Other Columns by Doug Patton
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U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel served nobly and honorably in Vietnam. He still carries shrapnel from the wounds he suffered there. While serving in Vietnam, Hagel and his comrades in arms were continually undermined by thoughtless, narcissistic politicians who spoke without considering the propaganda value their words would give to the enemies of America. Now Hagel has become one of those politicians.

A young political wonder boy who climbed his way to the top both politically and financially, Chuck Hagel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1996 and handily re-elected in 2002. He has made no secret of his presidential ambitions for 2008, but in the process, he has taken a great many cheap shots at the president over the last year. In fact, many of my fellow Nebraskans (at least the conservative Republicans) find him increasingly difficult to abide. One infuriated businessman told me recently that he wouldn't vote for Hagel for dogcatcher. Another, who would rather bite off his tongue than vote for a Democrat, said he would do so next time rather than ever vote for Hagel again.

However, Hagel seems oblivious to the damage he is doing. In fact, the closer we get to the 2008 presidential primaries, the more supercilious he becomes. As I have written in the past (and it becomes a truer statement every day), the most dangerous place in Washington, DC, is between Chuck Hagel and a TV camera.

Last year, just before the presidential election, Hagel's antics became so blatant the national media began speculating about what his role might be in a John Kerry administration. The last few weeks have been particularly frustrating. Hagel has said that we are losing the war in Iraq, compared Iraq to Vietnam, stated that America has "destabilized the region" and that we should begin to withdraw American troops early next year.

Hagel has also said that President Bush should have met -- again -- with Cindy Sheehan, who remains camped in a Crawford, Texas, ditch with the left-wing rabble that continue to use her for their own political ends.

Does any of this empty rhetoric serve a purpose? Does Chuck Hagel think that in this world of instant communications, his words have no consequences? Does he think that our enemies are oblivious to all this? Does he not seem to grasp the concept that with the right to free speech comes responsibility -- especially in wartime? What part of not yelling "fire" in a crowded theater does Sen. Hagel not understand?

Of course, Al-Jazeera gladly reports Sen. Hagel's statements to their Islamic viewers in the Middle East and around the world, just as our so-called mainstream media gleefully reports the senator's remarks here in the United States.

I am sure Abu Musab al-Zarqawi would be happy to simply wait for the Hagel plan to be implemented so that he and his "insurgents" can start a full-scale civil war.

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