On January 12, I wrote about Chuck Hagel's words and demeanor in an interview with Charlie Rose. This was after I had listened to him - and others - at the hearing.

I do believe that in some countries Senator Hagel would be taken out and shot for airing his views so bluntly.

January 12, 2007 Mark Shields is speaking:

"And you take somebody like Chuck Hagel, who is a measured, serious Nebraskan, not a grand stander, not a flamboyant guy or whatever, and the emotional intensity he brought to that debate yesterday in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee I think was alarming and almost liberating to many members of Congress and to Republicans, in particular.

"JIM LEHRER: Did you see it alarming and liberating, as well?
DAVID BROOKS: I thought it was a huge event. I thought the Rice hearings were a big event, not because we were surprised that Chuck Hagel came out against, but, as Mark said, the intensity, the ferocity. It was a whirlwind directed at the secretary, showing contempt for the policy.

"And so what that does -- I think it really sets up the potential of a sort of historic confrontation between the legislature and the White House. So far, as you look ahead to how this might evolve..."

Here is More of the Jim Lehrer Newshour Feature