Prominent Islamophobe Frank Gaffney may have given us a clue about wingnut talking points against Chuck Hagel's nomination for defense secretary. Yesterday, Gaffney appeared on Christian talk show host Janet Mefferd's show and stopped just short of calling Hagel an Iranian spy. Specifically, Gaffney claimed that Hagel shills so much for Iran that he acts almost like a spy for Tehran.
He’s earned the support of the Iranian regime. I have to say, over many years he has shilled for them it seems at just about every turn. He has objected to sanctions, I guess there have been one or two votes where he played along with it, but mostly he’s been objecting to it certainly since he left the Senate. He has categorically rejected the idea that we might have to use military force to prevent the sort of threat that I believe is now imminent in terms of a nuclear armed Iran. He has been exceedingly aggressive in promoting the idea that we need to engage with them on essentially whatever terms they demand. In other words, you couldn’t find a guy who has been more active in terms of promoting the interests of Iran at the expense of the United States than Chuck Hagel other than somebody who is actually an Iranian agent. I’m not suggesting that he is, I don’t know, but I certainly think that’s the point of comparison here because it’s almost that full-throated.
I'm more than a little disappointed that Obama nominated Hagel rather than try and find a qualified Democrat to run the Pentagon. But Gaffney's attack on Hagel stopped just short of calling him a traitor. That's completely unacceptable.
Listen to the whole segment here. Mefferd's reaction is pretty telling--she simply cut to break. But then again, she spent most of the segment before Gaffney came on wringing her hands at the prospect of stiffer gun laws. Plus, you have to remember we are talking about a woman who fawned over Operation Rescue's Troy Newman even though he has Cheryl Sullenger--a convicted clinic bomber and almost certainly an accessory to George Tiller's murder--on the payroll.