House passes $50.7 billion Sandy relief bill

FILE - In this Oct. 30, 2012, file photo, a man walks with his dog to a National Guard vehicle after leaving his flooded home at the Metropolitan Trailer Park in Moonachie, N.J., in the wake of Superstorm Sandy. The storm drove New York and New Jersey residents from their homes, destroyed belongings and forced them to find shelter for themselves - and for their pets, said owners, who recounted tales of a dog swimming through flooded streets and extra food left behind for a tarantula no one was willing to take in. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle, File) / Craig Ruttle

The House of Representatives today passed a $50.7 billion bill to provide funds for Hurricane Sandy relief as well as other natural disasters. The vote was 241 to 180, with 179 Republicans and one Democrat voting no.

The bill will now move to the Senate, where it is expected to be passed by lawmakers after the new session begins on January 22, though it's possible it could be passed by voice vote this week. It is then expected to be quickly signed into law by President Obama.

The package was divided into two parts: A $17 billion bill for immediate recovery from Sandy, and another $33.7 billion amendment for long-term recovery and investment to limit the damage from similar events in the future. The October storm is believed to be responsible for 140 deaths and billions of dollars in damage centered in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. It damaged or destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses and knocked out transit systems and power grids.

The package provides more than $16 billion for the New York and New Jersey transit systems as well as more $16 billion for Housing and Urban Development funding for recovery from Sandy and other disasters. Other funding goes to the Federal Emergency Management Agency's disaster relief aid fund and to Army Corps of Engineers projects to limit future damage. Funding is also authorized for repairs by the Coast Guard, Federal Highway Administration and Veterans Affairs Department.

Lawmakers from the Northeast criticized southern Republican lawmakers who had sought to reduce the size of the package or require that funding be offset with an across the board cut to discretionary spending. An amendment from Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R-S.C., that would have offset the funding with spending cuts failed 162 yeas to 258 nays earlier in the day, and the Republican-led House Rules Committee blocked efforts to reduce the size of the package.

"We are asking, we are pleading and we shouldn't have to beg for money for the Northeast, to be able to survive this tragedy that hit us," said Rep. Rosa Delauro, D-Conn., who added: "I might remind my colleague from Louisiana that between Rita, Wilma and Katrina, this institution appropriated $133.9 billion in disaster relief."

Critics of the bill derided it as "an excuse for a grab-bag of spending, having nothing to do with emergency relief," in the words of Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif.

The Senate passed a $60 billion Sandy relief bill before the end of the last Congress, but House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, declined to schedule a House vote on that measure in the wake of the contentious vote on "fiscal cliff" legislation. That decision prompted harsh criticism from northeastern lawmakers, including Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., and Gov. Chris Christie, R-N.J., forcing Boehner to hastily schedule today's vote in addition to $9.7 billion in flood relief that was passed Jan. 4.

Read More..

NY Passes Nation's Toughest Gun Law

Today New York became the first state to pass a gun control law -- the toughest in the nation -- since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting massacre last month.

Acting one month and a day since the rampage killing that left 20 first-graders and six educators dead, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the bill into law shortly after 5 p.m.

Called the New York Safe Act, the law includes a tougher assault weapons ban that broadens the definition of what constitutes an assault weapon, and limits the capacity of magazines to seven bullets, down from 10. The law also requires background checks of ammunition and gun buyers, even in private sales, imposes tougher penalties for illegal gun use, a one-state check on all firearms purchases, and programs to cut gun violence in high-crime neighborhoods.

As he signed the bill into law, Cuomo said it was not only "the first bill" but the "best bill."

"I'm proud to be a New Yorker, because New York is doing something, because we are fighting back, because, yes, we've had tragedies, and yes, we've had too many innocent people lose their lives, and yes, it's unfortunate that it took those tragedies to get us to this point, but let's at least learn from what's happened, let's at least be able to say to people, yes, we went through terrible situations, but we saw, we learned, we responded, and we acted, and we are doing something about it," Cuomo said. "We are not victims.

