It isn’t just the neocon bloggers and Dick Cheney who are gritting their teeth over the rise of Senator Chuck Hagel as the new paladin of the antiwar movement: Cenk Uygur, over at the Huffpuff — otherwise known as the bulletin board of the DNC — chimes in with a post entitled “Who is John Hagel?”

Oh yeah, well I got a question for him: Who the %%^&*( is Cenk Uygur?

Cenky’s problemo? It looks as though Hagel is … not a Democrat! And — yikes! — he even votes like a — gasp! — Republican! Oh, heavens-to-mergatroyd!!! What’s a Huff-puffer to do? 

He denounces Hagel because the Senator voted for the Military Commissions Act — yet doesn’t mention that the good Senator voted against re-authorizing the PATRIOT Act. He complains that Hagel voted for the Bush/GOP position more than any other Senator, but how many votes on the war has the Senate entertained this year? Not a lot. Regarding Hagel’s attacks on the President’s war policy, he admits:

These are much stronger words than Hillary Clinton or practically any Democratic frontrunner has used against the administration. In the GQ interview he does everything but accuse of the administration of out right lying and warmongering. This is a Chuck Hagel who is honest and brave. This is a Chuck Hagel I love.

Well, then, what’s the problem? Cenky is a reformed Republican, apparently — you know, like a reformed smoker. That type is always a little … cranky. Some people, in any case, are just soooo hard to please. We at Antiwar.com agree with Robert Scheer, no wingnut, who wrote:

If it ever narrows down to a choice between him and some Democratic hack who hasn’t the guts to fundamentally challenge the president on Iraq, then the conservative Republican from Nebraska will have my vote.

Yes, the war is that important, and the fact that Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York, the leading Democratic candidate, still can’t or won’t take a clear stand on the occupation is insulting to the vast majority of voters who have.

To which one can only add: you got that right, brother!