The Senate just confirmed Robert Gates as the next Secretary of Defense with nearly a near unanimous vote, 95-2.
He will be sworn in on December 19th and Rumsfeld’s last day will be on the 18th.
The Nay votes came from Republicans Rick Santorum …

1. Kick ass in war time. Fight wars to win.
2. English Official USA Language
3. No amnesty to illegal aliens
4. Profile our enemy

Wade is right. Bush could have challenged the new Congress to win in Iraq by getting a Pattonesque SecDef. Instead, we get a guy who went to the Jimmy Carter School of foreign affairs. And for the topper, Bolton gets the ax, too. — cmay

…excellent observations, cmay…dipping into his Daddy’s well of political has-beens has today proven a disaster on two counts, and neither is yet off the launching pad.

It’s steps down for Bush43…after six years of defending the guy, he throws it all back into the teeth of his base. He’s talked himself into being the political nonentity that his measley opponents have accused him of being all along.

Mr. Gates has repeatedly criticized our efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan without providing any viable solutions to the problems our troops currently face. I am concerned with the message he is sending to our troops and our allies around the world. We need a Secretary of Defense to think forward with solutions and not backward on history we cannot change.

Mr. Gates also believes in directly engaging rogue nations such as Iran and Syria that are known sponsors of terrorist groups in Iraq, Lebanon and the West Bank and Gaza. I do not support inviting terrorists to the negotiating table. Such a shift in our nation’s foreign policy could have grave consequences for our national security.

Bush’s track record for these nominations (and other high level positions) seems to be:
a) One of Daddy’s friends (e.g., Cheney, Powell, Card, Rumsfeld)
b) Political quid pro quo (e.g., Chao, Gonzales, Rice, Spellings, Brown)
c) Both of the above
d) Reaching out across the aisle (e.g., Mineta, Tenet)

I voted for Bush twice, so don’t think I’m a Bush-basher. But the folks in category (d) were a disaster; as were some in (a), (b), and (c).

Bush continues his downward spiral.

Wade is right. Bush could have challenged the new Congress to win in Iraq by getting a Pattonesque SecDef. Instead, we get a guy who went to the Jimmy Carter School of foreign affairs. And for the topper, Bolton gets the ax, too.

Pat Buchanan had it right in 2000 when he said, “Al Gore is on the wrong side of the culture war, and George Bush will not fight it.” (That’s only a paraphrase, but I loved that radio commercial).

95-2. That’s how it went down. Rick Santorum and Jim Bunning voted against the confirmation. So why did Santorum vote against Robert Gates for the Secretary of Defense position? Well, it’s for the same reason that Former Spook was not impressed. Gate…

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A ‘negotiate with terrorists’ globalist who would gladly weaken America in the long term for a temporary political respite.

Might as well put Bill Gates in there.

Hard to believe that Santorum & Bunning are the ONLY ones that understand though. I thought there were at least four Senators that are smart enough and ‘America-first’ enough to want someone better than Gates.

Gates assures us that although Ahmadinejad may be wacko, his Iranian leadership higher-ups have got to be more responsible. These moderate, reasonable, Iranian leaders, Gates calmly explains, have perfectly understandable reasons to want nukes to defend themselves. Not to worry, it’s just the Cold War Iranian-style. Israel, the US, and Pakistan have nukes, why not Iran?

But what if this sunny analysis is wrong and Iran lobs a weapon of mass destruction at Israel? Well, that’s a risk that Gates seems willing to take.

Well isn’t that nice……………