Hagel voted for the Iraq war. Now that it has become an utterly unmitigated disaster and politically unpopular he is changing his tune.

Anyone who had the slightest knowledge of Republican "ethics" would know that "rule of law" chant was sheer propaganda.

Don't forget, before the rule of law chant Bush 41 preemptively pardoned Cap the knife Weinberger in order to keep concealed his own eyebrow deep involvement in Iran Contra.

I don't recall the Republicans chanting rule of law then..

I can't think of another example of a preemptive pardon, can anyone else?

Wait until a piece of the sky falls on you or one of your loved ones.

Your lack of moral courage would gag a maggot.

Glenn wisely wrote:

“One can never know the authenticity of any politician, or any person for that matter. But there are some politicians who become more interesting and real once they're liberated from the fear of losing, once they've been through the political system long enough and realize how corrupt it is.”

I think Hagel is in that category. Need I remind you, he quit. I don’t believe he is such a talented actor that he was faking his senate rants. If he is, he better get into the acting business immediately. Right Dirigo?

According to a SurveyUSA poll, Hagel has a 10% higher approval rating among Nebraska Democrats than Republicans.

http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReport.aspx?g=94ea1bee-bd97-46f6-a3e8-82343c79d696

Is "Anonymous" just easier to spell than your name?

I did see an update.

But it's gone now.

Someone else referred to a Times editorial today that "scolded" voters for our previous choices.

I think I just read that editorial:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/31/opinion/31mon1.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&ref=opinion&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin

It begins:

"There are too many moments these days when we cannot recognize our country."

And I don't think it was intended ironically, either.

From the middle:

"The White House used the fear of terrorism and the sense of national unity to ram laws through Congress that gave law-enforcement agencies far more power than they truly needed to respond to the threat — and at the same time fulfilled the imperial fantasies of Vice President Dick Cheney and others determined to use the tragedy of 9/11 to arrogate as much power as they could."

And to conclude:

" These are not the only shocking abuses of President Bush’s two terms in office, made in the name of fighting terrorism. There is much more — so much that the next president will have a full agenda simply discovering all the wrongs that have been done and then righting them.

We can only hope that this time, unlike 2004, American voters will have the wisdom to grant the awesome powers of the presidency to someone who has the integrity, principle and decency to use them honorably. Then when we look in the mirror as a nation, we will see, once again, the reflection of the United States of America."

* * *

OH, PLEEEAZE! How about a little help from the Fourth Estate? Some relevant and timely news that your editors have not been sitting on-- in order not to affect an election?!

But, noooo, just more criticism of the great, unwashed masses. And the cherry on the top of this mess? They've hired Kristol! Surely, Sulzberger is now suffering from some sort of cognitive deficiency?

Otherwise, I am at a loss to reconcile this editorial with that personnel decision. After all, it's not as if the NYTimes has really had a serious firewall between news and opinion in recent memory.

You're not crazy. I saw it, too, and it is gone now. As of this second anyway.

I saw it, too!

Hmmmm....

Sure hope the Circus doesn't have anything to do with this.

once they've been through the political system long enough and realize how corrupt it is

I think Hagel is in that category. Need I remind you, he quit. I don’t believe he is such a talented actor that he was faking his senate rants. If he is, he better get into the acting business immediately. Right Dirigo?

Perhaps he is not acting, if so then his lack of moral courage heretofore was enough to make a dung beetle turn up its nose.

Just how damn long does one have to spend in the political system to realize it is corrupt to the core?

I've never been involved in politics other than some dealings with the local school board and other aspects of local government and it blindingly obvious to me that politics is corrupt.

My level of respect for those who wait until they are out or going out of the system to criticize it is just about nil.

Bloomberg changes parties like he changes his expensive clothes. Besides being for Israel, this man is otherwise vacuous. How on earth could anyone think he's an alternative to anything? His candidacy is ludicrous and downright irritating!!!!

Jim White said:

Nothing less than the credibility of our nation is at stake here. Simply deciding to "forgive and forget", while embellishing this newly discovered "bipartisanship" tells the world that there are no consequences when our leadership decides to act in contravention to our own and international laws. Only after Bush, Cheney, Addington, Gonzales, Rumsfeld, Libby and a host of others are rotting in jail can we consider trying a real bipartisanship. The kind of bipartisanship we need, in fact, would require the few remaining people of principle within the Republican party to lead the charge for impeachment and imprisonment. That is the only way we will know that they intend to return to the world of the law and to truthful interactions with one another.

Sad to say, we've been acting in contravention of international law for decades going back to the Jacksonian era. Adherence to the rule of law is for "others" not for we Americans. As Chomsky points out (Failed States), America is inherently an imperialistic country whose rhetoric of empire rests on three pillars: the assumption of the unique moral virtue of the US, the assertion of a mission to redeem the world, and faith in our nation's divinely ordained destiny. In short, the military industrial complex that is the US with its militarized economy ignores/violates international law routinely. And little Bloomberg's charm among the wealthy-white-men set rests on his willingness to continue that tradition.