'The View' on NRA Shooting App: Think It Out Watch Video

"You can overpower the extremists with intelligence and with reason and with commonsense," Cuomo continued, "and you can make this state a safer state."

New York's law also aims to keep guns out of the hands of those will mental illness. The law gives judges the power to require those who pose a threat to themselves or others get outpatient care. The law also requires that when a mental health professional determines a gun owner is likely to do harm, the risk must be reported and the gun removed by law enforcement.

The legislation also includes what is called a "Webster provision," named for the two firefighters ambushed on Christmas Eve in Webster, N.Y. The measure would mandate a life sentence with no chance of parole for anyone who kills a first responder.

The National Rifle Association issued a statement after the bill's signing, saying it was "outraged at the draconian gun control bill that was rushed through ... late Monday evening."

"Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature orchestrated a secretive end-run around the legislative and democratic process and passed sweeping anti-gun measures with no committee hearings and no public input," the statement read. "These gun control schemes have failed in the past and will have no impact on public safety and crime. Sadly, the New York Legislature gave no consideration to that reality. While lawmakers could have taken a step toward strengthening mental health reporting and focusing on criminals, they opted for trampling the rights of law-abiding gun owners in New York, and they did it under a veil of secrecy in the dark of night. The legislature caved to the political demands of a governor and helped fuel his personal political aspirations."

Read More..

Today on New Scientist: 14 January 2013

Activist's death sparks open-access tribute on Twitter

Hundreds of researchers have been offering free access to their work in tribute to internet freedom activist Aaron Swartz, who committed suicide on Friday

Exploding microchip could make arms dumps safer

Shrapnel and bullets can set off huge explosions if they hit weapons stores. But microchip-based detonators could help keep them safe

The hologenome: A new view of evolution

Far from being passive hangers-on, symbiotic microbes may shape the evolution of the plants and animals that play host to them

White House uses Death Star request to plug science

The White House has politely declined to build a version of the planet-destroying space station from Star Wars but took the opportunity to promote science

Wolves bite back in the human world

Grey wolves are an evolutionary success story, giving rise to the domestic dog 10,000 years ago and now rebounding from centuries of persecution

Mariko Mori: From stone circles to stardust

The artist's new exhibition tethers human history to the life of the entire cosmos

Why we called off hunt for ancient Antarctic life

Geoscientist Martin Siegert says that drilling through 3 kilometres of ice to reveal the secrets of an entombed lake was never going to be easy

Give video games a sporting chance

Traditional fans will turn their noses up at e-sports, but they risk missing some compelling action

Benefits of emissions cuts kick in only next century

Even rapid action now to curb emissions will bring only modest results this century, but the earlier we act, the greater the eventual rewards

Video games take off as a spectator sport

Professional gaming has been huge in Asia for years, and improved technology means it is now going global

Read More..

Euro gains against US dollar in positive market

NEW YORK: The euro gained ground against the US dollar Monday as positive market sentiment spurred buying of riskier assets, such as the European currency.

The euro fetched US$1.3376 around 2200 GMT, up from US$1.3341 at the same time last Friday. Earlier, the unit brushed US$1.3404, its highest level in almost 11 months.

The euro continued to rise against the Japanese currency, to 119.65 yen from 119.00 yen late Friday, while the US dollar rose to 89.45 yen from 89.18 yen.

The market showed little reaction to a speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on the challenges facing the US economy, analysts said.

"I saw nothing very different from what has already been announced by the Fed," whether it be in the minutes from the last Federal Open Market Committee policy meeting in December or the FOMC statement, Charles St-Arnaud, a Nomura economist, said.

Wading into the Washington political fray over the federal budget and the borrowing limit, Bernanke called on Congress to lift the debt limit to avoid putting the country into default.

