Future SecDef

For John, BLUF:  Yes, Ms Michèle Flournoy would make a good Secretary of Defense.

Ms Molly Redden, writing for The New Republic, tells us why Ms Michèle Flournoy, former Deputy Secretary of Defense for Policy, would be a good choice for Secretary of Defense.

For sure there are some Republicans who don't like the presumptive nominee, former [Republican] Senator Chuck Hagel.  Having been a member of the club is no guarantee of confirmation.  If he hadn't died in an airplane accident you could have asked Senator John Tower of Texas.  But, there should be enough Democratic Senators, plus the odd Republican, to make Hagel happen.

Ms Redden ends her article with this paragraph:

Flournoy's Republican supporters do not necessarily see these qualities in her.  They want to tweak Hagel for what he's done, and to frustrate Obama’s nomination process for a second time in a month.  But who says the right choice always has to be for the right reasons?

Well, for one, myself.  Sometimes we luck out picking the right person for the wrong reason, but that doesn't make sense as a policy approach.  That said, Ms Michèle Flournoy would be a good pick for Secretary of Defense.

As for the idea that the Republicans wish to "frustrate Obama's nomination process for a second time in a month", it seems a little over the top.  There were good and solid reasons to question US UN Ambassador Susan Rice as Secretary of State.  These reasons go back to Rwanda and Sudan.

Whoever gets the job, it will not be a fun couple of years.  Major cuts are coming and it will be months and months of apportioning pain.

Regards  —  Cliff