0 them to come and do it? now they're back to arguing about what was said on "meet the press" after the incident. it seems every time the questions are asked, a new round of questions follow them and a new round of questions to the point you have to wonder if they're not simply doing what you think is their prime motivation, playing for time, hoping some shoe will drop. >> i think what needs to be said is they have every right to vote against chuck hagel. what they don't have a right to do is prevent a timely vote on chuck hagel, which is what they're doing by filibustering a nominee for secretary of defense which has never happened. the filibuster is supposed to be something which is very, very rare, and it's supposed to be something difficult to do. to make it the kind of permanent reality as the republican party has done year after year ratcheting up to include senate nominees is outrageous. the president has a right to have a vote on his defense nominee having just won the election. >> you know what's going on i think watching this as a dynamic, from now on in politics, at least on the right and center right, you have to do what the worst people are doing. if anybody goes up and says i'm going to filibuster, if you're not filibustering, you're not on the right anymore. this is the new litmus test. let's listen to john mccain, who has been on a couple sides of this things. he said a short time ago on fox news this. let's watch. >> they'll probably get the votes when we return from the recess unless something else -- unless another something pops up, and that's doubtful that it will. but to be honest with you, neil, it goes back to there's a lot of ill will towards senator hagel because when he was a republican, he attacked president bush mercilessly, at one point said he was the worst president since herbert hoover, said that the surge was the worst blunder since the vietnam war, which is nonsense, and was very anti his own party, and people don't forget that. >> that seems honest. let's go to senator claire mccaskill who has been tough in dealing on the armed services committee with some of the zealots. country in war and was decorated. so i think there is a really bright line, that you don't cross that line and impugn someone's patriotism with no evidence. it was absolutely mccarthy-like. >> we have the tape. let's show ted cruz of texas saying that very thing in your committee on armed services. >> we saw with his nomination something truly extraordinary, which is the government of iran formally and publicly praising the nomination of a defense secretary. i would suggest to you that to my knowledge that is unprecedented to see a foreign nation like iran publicly celebrating a nomination. >> you know, i don't often say it and i rarely say it, but there is echoes of joe mccarthy there, strong echoes. your thoughts? how is he supposed to control what the pr agency out there in tehran puts out some day? how does that incriminate him? >> well, that's exactly what i tried to say to senator inhofe. be careful here. because what if a group that you find abhorrent that doesn't match your values endorses you? does that mean you're cozy with them? and iran is being manipulative here. i think they're trying to cause the president problems. these are people who are playing a political propaganda game, and i will say this for john mccain. even though he drives me crazy sometimes, he did step up yesterday, and he said no one should impugn this man's integrity or his patriotism. i admire john for doing that in the heat of this very inappropriate diatribe by senator cruz and senator inhofe. >> i agree with that so much. let me ask you about the neocon people. it seems like the real ideological people who really despise chuck hagel, not on personal grounds, they think he's too dovish on the middle east, too dovish overall, they're looking for a shoe to drop. is that part of the game here? it's a delaying game, wait a week, hope something pops against him? >> i'm not really sure what their strategy is here, but i think the american people are onto them. the notion that for the first time in history a newly elected president has his nomination for the secretary of defense filibustered? and by the way, they're not going to change the president's policy by playing these games. >> right. >> they're not going to -- and all they're doing is sending a signal to the rest of the world that we're not united in a bipartisan way around the issue of national security. that is damaging to our national security. and shame on them for doing that. this is not worth it. in this political game that gets played around here, sometimes we lose sight of the goal, and that is the strength of our nation and how we appear to the rest of the world, and this is not a good moment for our country in terms of the united states senate behavior today. >> senator, i'm wondering here, is this about the president's choice for secretary of defense or is it about the people's choice for president? are they trying to undermine this president? >> i think it's a little of both. i think john mccain was being very honest when he said that, you know, chuck hagel really irritated the members of his party when he was willing to -- with a very independent voice, he was still a republican, he was still conservative, he was still from a very conservative state of nebraska, but he was willing from time to time to speak out against a republican president, against some of the policies that were embraced by the republican party, and i think it really irritated some of them, and i think it was tough for them and especially probably tough for senator mccain when chuck hagel decided not to endorse his old friend for president. when john mccain ran for president, of course, at one point in time chuck hagel and john mccain were the same kind of couple around here that lindsey graham and john mccain are. >> good amigos. >> very close. good friends. >> let's look now at a comment made by your former colleague, richard lugar of indiana. he had this to say about why republicans are obstructing hagel's nomination. >> senator hagel's main transgression is that he is a republican who has questioned policies that are sacred among most conservative senators. the intensity of opposition that the senator is encountering is grounded in the resentments of some conservatives inside and outside the senate who regard his independent thinking as political blasphemy for which he should not be rewarded. >> senator, you know the senate now. this is your second term. can you read it? is there going to be a vote to try to get cloture to end this filibuster when you come back on monday after this monday? >> well, that's what's so sad about this game. everyone voting today knows that chuck hagel is going to be confirmed. in fact, there are a number of people who have made commitments that they will, in fact, vote for cloture when we return. so this is some kind of grandstanding that goes on. i'm confident he'll get the votes when we return, and he will take his place as secretary of state. but he is going to miss the nato conference next week, and it sends a signal to the rest of the world that maybe he doesn't have the full support of the american government, which is not a good place for our secretary of defense to be in. >> well, the jackals are in the streets tonight. thank you so much, senator claire mccaskill. and peter beinart, thank you for joining us as well. coming up, the frantic rantings of the nra. citizen lapierre has gotten crazier. he says we need to buy guns, to arm up to protect ourselves from the marauding hispanic gangs. remember the line, this one, from "brokeback mountain," i wish i knew how to quit you. well, republicans just can't quit their cartoon version of president obama as a tyrannical, liberty-hating socialist. how is that working for you guys? and no surprise, the late night comics drank deeply from marco rubio's water bottle. >> don't worry, senator rubio, nobody noticed that you gave a speech. and finally, let me finish with how the attacks on president obama's choice for secretary of defense are really attacks on the people's choice, the american people's choice for president. and that's what this is about. and this is "hardball," the place for politics. direct rates side by side to find you a great deal, even if it's not with us. [ ding ] oh, that's helpful! well, our company does that, too. actually, we invented that. it's like a sauna in here. helping you save, even if it's not with us -- now, that's progressive! call or click today. no mas pantalones! because every flake is double-toasted... splashed with sweet honey... and covered in rich double-roasted peanuts. mmm. [ hero ] yummy. [ male announcer ] kellogg's crunchy nut. it's super delicious! well, my good friend new jersey senator frank lautenberg says he's going to retire next year and not seek a sixth term. and that opens the door for cory booker to run for lautenberg's seat. booker has made his intentions very clear, which clearly annoyed the 89-year-old lautenberg. while booker is the highest profile democrat looking to succeed lautenberg, other democrats have signaled their intentions to run as well. with lautenberg retiring, it's an end of an era. he's the last world war ii veteran in the u.s. senate. we'll be right back.
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