The following is an excerpt from OpinionJournal.com’s “Best of the Web” written by the editor, James Taranto.
What Difference Does It Make?
“Fears Grow That Libya Is Incubator of Turmoil”–headline, Associated Press, Jan. 26
Locked in the Cabinet
“Work With China, Don’t Contain It”–headline, New York Times, Jan. 26
Hey, Kids! What Time Is It?
“Haul Out the Haggis, It’s Time to Celebrate Burns Night”–headline, NPR.org, Jan. 25
Questions Nobody Is Asking
“Could Cyril Ramaphosa Be the Best Leader South Africa Has Not Yet Had?”–headline, New York Times magazine, Jan. 27
It Started as a Joke. It Became a Nightmare.
A reader reminds us of this item from our column of April 21, 2008:
An Anxious Nation Holds Its Breath
Remember Chuck Hagel? He was, and actually still is, a U.S. senator from Nebraska. Last year he announced that he planned to decide whether America was worthy of having him as president. America was nervous. Would it make the grade? In the end, it did not. Six months later, Chuck Hagel declared that not only wouldn’t he run for the president, but he wouldn’t even defend his Senate seat.
America begged him to reconsider. It promised it would change. But it was too little, too late for Chuck Hagel. Now, columnist Bob Novak reports,Chuck Hagel says he may not even grace America with an endorsement in this year’s presidential race:
“Friends of Sen. Chuck Hagel, the Senate’s sharpest critic of President Bush’s Iraq policy, say there is no chance he will endorse a Democrat for president this year. That doesn’t mean, however, that Hagel necessarily will back the Republican candidate, his friend John McCain. That could depend on whether McCain devises an Iraq exit strategy. Hagel and McCain, who occupy offices in the same second floor corridor of the Russell Senate Office Building, have been spotted conferring on two recent occasions.”
Hey Chuck, we don’t care anymore. You can endorse or not endorse–it doesn’t matter to us. We’ll get along fine without you, Chuck Hagel.
Oh, who are we trying to kid? Please, Chuck, throw us a bone here! Tell us how to vote. Or at least tell us how you plan to vote, even if you’re not endorsing anyone. At least promise that you’ll serve as secretary of defense in the Obama administration. America needs you, Chuck Hagel!
Mr. President, would it do any good if we said that secretary of defense thing was a joke? We didn’t think so.
Well, we’ve learned our lesson. Humor is just too dangerous and unpredictable a weapon. We will never use it again.
For more “Best of the Web” click here and look for the “Best of the Web Today” link in the middle column below “Today’s Columnists.”