Kathy Lien of BK Asset Management said the market was waiting for Tuesday's US retail sales data for December, which covers the important holiday-shopping season.

"Consumer spending is the backbone of the US economy, and the only reason why investors obsess over the labour market is because they hope that stronger job growth will translate into stronger spending," Lien said.

The euro rise was buoyed by last week's upbeat comments by European Central Bank president Mario Draghi.

The yen, meanwhile, remained under selling pressure after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday unveiled a US$226.5 billion stimulus plan in the latest bid to boost the world's fragile number-three economy.

The US dollar rose against the Swiss currency, buying 0.9216 francs compared with 0.9135 francs late Friday.

The pound fell to US$1.6074 from US$1.6129.

- AFP/jc

Read More..

Clarence Thomas ends seven-year silence

By Bill Mears, CNN Supreme Court Producer

updated 7:45 PM EST, Mon January 14, 2013

Clarence Thomas

John G. Roberts

Antonin Scalia

Anthony M. Kennedy

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Stephen G. Breyer

Samuel A. Alito Jr.

Sonia Sotomayor

Elena Kagan

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Clarence Thomas known for remaining quiet during oral arguments


• On Monday, he joked about Yale lawyers


• Current Supreme Court known as 'hot bench' for the rhetorical scrum during arguments

Washington (CNN) -- It was just a few words and a joke at that. But Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas broke his seven-year long silence on Monday when he spoke at oral arguments.

He made fun of lawyers from Yale, his law school alma mater.

Thomas has become known for rarely commenting on cases from the bench, another reflection of the complex and often misunderstood personality of the court's only African-American jurist.

On Monday, the justices were hearing an argument about the state of Louisiana's delay in paying for counsel for a death penalty defendant. Should that count against the state for the purposes of the right to a speedy trial?

Independent Business v. Sebelius (2012)

HIDE CAPTION

<<

<

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

>

>>

A lawyer for the state was making the case for the inmate's appointed counsel, saying the woman was "more than qualified" and "very impressive."

"She was graduate of Yale Law School, wasn't she?" said Justice Antonin Scalia in apparent support, noting another member of the legal team went to Harvard.

The next words were hard to hear in the back-and-forth between the justices. But Thomas made a joke about the competence of Yale lawyers when compared to their Harvard colleagues, according to two witnesses.

Six members of the current high court attended Harvard Law School. Thomas, Samuel Alito and Sonia Sotomayor attend Yale.

The official transcript released by the court does not capture the flavor of the colorful exchange. But the lawyer arguing before the court was apparently not pleased.

"I would refute that, Justice Thomas," said Carla Sigler, the assistant district attorney in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

The rest of the time, Thomas kept his own counsel as he is known to do.

"One thing I've demonstrated often in 16 years is you can do this job without asking a single question," he recalled in a speech five years ago.

Written opinions remain the main way the court expresses itself. But the current court is known as a "hot bench" for the busy back-and-forth rhetorical scrum during arguments.

Eight of the justices compete for time to make their questions and views known.

Thomas does occasionally speak from the bench when announcing opinions he has written, but before arguments commence.

Off the bench in friendly audiences, he can be gregarious, inquisitive and often self-reflective. He has a booming voice, and his hearty laugh is easily recognizable.

Some scholars have said Thomas' aversion to talking has reached epic heights.

A study of transcripts by Timothy Johnson of the University of Minnesota found in the past four decades, no justice besides Thomas had failed to speak at least once during an entire 12-month term.

The last time he spoke was February 22, 2006, during a capital appeal.

Part of complete coverage on

updated 1:58 PM EST, Mon January 14, 2013

"Argo" and "Les Miserables" were the big winners at this year's Golden Globes.

updated 5:06 AM EST, Mon January 14, 2013

VIDEO: CNN's Kristie Lu Stout and Hollywood.com's Matt Patches discuss the nominees for the 85th Academy Awards.

updated 10:31 AM EST, Mon January 14, 2013

Photos: Fashion at the Golden Globes on Sunday -- which outfit was your favorite?

