John Kerry told the Boston Globe he was offered State a week before Susan Rice "withdrew from consideration." The White House won't say that timetable is false. So, why did the White House so staunchly defend her when she, it now appears, was never the pick? This makes it look more and more likely that she was simply a red herring to make Kerry a slam dunk.

Clearly Rice wanted the job and what now seems equally clear is she was never the top choice. Perhaps trial balloon is a better term than red herring; she sure made Kerry look attractive. Sadly for Chuck Hagel, he has no Susan Rice to make him look good; he needs it a lot more than Kerry did.