A few weeks ago, I wrote about Chuck Hagel’s position on the board of Chevron, an oil company that’s been criticized for its connection to human rights abuses. His role at the company has troubled environmental activists, and could pit him against progressives who are already wary of his positions on gay rights and abortion.
Hagel’s board membership “raises concerns about conflict of interest, especially in an area as geopolitically sensitive as Central Asia,” said Kate Watters, executive director at Crude Accountability, an environmental activist group that focuses on the Caspian Sea basin. “Chevron’s significant investments in Kazakhstan and interest in investing in Turkmenistan—both authoritarian regimes—are at direct odds with the human rights concerns that should be at the forefront of U.S. foreign policy,” she added.
Crude Accountability has been campaigning against Chevron’s outreach to the authoritarian government in Turkmenistan. In 2010, one of the group’s activist confronted Hagel at a shareholder meeting, and asked whether he would “insist that [Chevron] take a principled stance in favor of human rights in Turkmenistan.” Hagel declined to comment in person, and Crude Accountability was told to send him a letter instead; the group did, but never heard back.
Hagel’s role at Chevron has attracted very little media attention so far, even as progressive activists are preparing for a major PR battle with the company. Mother Jones’s Andy Kroll reported earlier this week that a deep-pocketed coalition of left-wing groups is set to launch a campaign targeting several companies, including Chevron. With that fight on the horizon, the White House has to be hoping Hagel’s affiliation with the oil giant escapes notice.
Didn't Ms. Goodman's source suggest that Hagel might be confirmed — if nothing else comes out? n nI would put it a different way — if the opposition to it doesn't grow, and I think it just did…. n nThe only two key sectors of Team NoBama that haven't stepped in yet are Feminists and Public Sector Unions (NEA/SEIU, etc). If Hagel has a personality as described, he has *got* to have at least something to offend both the feminists and public sector unionists at some point — it isn't difficulty to do — and I am just waiting for them to present their grievances against him….
Alana, trying to degrade yourself into becoming a junior Jennifer Rubin isn't what you should be doing. n nstop with the bullspin
What spin? She summarized a bunch of facts that I wasn't aware of and did so rather concisely. n nNo — f Ms. Goodman had wished to engage in "bullspin", she would instead have had some fun with the Obama Administration's response to the Death Star proposal. That's right, "Death Star", a fictive planet-destroying device from "Star Wars" — a movie that came out probably a dozen years before she was born, in the depth of the "national malaise" that was the Carter years — but as one who knows just how good she is with the sarcasm when she lets herself go, I have no doubt that Ms. Goodman could have had incredible fun with this gem: n n n n the Obama administration is collectively resembling the infamous Roman Emperor Nero, fiddling while the entire world starts to burn
so the Left doesn't like him, and the Right doesn't like him. why do people keep saying Hagel will be confirmed? here's hoping enough congresscritters find a spine and reject this jerk.
I dunno; he has the right idea on perverts, baby butchery and now environ-mental garbage. I am liking him more and more.
That's like hiring the cute girl who is a fan of the same sports teams as you to be your bookkeeper when she has this little gambling problem, with whispered rumors of why she really left her last job and such, and…. n nFirst, a broken clock tells the correct time twice a day, and the Caspian Sea basin is a real issue that decent people need to be worried about for a whole bunch of reasons. Remember that this is where all the "-stans" are, including Afghanistan. With the exception of Afghanistan, and that was largely because of the efforts of the other side of something known as the "Cold War", the Soviets did a pretty good job of preventing problems in this part of the world by stomping on everyone. n nThese are tribal peoples with tribal affiliations and who do not have Western values. Politically it would be a volatile mess even it wasn't (a) the part of the world where Opium (which becomes Heron) is best grown and widely cultivated, and (b) also a fertile field for the seeds of radical Islam to grow and thrive. Throw in authoritarian regimes that are not only that, but also both quite corrupt and unnecessarily brutal and it becomes a real mess. n nOn top of that, and for reasons I forget, there are some unique difficulties in exploiting the petroleum resources of the Caspian Sea basin. There are either higher risks of catastrophic environmental damage if mistakes are made, significantly higher technological requirements (and the related expenses) to avoid it, or both. There is something geologically unique and we really don't want to destroy the planet for no good reason. n nAs an aside — more than half of the stuff coming out of the BP well disaster was liquid natural