CNN reports from Syria and Turkey on the human suffering of those who have survived the civil war, but now face further hardship.

updated 8:20 PM EST, Sun January 13, 2013

This is not worksafe. It's a hyperlink to Hiropon, the pornographic fiberglass creation of Japanese artist Takashi Murakami.

updated 7:44 AM EST, Mon January 14, 2013

The advance buildup has all been about Lance Armstrong as he prepares to enter the church of Oprah and seek absolution for his sins.

updated 7:47 PM EST, Fri January 11, 2013

Photographer Ronen Goldman recreates his dreams through photos.

updated 3:21 AM EST, Mon January 14, 2013

India doesn't do things small, religious festivals included. Over 55 days, an estimated 100 million Hindu devotees will go to the Kumbh Mela.

updated 6:45 AM EST, Mon January 14, 2013

VIDEO: Six thousand throwers participated. Organizers trucked in 162,000 pounds of snow in 34 truckloads for the throwdown.

updated 12:33 PM EST, Fri January 11, 2013

The fate of the Sri Lankan maid beheaded in Saudi Arabia, should spotlight the precarious existence of domestic workers, Jo Becker says.

updated 6:15 AM EST, Mon January 14, 2013

International leaders are responding to an uprising of Islamist militants in northern Mali.

updated 3:29 AM EST, Mon January 14, 2013

VIDEO: CNN's Nima Elbagir reports on wildlife rangers who risk their lives to guard Kenya's elephant population from poachers.

updated 6:22 AM EST, Mon January 14, 2013

VIDEO: CNN's Elizabeth Cohen has the latest on the flu epidemic and what health officials mean when they call it an "epidemic".

Read More..

Newtown group aims to prevent violent tragedies

Updated 6:47 p.m. ET

NEWTOWN, Conn. Nicole Hockley says she still finds herself reaching for her son's hand or expecting him to crawl into bed with her for a hug before school.

"It's so hard to believe he's gone," said Hockley, whose son Dylan was among the 20 first-graders and six adults killed by a gunman a month ago at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

She was among several parents to speak Monday at the launch of Sandy Hook Promise, a group calling for a national dialogue to help prevent similar tragedies. Parents held photos of their children, spoke in wavering voices, cried and hugged.

"I do not want to be someone sharing my experience and consoling another parent next time. I do not want there to be a next time," Hockley said.

The group did not offer specific remedies, saying it wants to have open-minded discussions about a range of issues, including guns, mental health and safety in schools and other public places. Several speakers said they did not believe there was a single solution.

"We want the Sandy Hook school shootings to be recalled as the turning point where we brought our community and communities across the nation together and set a real course for change," said group co-founder Tom Bittman.

39 Photos

Victims of Conn. school shooting

36 Photos

Vigils for Conn. school shooting victims

Adam Lanza, 20, shot his way into the school on Dec. 14 and killed 26 before committing suicide as police arrived. He also killed his mother at their Newtown home.

Jeremy Richman, whose daughter Avielle was killed, said a deeper understanding of mental health issues is essential. He and his wife, Jennifer Hensel, started a foundation to explore issues such as risk factors and successful interventions.

David Wheeler, whose son Benjamin was killed, said he and his wife Francine have spent the past month rededicating themselves to being the best parents to their surviving son Nate.

Ian Hockley and Nicole Hockley, parents of Sandy Hook massacre victim Dylan Hockley (6), embrace during a press conference with fellow parents of victims on the one month anniversary of the Newtown elementary school massacre on January 14, 2013 in Newtown, Connecticut.

/

John Moore/Getty Images

"What we have recently come to realize is that we are not done being the best possible parents we can be for Ben, not by a very long measure," Wheeler said.

Wheeler emphasized the role of parents.

