It has been a long time since Republicans showed a fighting temper of this kind, unyielding in its contempt for what the choice of a Hagel represents about core values like the national defense, our stance regarding the most dangerous of our enemies in the world.
The only time I ever saw Chris lose his temper was when we were sharing a double room our last year, and some less enlightened brothers decided to make a bunch of noise late at night during finals week.