gas -methane- that was then accumulating on the bottom of the ocean. Whatever happened to it? My guess is that it mixed into the water down there in the super-cold, super-high-pressure environment of a mile below the surface, and when that mix drifts to the lower pressure and warmer water of the surface, it is just like opening a can of Diet Coke — the methane bubbles out like the bubbles in a soda. Methane is an incredibly powerful "greenhouse gas" — does that explain our weather over the past 18 months? n nI'm not a fan of the eco-nuts, but much as a broken clock is right twice a day, the possibility exists that they might have somehow stumbled onto an issue of legitimate concern. Stranger things have happened…. n nAnd as to Hagel's stands on abortion and gay rights, both are such hot-bed issues with both Boy Wonder and Congress stepping in, I doubt that the SecDef will have a whole lot to say about either – in any dimension – when the aggrieved parties can so simply just bypass him to quite powerful partisans above him. Besides, he is dealing primarily with defense in what was once called the "War Department" and that is where he worries me. n nBesides, I would rather have someone with whom I could trust but didn't quite have the right idea on everything that someone who "talked the talk" but whom I had no idea what walking he would ever do, or in what direction. Hagel is from a socially conservative state — Nebraska if I am not mistaken — and how much of either social value is his own view and how much is what anyone, and particularly a Republican, *has* to officially believe in order to be elected from that state? n nNever forget what Eisenhower said about Earl Warren after he had appointed him Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court — that he "was a mistake." Memory is that Warren had been a Republican Governor of Calfornia in the Truman era — back when California was FARE more conservative than now, a state that subsequently elected Ronald Reagan as Governor — and I more want to see what someone says (and does) when it *isn't* to his/her/its advantage than to see that someone has said the politically correct thing at the time. In Nebraska, particularly in years past, Hagel's views were quite politically correct…. n nAnd the absolute wost thing you can do is hire the cute girl with whom you would love to discuss the BoSox to be the person in charge of money in your company when she (at best) isn't qualified to do *that* — and well may wind up embezzling from you as well. Where is Hagel on Defense and related GeoPolitical Issues?
Still too weak, GOPers — MUCH too weak. Redouble your efforts to find vets to swiftboat Hegal.
Crude Accountability? Pfffft. n nWhat does the Green Zionist Alliance think of Hagel? THAT is the question! n n n n n n
Cicero once said that when the facts are in your favor, argue the facts — when the law is in your favor, argue the law — and when neither is, abuse the plaintiff. One of the clearest signs that you have won an argument is when the other side starts resorting to ad hominum invective.
The Saudis are truly terrified of Iran — they will neither ever admit it nor get past their visceral hatred of Jews, but if the House of Saud had to choose between the two as being the worst for the personally, they would support Israel over Iran. The Iranians would like to see them dead — the Israelis — don't. n nTwo things. First, Radical Islam is a threat to both the power and very lives of the people running Saudi Arabia — the royal family known as the "House of Saud." Israel isn't — but they know what happened in Egypt nearly 2 years ago now, and they too are an authoritarian regeme that wouldn't do well in a truly democratic election. n nSecond, the Iranians are Persions — not Arabs — and to a racist, that makes a big difference. nOn a more practical note, remember that Stalin was a Georgian and not a Russian — he reportedly spoke Russian "with a Georgian accent" until his death — which reportedly was due to a .45 bullet, but I digress. The Iranians are not an Arab people, no more than the Israelis are, and there is a realistic concern about the Iranians trying to take over all of greater Arabia. n nNo, I don't think the Saudis are going to be happy with any American who is pro-Iran…
Oh please. As if Ms. Goodman cares about human rights abroad! Every other attack line having fallen flat, Chuck Hagel opponents are desperately grasping at any straw within reach. Even if that straw concerns issues on which right-wing opponents obviously have zero credibility or interest (gay rights? Hah.) n nLet's put things in perspective. If Chuck Hagel is an anti-Semite because he harshly criticizes Israel, then his right-wing opponents are racist against black people, because they harshly criticize Obama. Yes, the stench of racism arises from Alana Goodman and her fellow travelers at Commentary. n nIt is so sad, offensive, bizarre and desperate the way Commentary has gone from being a respected publication to a purveyor of the most lunatic fringe, wing-nut conspiracy theories. And now… racist???
Arab awakening or Shia awakening? n nI was aware of the Persian/Arab issue, I wasn't aware of the Wahabite/Shia one…