Sephen Walt: "I'd like to thank the Senate Armed Services Commitee."After listing some of the comments that he and John Mersheimer made in their book about the Israel Lobby, Walt wants to thank "The Emergency Committee for Israel, Sheldon Adelson, and the Senate Armed Service Committee for providing such a compelling vindication of our views. As Rosie Gray and Andrew Kacynskiof Buzzfeed noted, at yesterday's hearing on Chuck Hagel Israel was mentioned 166 times, and Iran (a problem closely linked to Israel) 144 times. Afghanistan was mentioned only 20 times, and the problem of suicides of U.S. troops only twice. Glad to see that those Senators have their priorities straight. No wonder Mark Twain referred to Congress as "the smallest minds and the selfishest souls and the cowardliest hearts that God makes."And there is at Pat Lang's site a truly wicious photo of John McCain. The opinion on Hagel's performance is divided but the general view seems to be that the advice he got was not to be confrontational, but then he didn't have to be what with those Republicans foaming at the mouth.

Margaret O’Brien Steinfels is a former editor of Commonweal. 

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