Talking head on MSNBC just said with Hagel's "less than stellar" showing at the hearing,

[gateley]

it will be tough for him to get legs.

But even Obama admits he had a "less than stellar" debut, and he came roaring back.

I hope Hagel does the same!

[ProSense]

1. Those assholes are trying to

create a meme, one that's completely irrelevant.

[Cleita]

2. I agree. They are always trying to write a script and hope

people will believe that their fiction is really true.

[TwilightGardener]

3. Oh, hell, he did well enough for a guy who looked like he hadn't slept

in a week. It was all inside baseball designed to placate Democrats in the Senate and not make any mistakes.

[BlueStreak]

4. I really hate those morons.

(the Beltway talking heads)

What was wrong with Hagel's testimony? I didn't watch every minute of it, but everything I saw seemed Ok. it seemed he made a good faith attempt to answer every legitimate question and his answers seemed thoughtful and mostly within the mainstream.

What would these media jerks call a great performance? If he had challenged McCain to a duel, is that what they are looking for?

I really really hate these people, including most of the MSNBC ones. With very rare exceptions they seem completely incapable of discussing real issues and only seem to be able to comment about the atmospherics.

[BlueStreak]

8. And just for the record, I have been saying all along Hagel would get

75 votes. I'm not sure anybody believed me.

This has all been Kabuki theater. There was never any serious doubt about this nomination.

He got 71 votes in the cloture vote. I bet he clears 75 in the actual vote.

[TwilightGardener]

10. Er..58 is the actual vote to confirm. It's over.

[BlueStreak]

14. OK. A few backed off after the cloture.

That is a time-honored chicken-bleep trick to try to have it both ways. They can claim to have voted for him or against him, depending on the situation.

[TwilightGardener]

9. Really, they had to filibuster Hagel to try to get dirt on him, because he

made it through that eight-hour episode of Ted "Carnival" Cruz playing surprise excerpts of an old Al Jazeera interview out of context, Lindsey Graham telling him Hagel's attitude toward Israel "made his hair stand on end", Jim Inhofe accusing Hagel of consorting with the enemy (Iran), among other things. Hagel never got pissed or took the bait, just shut down. Apparently it worked, because he's Secretary Hagel now.

[BlueStreak]

15. Eating their own can't be good for an already fractured party

I don't see the upside here for any Republican voting against Hagel --except for the crazies who think they are untouchable as long as they just keep looking insane.

Every one of them is spending most of their waking hours looking over their shoulders now, expecting to get a knife in the back at any moment.

[Archae]

5. Who's the idiot who said that?

[gateley]

12. Don't know -- think I've seen him before but didn't catch his name.

[slor]

20. It was Peter Beinart n/t

[AndyA]

6. Hagel's hearing was a sham

Asking questions about Benghazi--really--Chuck Hagel was a private citizen at that time, not privy to any information other than what anyone else knew. (Perhaps a bud from Congress clued him in, but he wasn't in any official capacity at the time to provide much insight.)

And McCain...back to Iraq...over and over again. What a steaming pile McCain is.

I think Hagel should have told him that yes, Iraq was a mistake. No WMDs, no connection to 9/11, we were there because of lies, the increase of troops was a mistake because they shouldn't have been there in the first place!

Best wishes to Hagel, unlike so many in Congress, he knows what it's like to be on active duty, and perhaps he'll work hard to avoid a war, instead of working hard to start one like others before him have done.

[gateley]

13. God I'd have loved to have seen him go "hell yes it was a mistake!" -- I think the MAJORITY of the

country realizes that now. But... politics. I actually think his answer was really good -- let history be the judge.

[nenagh]

7. Chuck Hagel was stuck in that chair for around 8 hours...

To hell with the 'less than stellar' meme...

[gateley]

11. Much like Obama's debate, though, it's the story in the media afterward that becomes the

accepted "fact". Yeah, I know.

[nenagh]

18. Exactly...

I give Chuck Hagel credit, though, that Senator McCain, being unreasonable...

became the most played video of the session...

and not an angry retort by Hagel... (good man!)

[joeybee12]

16. Any talking heads noted the irony that Repukes were against another Repuke?

Series-ly, pretty much shows the Nazis, er, Repukes, will not cooperate on anything.

[Zen Democrat]

17. With Hagel holding the Pentagon purse-strings, I think he'll have strong enough legs.

[thelordofhell]

19. Hagel is extremely pro Veteran

I"m hoping for incredible advances in the treatment of our brave soldiers who served..........