Vietnam veteran and ex-Senator Chuck Hagel (R-Isolation) made a stunning impression in his audition for the role of secretary of defense yesterday, though it was not quite the one that he wished. “Though he was being asked about things he had said over the course of the past 15 years, it was what Hagel said yesterday…that had his defenders reeling in shock and even his critics aghast at how poorly he handled himself,” wrote John Podhoretz in the New York Post. Said Roger L. Simon, “They had to send him a note in the middle of the proceedings to remind him of the administration’s position on Iran and ‘containment,’ and even then [he] got it wrong.”

“It is very clear from the testimony that Sen. Hagel will not be bringing the potato salad to the next Mensa picnic,” a Democrat told the Washington Post’s Jennifer Rubin. The Hill said he delivered a “shaky performance,” “stumbled over some answers…and did little to covert critics who had deemed him unfit to serve.”