between two alternatives: one that's silly but benign, the other that's equally silly but both vile and disastrous.

Josh Barro / Bloomberg:

Why Platinum Coin Opponents Are All Wrong — This morning, Joe Weisenthal and I took our message in favor of minting a trillion-dollar platinum coin to “Bloomberg Surveillance,” where we were met with the usual shock and horror from hosts Tom Keene and Sara Eisen.

Discussion: The Plum Line, Quartz, Free exchange, Balloon Juice and Business Insider

Congressman Greg Walden: 2010:

Greg Walden plans to introduce bill to stop U.S. Treasury from creating trillion dollar platinum coins to pay bills and expand debt — THE DALLES, Ore. - U.S. Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) today announced plans to introduce a bill to stop a proposal to mint high-value platinum coins to pay the federal government's bills.

Discussion: Politico, Talking Points Memo, Business Insider, Daily Kos, Mediaite, Political Watch and National Review

This Just In:

Hillary Clinton back at work - with a football helmet — Hillary Clinton went back to work as secretary of state this morning and was greeted by colleagues showing off their sense of humor. — First off, we got the official State Department photo of her hosting the weekly meeting of assistant secretaries of state.

Discussion: MyFOX8.com, Mediaite, The Immoral Minority, Sense of Events, Joe. My. God. and Towleroad News #gay

Numbers / Pew Research Center for the People …:

Obama Viewed as Fiscal Cliff Victor; Legislation Gets Lukewarm Reception — OVERVIEW — Barack Obama is viewed as the clear political winner in the fiscal cliff negotiations, but the legislation itself gets only a lukewarm reception from the public: As many disapprove as approve …

Discussion: CNN, Firedoglake, The Hill, Daily Kos and Texas on the Potomac

Scott Keyes / ThinkProgress:

Mexican Restaurant In South Carolina Under Fire For Racist ‘How To Catch An Illegal Immigrant’ T-Shirt — A Mexican restaurant in Columbia, South Carolina is being criticized for its racist T-shirts showing a wooden trap using tacos as bait with the caption “HOW TO CATCH AN ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT”.

Discussion: Mediaite, Gawker and The Raw Story

Christine Haughney / New York Times:

After Pinpointing Gun Owners, Paper Is a Target — WHITE PLAINS — Local newspapers across the country look for stories that will bring them national attention, but The Journal News, a daily nestled in a wooded office park in a suburb north of New York, may have gotten more than it bargained for.

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Weasel Zippers, Right Wing News, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Politico, Capital New York and Gothamist, more at Mediagazer »

Glenn Greenwald / Guardian:

John Brennan's extremism and dishonesty rewarded with CIA Director nomination | Glenn Greenwald — Obama's top terrorism adviser goes from unconfirmable in 2008 to uncontroversial in 2013, reflecting the Obama legacy — (updated below - Update II) — Prior to President Obama's …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Salon, Reuters, New York Times, emptywheel, The Plum Line, Progressive Alaska, Taylor Marsh, Business Insider, Hullabaloo, Lawfare, Outside the Beltway and The Daily Dish

Alex Pareene / Salon:

The conservative movement is still an elaborate moneymaking venture — The story of FreedomWorks' big Glenn Beck payout encapsulates the right-wing media — The conservative media movement exists primarily as a moneymaking venture. As Rick Perlstein explained in the Baffler …

Discussion: Firedoglake, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Liberal Values, The Impolitic and The Immoral Minority

Kyle Olson / EAGnews.org:

Crowd laughs as Chicago Teachers Union president talks about killing the rich — CHICAGO - The Chicago Teachers Union is not just about looking out for its members' interests. The union wants to fundamentally change America, too. — That shift occurred when the radical Karen Lewis was elected as its president two years ago.

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, FreedomWorks, Mediaite, Weasel Zippers and The Gateway Pundit

Paul Krugman:

The Outside Man — Yes, I've heard about the notion that I should be nominated as Treasury Secretary. I'm flattered, but it really is a bad idea. — Part of the reason is that I am indeed the World's Worst Administrator — and that does matter. Someone else can do the paperwork …

Discussion: The Plum Line, Politico, Ballot Box, Hot Air, Outside the Beltway, Mediaite, Weasel Zippers, The Week, The Daily Caller, Weekly Standard and Economist's View

Nick Wing / The Huffington Post:

Joe Arpaio Dispatches Armed Volunteer Posses To Begin School Patrols … REACT: — FOLLOW: — Arizona Politics, Video, Maricopa County, Arizona, Arpaio School Patrols, Joe Arpaio Armed Posse, Joe Arpaio School Patrols, Joe Arpaio Schools, Politics News

Discussion: Joe. My. God.

Jenna Mullins / E! Online:

NEWS/NBC Bosses Admit to Talking Donald Trump Out of Presidential Race — How close were we to seeing Donald Trump try to run for President? Close enough for NBC to have to talk him out of it! — NBC Chairman Robert Greenblatt took the stage with NBC Entertainment President Jennifer Salke …

Discussion: Breaking News … and Crooks and Liars

Jeffrey Toobin / New Yorker:

CASTING VOTES — Here's a safe prediction for 2013: few people will pine for the Presidential campaign of 2012. Even Barack Obama's most ardent supporters acknowledge that his victory provided little of the euphoria of four years ago. Not many Republicans have longed to hear …

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Peggy Fikac / Texas on the Potomac:

Rick Perry for president? Legislative session gives him chance to burnish credentials — The legislative session that opens Tuesday will give Gov. Rick Perry a chance to burnish his credentials if he chooses to make another run for president in 2016. — But some are hard-pressed to imagine …

Discussion: Politico and Ricochet Conversations Feed

Gustavo Arellano / Navel Gazing:

Huell Howser, California TV Legend, Passes Away :-( — Huell Howser—a California broadcasting legend for his various shows that have appeared on public broadcasting over the past couple of decades—has passed away, according to sources who spoke to the Weekly on condition of anonymity.

Discussion: Hit & Run and The Informer