"I would respectfully request that any parent that hears these words simply pause for a moment and think, ask yourself, what is it worth doing to keep your children safe?" Wheeler said.

Many of the parents have also spoken with national leaders about the issue of gun control. Jackie Barden, who's son Daniel was also killed in the school, told CBS News correspondent Seth Doane she spoke to President Barack Obama.

"I actually mentioned that we were going to be adopting a kitten," Barden said. "I am surprised the process I had to go through -- a lot of forms online. And they called me and interviewed me. And then she was calling me to get some information on our family. I don't know enough about guns, but I think it's a little easier to get a gun than to get a kitten."

Read More..

Arias Denied Guilt Despite Sex Photos, DNA

A defiant Jodi Arias insisted she was innocent of killing her ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander even after a detective told her that he had nude photos of them together on the day he died.

"Are you sure it's me? Because I was not there," Arias is heard saying in the police interrogation tape played for the Arizona jury today.

When Detective Esteban Flores tells Arias she is seen in pigtails in the photos, she asks with a tone of incredulity, "Pigtails?"

As Flores laid out more incriminating evidence, including that investigators found DNA of their blood mixed together, her hair stuck with blood and her palm print in blood, Arias was insistent.

"I would not hurt Travis. I would not hurt Travis. I would not do that to him," she told Flores.

At another point Arias said, "If I hurt Travis I would beg for the death penalty."

"Jodi, this is over. … you have to tell me the truth," Flores says. The detective suggests a motive for the killing to be jealousy, and cites the opinion of Alexander's friends.

"They don't just say you were jealous. You were absolutely obsessed… a fatal attraction," Flores in heard on the tape.

Arias, now 32, has since admitted to killing Alexanderfollowing their tryst in 2008, but has claimed it was self-defense. She is accused of stabbing Alexander 27 times in the chest, back, and head, slashing his throat from ear to ear, and shooting him the head with a .25 caliber handgun.

Arias is charged with murdering her ex-boyfriend in a "heinous and depraved" way and could face the death penalty if convicted.

The interrogation tape was played after the jury was shown sexually graphic photos that police recovered from Alexander's digital camera. Among the pictures were shots of Arias and Alexander posing naked on Alexander's bed, as well as pictures of Alexander in the shower.

Those photos were the last pictures of Alexander while he was alive.

Jodi Arias Trial: Jurors See Photos of Bloody Handprint Watch Video

Jodi Arias Murder Trial: Who Is the Alleged Killer? Watch Video

The final photos in the series show a body partly covered in blood on the bathroom floor.

See Full Coverage of Jodi Arias Trial

Watch the Jodi Arias Trial Live

See Jodi Arias Trial Videos

Arias looked away from the screen in the courtroom where the sexual photos were shown, as her mother watched from the gallery. Alexander's sisters, also seated in the gallery, looked away from the photos of their brother.

Computer analysts for the city of Mesa, Ariz., where Alexander lived, went over the photos in detail during the sixth day of testimony in the trial. The photos were time stamped June 4, 2008, beginning around 1:45 p.m.

Prosecutors have said that Arias drove from her California home to Alexander's house, arriving early in the morning on June 4. The pair had sex in the afternoon, took photos of one another, and then Arias killed Alexander, age 30, around 5:30 p.m., they said.

The photos on the bed occurred around 1:45 p.m., according to the data on the camera. The shower photos and the pictures of a bloody body part occurred around 5:30 p.m.

In earlier testimony today, the jury watched video taped interrogations of Arias as she repeatedly denied to police stealing and using the handgun that killed Alexander.

Arias told police that she had never seen a .25 caliber handgun and had no idea her grandparents owned one until they reported it stolen a week before Alexander's killing, according to the police interrogation tapes played in court today.

Police from Yreka, Calif., where Arias lived with her grandparents, described the scene of the home when Arias's grandparents reported a break-in. The door was pushed in, breaking the door jamb, and many drawers were opened in Arias' bedroom and her grandparents' room.

