It's nice that Chuck always "gets it", but he always "gets it" when it's too late.
Posted by TIKI AL at June 9, 2007 02:57 PMWhen push comes to vote, Bush can still count on Hagel to tow the party line. He's just as much a scoundrel as the rest of the Repugs.
Posted by Christopher at June 9, 2007 03:22 PMThanks for this interesting piece. I'm not that sympathetic to Hagel, but he was the first Repub to vote to hand Nero jr. his first Iraq setback in Congress. That makes one of them.
So until a couple years ago, Hagel had opinions about Vietnam that he was absolutely certain of, having never read a book on the subject, apparently. Typical conservative Repub.
And when Hagel does actually start to intellectually investigate Vietnam and comes to the inescapable conclusion that anyone who reads a few standard histories does, his fellow know-nothing ignoramus Repubs think he's "just lost it". What a disgraceful, disgusting party we have blocking every hope of progress in this country.
As long as Repubs have any power whatever, there is no hope that this country will advance the ball one inch on any national problem, let alone solve one. The Repub party must be destroyed as a political force. Otherwise, our republic is done.
Posted by euzoius at June 9, 2007 05:33 PMI have to side with euzoius. Look, some kid from the hollows who came back from Vietnam and still believed in what he was told--he has an excuse for remaining utterly ignorant about his own history and our country's history. But what is Hagel's excuse? His own brother came to a different conclusion and they seem to have argued about it plenty. Those books have been out there all along. Why did it take Hagel so long and where is he going with his newfound knowledge? Frankly, if his new reading and new understanding didn't cause him to walk into bush's office and deck him for being the phony "jet fighter" that he played during the early days of this war I don't have much respect for Hagel. Let him display one ounce of the rage and courage that the Republicans attributed to him when he was a true blue republican foot soldier in coming out against this war and its architects.
aimai
Posted by aimai at June 10, 2007 06:23 AMMy husband was a Nam draftee, had no clue what the war was about when he was sent over there. He came back convinced that it was a crock, that it was just politicians spilling the blood of the gullible for their own personal reasons. My husband was never a reader, barely scraped through with a high school diploma, but it didn't take him long to figure out something was phoney about the picture that was being presented to the public in support of that war. When the first Gulf war rolled around, he said it was just more of the same. He died not long after that one, but I know what he would have said about this debacle. Hagel had to be pretty brainwashed to not figure out Vietnam for himself at the time.
That being said, I have to say that Hagel does have my respect for his honesty and intergrity, even if he is extremely susceptible to propaganda. The problem with him is that he is easily led.
Posted by Julie at June 10, 2007 08:22 AMHagel can switch parties. Many of the Nebraskans who voted for him before will appreciate his conscientious objection to the current Republican platform.
It worked for James Webb - another former Republican and former VN soldier from a thoroughly conservative state - it could work for Hagel too.
Posted by dano at June 10, 2007 09:05 PMSecond Dano's comment. Switch parties, Sen. Hagel, switch parties.
Posted by Brian Bell at June 10, 2007 10:16 PM