Warning label: This is a bit of a stretch.

Nevertheless, Chuck Hagel’s announcement that he’s scheduling a town hall meeting in Lincoln to discuss Iraq and other national security issues is vaguely reminiscent of an event that occurred here 90 years ago.

John F. Kennedy, with the assistance of Ted Sorensen, wrote about it in “Profiles in Courage” in a chapter titled: “I have come home to tell you the truth.”

George W. Norris returned from Washington in 1917 to talk to Nebraskans about his determined opposition to legislation setting the stage for U.S. entry into World War I. 

Leading a filibuster in the Senate, Norris had been scorned by President Woodrow Wilson as one of “a little group of willful men” and battered by an army of critics.

Most of his constituents back home appeared to be either upset or outraged by Norris’ position.  Newspapers in Nebraska hammered him.

Norris decided to schedule an open meeting in Lincoln to explain his position.

“Walking from his hotel to the city auditorium on a beautiful spring night,” Kennedy wrote, “Norris anxiously noted that more than three thousand people — the concerned, the skeptical and the curious — had filled the auditorium, with many standing in the aisles and outside in the street.”

Norris recalled: “I had expected an unfriendly audience and it was with some fear that I stepped forward.  When I entered the rear of the auditorium and stepped out on the stage, there was a deathlike silence.  There was not a single handclap.  But I had not expected applause; and I was delighted that I was not hissed.”

Norris began with a simple statement: “I have come home to tell you the truth.”

Immediately, there was a burst of applause, Norris recalled.

“The crowd, after more than an hour, roared its approval,” Kennedy wrote.

Norris subsequently was re-elected in 1918 with 54 percent of the vote.

Later, he emerged as a presidential prospect, but his independent nature rankled many of his fellow Republicans and essentially placed the GOP nomination out of his reach.

“In 1928, despite his continued differences with the Republican Party and its administrations, the Nebraska senator was one of the party’s most prominent members, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a potential presidential nominee,” Kennedy wrote.

Here’s what Norris thought: “I have no expectation of being nominated for president.  A man who has followed the political course I have is barred from the office.  I realize perfectly that no man holding the views I do is going to be nominated for the presidency.”

Later, Norris would leave his party to become an independent.

In 1932, when Norris still was a Republican, the Democratic presidential nominee, Franklin D. Roosevelt, paid tribute to the Nebraska senator, Kennedy wrote.

Here’s what Roosevelt said:

“History asks: Did the man have integrity?  Did the man have unselfishness?  Did the man have courage?  Did the man have consistency?”

* * *  

 

Newly minted political independent Michael Bloomberg “could offer himself as a candidate to a group called Unity 08, which will hold a citizens convention in July 2008 to pick a blended ticket that could include an independent, a Republican or a Democrat,” The Washington Post reported last week.

“One rumored — or perhaps wished-for — ticket would pair Bloomberg with maverick GOP Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska,” the Post stated.

The New York billionaire mayor’s departure from the Republican Party last week positioned him for an independent, or third way, presidential bid.

Hagel-Bloomberg?

Or Bloomberg-Hagel, with Hagel managing foreign policy?

The Daily Show had its own take: “Bloomberg-Hagel?  That doesn’t sound like a dream ticket; it sounds like a rare genetic disorder.”

Finishing up:

* Nope, says Ben Nelson, the extra $4.4 billion for border security won’t win his support for the new comprehensive immigration reform package.

* Chances are “no better than 50-50” that the immigration plan can be enacted, Hagel told his weekly telephone news conference. 

* Looking through the program at a Charleston River Dogs game a week ago, I found this outfielder: Jeff Fortenberry, 23, graduate of Baylor University, batted .268 at Class A Staten Island.  Bats left, throws left, oops.

Reach Don Walton at 473-7248 or at dwalton@journalstar.com.