The only things reported taken were the handgun, a DVD player, and $30, while other valuable items, including a large pile of quarters and three other guns, were left untouched. Arias told police that her laptop computer was not taken because she had hidden it in a laundry basket covered with clothes.

Officer Kevin Friedman of the Yreka police department told the court today that burglary struck him as odd.

"I believed it was unusual that small items worth money or money, for instance, that the change was not taken," said Officer Kevin Friedman, of the Yreka police department, who investigated the alleged robbery. "I also thought it was strange that only one of the firearms was stolen from the cabinet."

In the police videos, Arias is seen calmly denying stealing the gun from her grandparents' home and using it when she killed Alexander in June 2008, a week after the burglary.

Read More..

Benefits of emissions cuts kick in only next century

Are we the altruistic generation? Do we care what happens to our grandchildren, and to their children? Or are we with Groucho Marx when he said: "Why should I care about future generations? What have they ever done for me?"

A new study of climate change lays out in detail why this matters. According to its author, Nigel Arnell of the University of Reading, UK, the unpalatable truth is that even rapid action now to curb greenhouse gas emissions would have only a "negligible effect by 2030, and the benefits in 2050 would remain small". The big dividend – cooler temperatures, fewer floods and droughts and better crop yields, compared to carrying on as we are – would only become clear by about 2100.

Arnell and colleagues used climate models to look at how different policies to curb greenhouse gases would affect temperature, sea levels, crop yields and the incidence of droughts and floods. Two findings emerged. The first is that lags in the climate system mean the real benefits of cutting emissions will only show up late this century. This, says Arnell, underlines that there is a lot of global warming "in the pipeline" that cannot now be prevented.

But the study also shows that tackling climate change early brings big rewards. Arnell compared a policy of letting emissions peak in 2016 and then cutting them by 2 per cent a year with one that delays the peak till 2030 and then cuts by 5 per cent a year. He found that both restricted warming in 2100 to about 2 °C, but the climate disruption over the next century would be much less with the early start. Coastal flooding from sea-level rise in particular would be much reduced. This, he told New Scientist, contradicts a common view that drastic action to curb warming should wait for renewable energy to become cheaper.

"Arnell has shown just how crucial the emissions pathway we take today will be for our children and grandchildren," said Dave Reay, geoscientist at the University of Edinburgh, UK. Bill McGuire of University College London agrees: "It shows taking effective action now is far better than putting it off until later."

It's a shame, then, that even if all goes well with UN negotiations, no global deal to bring down emissions will come into force until at least 2020. Our great-great-grandchildren will be cursing our delay.

Journal reference: Nature Climate Change, DOI: 10.1038/NCLIMATE1793

If you would like to reuse any content from New Scientist, either in print or online, please contact the syndication department first for permission. New Scientist does not own rights to photos, but there are a variety of licensing options available for use of articles and graphics we own the copyright to.

All comments should respect the New Scientist House Rules. If you think a particular comment breaks these rules then please use the "Report" link in that comment to report it to us.

If you are having a technical problem posting a comment, please contact technical support.

Read More..

US played 'limited' role in botched French rescue bid

WASHINGTON: The United States said Sunday it played a limited support role in France's botched bid to rescue a kidnapped secret agent in Somalia.

"United States forces provided limited technical support to the French forces in that operation, but took no direct part in the assault on the compound where it was believed the French citizen was being held hostage," President Barack Obama said in a letter to Congress.

Saturday's failed attempt to free the French hostage from the Al Qaeda-linked Shebab group killed at least eight civilians, as well as 17 guerrillas. One French soldier died while another went missing.

"United States combat aircraft briefly entered Somali airspace to support the rescue operation, if needed," Obama wrote, adding that "these aircraft did not employ weapons during the operation."

"I directed U.S. forces to support this rescue operation in furtherance of U.S. national security interests," he wrote.

