Hagel Strikes an Independent Note

Senator Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., tells C-SPAN’s "Newsmakers" this Sunday, "I will make a decision here in the next couple of weeks.  I have to if I’m going to get in the presidential race."  When asked whether the maverick Republican, who last week compared Iraq to Vietnam and strongly opposes the President’s plans for a surge of troops in Iraq, added, "I have not decided I am going to run for president, so maybe that’ll be the next set of questions that you could ask after I decide what I’m going to do."  Hagel also had tough words for his critics, insisting, "I say, and I have said before, it’s un-American not to question policies of the government.  I said, we’re not potted plants.  The Congress is not to be muted.  We tried a monarchy once.  It didn’t work."