James Hormel: I question the sincerity of Chuck Hagel’s ‘so-called apology’

[oberliner]

Chuck Hagel’s nomination for secretary of defense ran into trouble the other day when it emerged that he’d described a nominee to be U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg as “openly aggressively gay,” and called that an “inhibiting factor” to “do an effective job.”

Today, with gay groups mobilizing, Hagel apologized in a statement to Politico, in an apparent bid to keep his nomination alive.

But in an interview this afternoon, the target of the 1998 slur, leading gay philanthropist James Hormel, told me he never received an apology from Hagel himself, questioned the sincerity of the apology, and said the incident should still raise questions about whether Hagel is the right man to oversee the repeal of don’t ask don’t tell.

“I have not received an apology,” Hormel, who is a major figure in Democratic politics, told me. “I thought this so-called apology, which I haven’t received, but which was made public, had the air of being a defensive move on his part.” Hormel added that the apology appeared to have been given “only in service of his attempt to get the nomination.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2012/12/21/james-hormel-i-question-the-sincerity-of-chuck-hagels-apology/

[Coyotl]

1. You have to question the timing too. Self-serving at best. I hope he goes down or

better yet, has to withdraw his name.

[oberliner]

2. He hasn't been officially nominated yet, has he?

Obama has time to make a different selection.