Heading into Thursday’s confirmation hearing for the Secretary of Defense position, I assumed that Chuck Hagel would have prepared responses for the inevitable questions about his past record and statements, and that he’d sail through the Senate relatively easily. Instead, he turned in as bad as a performance as you’ll see from a cabinet nominee – stumbling and bumbling on questions that were entirely predictable.

For the past two months or so, ever since Hagel’s name was floated as a possible Defense Secretary, his past statements and positions on Israel, Iran, defense cuts and nuclear disarmament have been widely debated in the media. Yet he was unable to respond to the most basic charges of his critics on the Senate Armed Services Committee when given the chance.