The Hagel pick: Obama's pettiness in action

For some, the thinking seems to be that if the Hagel nomination is a thumb in the eye of the neocon crowd, it must be worth it. David Greenberg writes in the New Republic that many “liberals are bending over backward to praise Hagel, in effect saying they would prefer an archconservative male mediocrity to a liberal female rising star.” Why? Because punishing Hagel’s enemies is worth a potentially lousy defense secretary.

This spirit results in some really batty arguments for Hagel’s confirmation. For instance, New York Times columnist Roger Cohen writes that the “chief” reason Hagel should be confirmed is that doing so “will provoke a serious debate on what constitutes real friendship toward Israel.” Even if you agree with Cohen’s barmy views of geopolitical “friendship,” Hagel’s got real problems if this is the best case for his nomination.

The Defense Department faces imminent cuts, Chinese and Russian nationalism are ascendant, the Middle East is becoming even more destabilized and theocratic, and we’re still at war in Afghanistan, but Hagel’s chief qualification is that he’ll be a great conversation starter? Wow.