Hagel takes aim at Limbaugh, Senate colleagues
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/11/18/art.hagel.gi.jpg caption="Hagel had sharp words for Rush Limbaugh Tuesday."](CNN) - As his Senate career nears its end, Republican Chuck Hagel isn't holding back when it comes to criticizing members of his own party - including conservative talk radio hosts.
"We are educated by the great entertainers like Rush Limbaugh," Hagel said Tuesday during a speech in Washington, according to the Huffington Post.
"You know, I wish Rush Limbaugh and others like that would run for office," a sarcastic Hagel continued. "They have so much to contribute and so much leadership and they have an answer for everything. And they would be elected overwhelmingly. [The truth is] they try to rip everyone down and make fools of everybody but they don't have any answers."
Hagel has increasingly become critical of his party in the aftermath of the Iraq War and notably held back endorsing his longtime friend John McCain during the presidential campaign. He's reportedly under consideration for a cabinet post in the Obama administration.
Speaking at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, Hagel also faulted Washington lawmakers for "raw, partisan, political paralysis."
"The American people don't like what is going on... they want us to start doing what leaders are expected to do, address the problems, find some consensus to governing. Get along. There will be disagreements, sure... but in the end we can't hold ourselves captives to this raw, partisan, political paralysis."
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and amen......
Lincoln's team of rivals is about to get trumped.
its about time someone said it
Put him on your cabinet Barack! He's an intelligent republican.
You tell'em Chuck.....
HAGEL for Secretary of State!
Please do not give it to Hillary!
Hannity is definiitely not smart enough to win an election....wait I forgot about the Bush comparison
Chuck Hagel deserves a role in the Democratic Administration. I think he will get it.
I always knew I liked Chuck Hagel.
The senator is correct. Talk-Radio is easy, and real governance is hard. Our talk-radio healers are in truth snake-oil salesmen. They rip off those who believe, and have created a microculture of ditto-ists. Those who repeat lies, embrace truthiness, and are ill prepared for the complexity of fixing anything beyond a sink.
If talk radio fans ever want to sit at t he adult table, they must begin to read EVERYTHING, to consider EVERYTHING, and to mix ideas from both sides of the aisle. No one conservative or liberal has the best ideas to fix anything! Grownups are intellectually flexible, kids keep making the same mistakes. Often 8 years worth ... Come to the table talk radio fans, but bring something / anything original, or continue to get laughed at. Life is too short to wait for you to grow up.
HURRAH FOR CHUCK HAGEL! That is one great Senator, and it is a real shame he is retiring. I wish Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, Ann Coulter, and all the rest of those lying "pundits" would shut up and find useful employment. They're worse than welfare cheats!
Wow, well said Mr. Hagel. Rush Limbaugh and other radicals such as him do NOTHING but bring people down in a negative manner. Those people are chicken hawks who claim to be big and tough but NEVER have any answers, or solutions, or the GUTS to run for an elected office.
Put up or shut up! Go Hagel!
Hagel is absolutely correct!
By the Way: He'll be missed in the Senate!
Attaboy, Chuck!
A repub with integrity? No more hate and fear? What is the world coming to?
It's a shame that men like Chuck Hagel are considered outcasts in the Republican party. If there were more Chuck Hagels, Congress might actually get something done. Love the shot at Limbaugh. Limbaugh, Hannity, and Boortz will never run for office because holding public office would expose them to something they've never had to experience--Accountability. They would be exposed for the bloviating, hate spewing bigots that they are.
I always like this dude's honesty. Chuck Hagel for Secretary of Homeland Security or Dept of Defense.
He is sooo right about all of this.
Now here is a great Republican who speaks the truth. For all of those who are wringing their hands, wondering how the GOP can recover, go listen to Chuck Hagel.
Guys like Rush, Hannity and Billo-the-clown are only interested in kepping drama going and dividing america!!
Hagel is a left wing idiot.
Right on!! well said!! I understand everything Senator Hagel is talking about. People like Rush Limbaugh – only make fun and tear down....they wouldn't have a clue on how to really fix anything - much less run for office. To actually work together on the monumental tasks of running a country is way too intelligent – much more profitable (for Rush) to spout out nonsense – Its always very nice to be in the peanut gallery – shooting out words and and pushing the hate & fear buttons – while the folks working down on the field are actually trying to get something done! Disagreements are fine – Respect is even better.
Why are we listening to Rush Limbaugh, a drug addict who really should be doing prison time for illegally obtaining and using drugs..
What if others had been as judgemental and unforgiving of his actions as he is of others. He needs to S T H up and think on those things.
thank you Senator! What is wrong with the far-right of the Repub. party are the likes of Limbaugh. people need to know the King (of talk radio) has no clothes!
I love this guy! I do hope Obama gives him a cabinet position. This man is a quality human being and a credit to the Republican Party, though I doubt they would realize it. Conservative talk radio is destroying this country, dividing it and inciting the "low information" faction of our population to just hate anyone with any difference of opinion. Rush Limbaugh should have been sued a hundred times over for some of the lies and filth he has uttered on his program over the years. And to think that his employers are giving him millions of dollars to spew his venom is a very sad commentary indeed on our right to freedom fo speech.