One Good and One Bad

I do not often say that anything done by president Obama is good, but his nomination of John Brennan to be director of the CIA qualifies in that regard.  Brennan has been Obama's counterterrorism advisor, so he brings a fair amount of experience to the new post.  Also, so far as is currently known, Brennan is not responsible for the policy that led to leaving Americans at the embassy in Benghazi underprotected despite threats of violence.  He also is not to blame for the failure to send help once the attack took place.  His appointment makes sense.

On the other hand, Obama's selection of Chuch Hegel as Secretary of Defense is an affront to reality.  Hegel would be a Secretary of Defense hostile to the use of force.  I do not mean that Hegel wants to limit the use of force to appropriate situations; he never wants to use force.  Further, Hegel is a member of the group that does not see Iran and its nuclear program as a threat.  Nor does Hegel think that the USA ought to combat terrorism.  Indeed, Hegel has pushed strongly for America to recognize Hezbollah and Hamas, two of the biggest terrorist groups in the world today.  Hegel is also a bigot or, at least, he has provided good reason to think that is the case.  By now, you have probably heard about Hegel's rant against having a gay man be an ambassador for the USA.  He also is anti-semitic.  Why would Obama want to name a bigot to his cabinet?