QotD, Chuck Hagel’s REAL Jewish Problem edition.

As in, he’s suddenly discovering that believing in shadowy Jewish conspiracies – pardon me: the ‘Jewish lobby’… wait, no, that’s not really better – anyway, Chuck Hagel is right now getting a spotlight put upon him in response to the rumor that he’s being considered for Secretary of Defense.  A spotlight, in fact, that perhaps Chuck Hagel has not had to date.  Along those lines, Wall Street Journal op-ed writer Bret Stephens notes:

…[W]hatever other political pressures Mr. Hagel might have had to endure during his years representing the Cornhusker state, winning over the state’s Jewish voters—there are an estimated 6,100 Jewish Nebraskans in a state of 1.8 million people—was probably not a major political concern for Mr. Hagel compared to, say, the ethanol lobby.

Unfortunately for Mister Hagel, he’s not trying to become the Secretary of Agriculture. Bret’s article mostly involves the suggestion that Chuck Hagel has said and thought some things about American policy towards Israel that is, to quote Abe Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League, “at best, disturbing, and at worst, very troubling.”  Call me nuts, but being Secretary of Defense is generally considered to be one of those jobs where muttering about dual loyalties is generally not considered, ah, sorry, kosher; and it is a measure of just how alarming Hagel’s attitudes apparently are that the disgusted reactions to it are getting pushback from the likes of Justin Raimondo and Peter Beinart.  Personally, if I was Chuck Hagel I’d be asking myself why I was being supported by people like that, but then again I have sufficient moral sense to be able to tell the good guys from the bad guys in the Middle East.

Moe Lane

PS: Like Bret Stephens, I welcome the confirmation fight over Chuck Hagel.  Setting this particular piece of Family business would be a great thing to do.