At the newspaper's blog, Sharon Otterman writes about Hillary Clinton's upcoming SoS confirmation hearings. The headline: “Clinton May Face Tough Confirmation Questioning.”

Sounds intriguing, right? Like a real political showdown is brewing. Well, there might be, but the Times provides no evidence to suggest there is. Instead, the blog post quotes Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN.) who appeared on a Sunday talk show and who said he would vote to confirm Clinton for SoS, and that there would be “legitimate questions” asked about Bill Clinton's post-presidential activities. (Lugar never used the word “tough,” or anything like it.)

Talk about anti-climatic. Instead of “tough” questions, Lugar thinks senators will simply ask “legitimate” ones, which means Clinton's SoS confirmation hearings, at least according to Lugar, will be pretty much be like every other cabinet confirmation hearing.

Good to know.