- AFP/jc

Read More..

Fleischer: Hagel is wrong about Israel

Former Sen. Chuck Hagel was nominated by President Obama for defense secretary.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• In 2006, Hagel said 'the Jewish lobby intimidates a lot of people up here'


• Ari Fleischer: The support for Israel isn't because of 'intimidation,' but merit


• Polls show most Americans view Israel favorably, but don't support Iran or Palestinians


• Fleischer: Israel is a steady friend of the U.S. and a tolerant democracy

Editor's note: Ari Fleischer, a CNN contributor, was White House press secretary in the George W. Bush administration from 2001 to 2003 and is the president of Ari Fleischer Sports Communications Inc. He is a paid consultant and board member for the Republican Jewish Coalition, which opposes the Hagel nomination. Follow him on Twitter: @AriFleischer

(CNN) -- "The political reality is ... that the Jewish lobby intimidates a lot of people up here." -- Senator Chuck Hagel, 2006

As a result of those words and his voting record, former Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel's nomination has turned a decades-long, bipartisan confirmation process for secretary of defense into an acrimonious one.

While some leading figures such as the Anti-Defamation League's Abe Foxman and the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Rabbi Abraham Cooper say Hagel's words are borderline anti-Semitism, I'm less worried about anti-Semitism and more worried about the judgment of a potential defense secretary who thinks Israel has won support because of "intimidation," not merit.

Ari Fleischer

Israel is widely supported by the American people because Israel deserves to be supported. Israel is a lonely democratic ally and a steady friend of the United States in a dangerous and tumultuous region. Their people are like the American people -- free, independent, capitalistic and tolerant.

A Gallup poll taken last year showed 71% of the American people view Israel favorably while only 19% view the Palestinian Authority favorably and just 10% view Iran favorably.

In a Pew Research Center study last month, 50% of adults said they sympathize more with Israel in its dispute than with the Palestinians. Just 10% sympathize more with the Palestinians, while about as many (13%) volunteered that they sympathize with neither side.

Contrary to Hagel's logic, Israel doesn't enjoy widespread American support because anyone -- from any faith -- intimidated someone else; Israel earned the support of the American people because of its people's values.

Opinion: Hagel is a friend to Israel

The danger in what Hagel said is if he thinks Israel is supported on Capitol Hill because of intimidation, then it's not hard to see why Hagel is so soft in his support for our ally. He sees himself as an independent voice willing to stand up to intimidation, and he wears his anti-Israel votes as badges of honor.

But Hagel isn't independent. He's alone.

His position on Middle Eastern matters is so outside the mainstream of both parties that almost no one agrees with him.

In 2000, Hagel was one of only four senators who refused to sign a Senate letter in support of Israel.

Peter Beinart: What's behind Hagel nomination fight

The following year Hagel was one of only 11 senators who refused to sign a letter urging President George W. Bush to continue his policy of not meeting with Yasser Arafat until the Palestinian leader took steps to end the violence against Israel.

John Cornyn: Why I can't support Hagel

Contrary to America's longstanding bipartisan position, Hagel has called for direct talks with terrorist organizations Hamas and Hezbollah. In 2007, Hagel voted against labeling the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, the group responsible for the death of many American servicemen in Iraq, a terrorist organization.

And in 2008, he was one of two senators on the banking committee to oppose a bill putting sanctions on Iran. One of the measure's biggest backers was an Illinois senator named Barack Obama.

I'm a New Yorker and neither of my senators -- Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand -- supports Israel because someone muscled them into that position through intimidation. They both support Israel because the lobby that wants them to support Israel is an American lobby, made up of people from both parties and all religions and from people with no religion or political party at all.

But if Chuck Hagel believes that it's intimidation and not sound judgment that has caused his colleagues to support Israel, then Chuck Hagel should not be confirmed as our next secretary of defense.

Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion

Join us on Facebook/CNNOpinion

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Ari Fleischer.

Read More..