Last night I was invited to a reception at the Italian Ambassador's stunningly gorgeous residence put together by the Ploughshares Fund to support global nuclear disarmament. On hand were Chuck Hagel and Michael Douglas (yes, the actor Michael Douglas is a nuclear disarmament activist -- who knew?) talking about important issues. But Hagel also got a question about the dubious-but-persistent rumors that George W. Bush is plotting an unauthorized strike against Iran.

Hagel started his answer by specifically noting that the last time he mused about impeachment it got him in a lot of trouble, so he probably shouldn't muse about impeachment, but then proceeded to do just that, suggesting, I guess, that that might be considered an impeachable offense (which actually strikes me as a dubious contention on his part, but I appreciate the sentiment). But really his substantive remarks were more interesting. Hagel said, and I think he's correct, that we're witnessing a confluence of events in the United States and around the world has opened up the possibility of a new big push for disarmament in a unique way and we really ought to take advantage of it. He also said that in his opinion this is the most important issue we face, which really carries the implication that you should vote for Barack Obama since he agrees with Hagel about disarmament, but of course he didn't quite come out and say that.

[You can see much the same written up like a proper news article in the HuffPo]