Hagel is the latest entry in the "OMG! Can you believe he said that!" wars:
Hagel, a top Senate Republican said to have presidential aspirations, said in an interview in US News and World Report, set to hit newsstands Monday, that US troops are "losing" the Iraq war, and that "things aren't getting better, they're getting worse."
"The White House is completely disconnected from reality," said Hagel. "It's like they're just making it up as they go along. The reality is that we're losing in Iraq," said Hagel, who added that increasingly, fellow Republicans are coming to share his view.
"More and more of my colleagues up here are concerned," he said.
Hagel can probably forget about the nomination after such comments. Also, while it is good to see some cracks showing in the Republican façade over Iraq, how often over the past month has a
Comment by a major political figure or other been the big political news story of the day? We attack Santorum for the Nazi comments, wingers attack Reid over a comment about a judge, we attack Dobson and Robertson for comments they make, then comes Dean, then Durbin, and on and on and on. As much as I participate in these spin wars myself and as much as I will continue to do so, it is not hard to see how this sort of inane "Gotcha!" politics can turn off tens of millions of Americans to the point where they don't even bother becoming involved in the process.
