Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Chuck Hagel: You're Probably Wondering Why I Called You All Here Today

The 19th-century German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel was a giant in the field of logic. The 21st-century philosopher Chuck Hagel? Not so much.

The Republican senator from Nebraska, flirting with a 2008 presidential run, scheduled "an announcement on my political future" for yesterday morning in Omaha. Media types flew in from across the country. The state's governor and attorney general, along with 15 television cameras, crowded the room. Cable networks carried the event live while pundits went wild: Would Hagel jump into the race? Run for reelection? Become an independent? Quit politics entirely?


"I'm here today to announce that my family and I will make a decision on my political future later this year," Hagel declared in front of a presidential-blue curtain.


That was the announcement? The cable networks quickly broke away. The reporters in Omaha were feeling had...


Here's the rest of Dana Milbank's Washington Post story on Hagel's pretty weird non-story.