THE HILL: Hagel delivers shaky performance.

Hagel stumbled over some answers — describing Iran as having a “legitimate, elected government” at one point — and did little to convert critics who have deemed him unfit to serve as Defense secretary because of his past statements and positions. . . . Hagel was frequently forced during a hearing that ran on for more than eight hours to say that he “regretted” his past statements, such as when Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) brought up Hagel’s statement that Israel kept Palestinians “caged up like animals.”

“If I had an opportunity to edit that, like many things I’ve said, I would like to go back and change the words and the meaning,” Hagel said. “I regret that I used those words.”

The Republican National Committee touted a clip of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) pressing Hagel to name one lawmaker that was intimidated by the “Jewish lobby.”

“Name one,” Graham said.

“I do not know,” Hagel responded.

Graham said after the hearing that was “shocked” that Hagel didn’t have responses to many of the questions coming from the GOP.

It’s not like they came out of the blue.

ANOTHER STATEMENT HITS ITS EXPIRATION DATE: Obama Chickens Out, Says A Million EVs By 2015 Not Important.

DOE backpedals furiously from a goal set out in a 2011 State of the Union speech, where President Barack Obama announced what he called “Apollo projects of our times.” One of them was the goal for the United States to be “the first country to have a million electric vehicles on the road by 2015.”

“Whether we meet that goal in 2015 or 2016, that’s less important than that we’re on the right path to get many millions of these vehicles on the road,” an unnamed Energy Department official told Reuters.

Reuters notes that “demand for hybrids and electric vehicles has been weaker than expected.” Government money was poured into black holes.

Actually, supporters’ pockets. And that’s racist.

REVIEW: “I’m inclined to think the President deserves the Cabinet he chooses, and I don’t approve of destroying a guy just because there’s blood in the water. But honestly, don’t we need a stronger Secretary of Defense than Chuck Hagel?”

POLITICO: Tough questions follow Al Gore book tour.

Related: When did legit media questions become ‘an attack’?

GUN CULTURE: A reader emails:

May I suggest a hidden rationale for the apparently irrational objections to modern sporting rifles: the AR-15 family of weapons has become the armaments equivalent of the Volkswagen or the Ford model T, it has become the gun for everyone. It is dangerous because it is popular, rather than the other way around. It is a cultural game-changer, just as mass-market automobiles were, and the forces of regression would rather not have their game changed.

Of course, before the Model T and the Volkswagen there were the Equalizer and the Peacemaker, revolutionary firearms that were just as controversial in their day as the AR-15 is today, and for much the same reason. They weren’t the first revolvers, but they made the revolver a mass-market item, the People’s handgun. The forces of regression of old were not pleased that the people should have handguns, they were opposed to equalization and peacemaking!

Yes, the highly adaptable and customizable nature of the AR-15 has helped to make it especially popular. Indeed, although gun-controllers claim they can ban “assault weapons” because the Supreme Court left open the possibility of banning dangerous or unusual weapons, the AR-15, as the most popular rifle in America, is clearly not “unusual.” Nor is it particularly dangerous.

OOPS: Menendez Flees Media Horde.

CIA OFFICIALS give the case for enhanced interrogations. “All three panelists trashed the Obama-era conceit that we’re a better country because we’ve scrapped the interrogation program. What we’ve really done, they argued, is replace interrogations with drone strikes.”

CHANGE: “Islamic clothing is getting a bit more hip in Southern California.”

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WALTER RUSSELL MEAD: Life After Blue: The Middle Class Will Beat The Seven Trolls.

Does the American middle class (and by extension, the middle class in other advanced democracies) have a future in a post-blue world? That is the basic question at the heart of American politics;. As I’ve noted, 4.0 liberals think that it doesn’t, and think that the defense of the blue social model is the only way to protect the social achievements of the twentieth century.

They’re wrong. The post-blue future for the middle class is bright, and instead of using the weight of the state to shore up a declining blue system to defend an embattled middle class we need to use that power to promote the transition to a 21st-century political economy and a reinvigorated middle class—larger, richer and more in charge than ever before.

Read the whole thing.

APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY: What’s a hit with hip young travelers? Fold-up maps.

In a world of iPads, GPS and digital technology at your fingertips, one international tourism organization has discovered that few things beat the traditional fold-up map.

USE-IT, a non-profit group that traces its roots back to 1970s Denmark, is an independent maker of free and funky city guides aimed at students and other young travelers, and it’s developing a cult following.

Designed and written by local artists and contributors, the colorful, individual maps are now produced in 23 cities across 14 European countries, with another two dozen cities lining up to take part in coming months.

The guides, covered in sharp commentary and doodle-like markings, scream youth and endeavor to point users to the hidden treats of otherwise familiar cities.

GPS is great, but a map does a better job of giving you a feel for the geography, not just a route.

JANEITES: The curious American cult of Jane Austen.

OOPS: Senators reportedly in ‘shock’ over Hagel’s ineptitude, bumbling.

GO BIG OR GO HOME: At Downsize Fitness health clubs, the treadmills are wider, the head trainers are weight-loss veterans and new members must be at least 50 pounds (22.7 kgs) overweight.

WELL, CALIGULA SENT AN ASS TO THE SENATE: Are you ready for Senator Geraldo?

SO HOW’D THAT HAGEL HEARING GO? “It is very clear from the testimony that Sen. Hagel will not be bringing the potato salad to the next Mensa picnic.” And that’s from a Democrat. . . .

UPDATE: Prof. Stephen Clark writes on Ted Cruz: “Note Powerline’s take on Cruz’s cross-examination of Hagel and remind yourself that the Republican establishment didn’t want Cruz.” Yeah, they didn’t want Marco Rubio either, remember.

SO RATHER THAN HAUL MY MACBOOK BACK AND FORTH, I got a Samsung Chromebook to use when I sit on the sofa in my office. I’ve had it for a few days and it’s pretty good. It’s not as good as the Macbook Air, but it also costs less than a fourth as much. Setup was a little tricky — you have to connect to the Internet and register before it’ll let you launch a browser, but UT uses device registration on its network, which requires that before you can connect with the Internet you complete a form . . . on a browser. I got around that problem by using my iPhone as a hotspot but otherwise it could have been annoying.

Keyboard’s decent, though I keep hitting the ALT button when I mean to hit CTRL, and there’s a “Search” button where the Caps Lock key would normally be. Screen’s fine, browsing and blogging with Chrome is fine. It has an SD slot, which I haven’t used. It’s very cool and quiet. Overall, it’s like a high-end netbook, which is basically what it is.

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IS THE RISE OF STAY-AT-HOME DADS masculinizing parenting?

A BRAVE NEW WORLD of prenatal DNA sequencing.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Record number of recent college grads defaulting on loans according to new report. “This situation is simply unsustainable and we’re already suffering the consequences. When wage growth is slow and jobs are not as plentiful as they once were, it is impossible for people to continue taking out ever-larger student loans without greatly increasing the risk of default. There is no way around that harsh reality.”

Do tell.

MULTIPART BLOGGING ON THE HAGEL HEARING at Power Line.

NEXT, THE OCEANS WILL START TO RECEDE: Japanese Analysis of US Gov Data Indicates Warming … Stopped? Just as Obama promised!

THEY TOLD ME IF I VOTED FOR MITT ROMNEY WE’D SEE A WAR ON SCIENCE. AND THEY WERE RIGHT! Decelerating American Physics: Panel Advises Shutdown of Last U.S. Collider.

CHANGE: Honda To Integrate Siri Into 2013 Accord.