Hagel Comes Out Against Iraq; GIVE THIS MAN THE I.E.S.

Republican Senator Chuck Hagel, largely a paleoconservative from my home state of Nebraska, finally said something smart about Iraq. Love him or hate him, Hagel is the consummate politician, guarding his ass and maintaining his political viability. It's kept him in office, representing this state in Congress; it's also made him a potential candidate for the GOP nomination.

And that's what it comes down to-Hagel, in his political wisdom, has realized that Iraq is going to backfire on the GOP. In order to be electable in 2008, he knows he has to come out against the war, to support removing American troops from Iraq NOW. This will allow him to build up a record of supporting homecoming, while other Republican Presidential hopefuls will founder and die on the coming unpopularity of the war. Granted, it's an "interesting" position to take for one of the biggest hawks at the outset of the war, to say the least-but it's a purely political one that should pay off for him in the long run.

While we're talking about people playing hardball politics concerning Iraq... has anyone given Hagel a copy of the Libertarian Exit Strategy? It doesn't matter if the guy's a political sleazeball jumping in front of the crowd; while he's there he might as well bring our ideas with him. He'd have no reason to say no; it's the gist of what he'll be campaigning on, but with more concrete plans laid out. He could issue a press release saying that he's signed onto the Libertarian Exit Strategy, and encourages all Nebraskans who support the troops and want a sensible exit from Iraq to sign as well. It'd play really well with him in 2008; he'd get support from the Nebraska conservatives as well as the anti-war crowd. And it'd, of course, get us some major press.