Someone's Grumpy ...

Sen. Chuck Hagel (R) unloaded on Dick Cheney in a conference call 12/21 with NE scribes.

According to the Grand Island Independent, Hagel compared Cheney unfavorably to Ronald Reagan, who he said was not a "vitriolic person or one to impugn the motives of people who disagreed with them." More Hagel: "Never did he do that. There is no place for that in politics because it debases our system and our process." He said Americans are "sick and fed up" with that type of politics. "Cheney's poll numbers are very, very low. ... It doesn't help when you characterize [critics] ... as unpatriotic or not caring about our people or our security. The American people see through that, and it is beneath the dignity of our country."

Then, this gem from the Lincoln Journal-Star: When asked about Cheney's warning that critics of the Bush admin's domestic eavesdropping program could pay a heavy political price, Hagel said, "My oath is to the Constitution, not to a vice president, a president or a political party."