:leaning forward: We win.

After arguing that the media is controlled by Jewish interests, [Louis Farrakhan] applauded Hagel’s nomination. “Senator Hagel is in trouble,” Farrakhan said. “But America needs a man in Congress like that, who’s not a rubber stamp for others. You need a man like Senator Hagel as your secretary of defense because a man with a mind like that will keep you out of fighting somebody else’s wars. You need a man in government that has another opinion that is not controlled, and if the Senate does not confirm him as defense secretary because of his opinion on Israel, that only proves that the Senate in the U.S. Congress is controlled by the Israeli lobby. And it also sentences America to war with Iran for the state of Israel.”

In a very bizarre sort of way, admittedly.  Whether or not the nomination goes through tomorrow – unlike Allahpundit*, I am not quite ready to assume that it will – the original purpose of said nomination is now officially dead, dead, dead. There is now no way that you can say with a straight face that Chuck Hagel is acceptable to the Republican party. The Republican party does not stand with Louis Farrakhan. We derive considerable pleasure from not standing with that anti-Semitic nutjob. If you are liked by Louis Farrakhan, there is something wrong with you.

So, if and when Obama decides to gut the military (which, if he does, he will regret doing; although not as much as his party will, not to mention the American people) he cannot count on Hagel t0 provide him with “bipartisan” cover. It’s just going to be partisan. And danged desultory, at that.

Moe Lane (crosspost)

PS: Yeah, I know, I know: a Republican President would have picked an infinitely better candidate. Don’t look at me: I went to the polls and voted a straight party ticket, after spending four years constantly slugging it out. So my conscience is not just clear; it sparkles.

PPS: If you’re a Republican staffer: if your boss votes for cloture on Hagel tomorrow, he or she will end up wishing that he or she had not.  Now is a good time to offer last minute advice along those lines.

*Mind you, he’s got good reasons. We still have a few Senators (coughcoughmccaincoughcough) who seem to be laboring under the noble, yet mistaken belief that the Democratic party is run by people who are not permanently infuriated that anyone out there would dare attempt to thwart the Democrats’ collective will.