Just days after former Secretary of State Colin Powell went on television to talk about (among other things) his endorsement of Chuck Hagel for Secretary of Defense, a columnist for the Wall Street Journal implied that Powell is an anti-Semite on the flimsiest of evidence.

Bret Stephens, a deputy editor at the Journal, doesn’t outright say that Powell is anti-Semitic. Instead, in a manner reminiscent of Glenn Beck’s “I’m just asking questions!” tactic for avoiding responsibility for his nonsense, Stephens strings together two statements of Powell’s to suggest he has a track record of anti-Semitism:

OK, I get it. An errant slip of the tongue isn’t proof of prejudice. We have all said things the offensiveness of which we perhaps didn’t fully appreciate when we opened our mouth.

Like the time when, according to Bob Woodward, Mr. Powell accused Douglas Feith, one of the highest-ranking Jewish officials in the Bush administration and the son of a Holocaust survivor, of running a “Gestapo office” out of the Pentagon. Mr. Powell later apologized personally to Mr. Feith for what he acknowledged was a “despicable characterization.”

Or the time when, according to George Packer in his book “The Assassins’ Gate,” Mr. Powell leveled another ugly charge at Mr. Feith, this time in his final Oval Office meeting with George W. Bush. “The Defense Department had too much power in shaping foreign policy, [Powell] argued, and when Bush asked for an example, Powell offered not Rumsfeld, the secretary who had mastered him bureaucratically, not Wolfowitz, the point man on Iraq, but the department’s number three official, Douglas Feith, whom Powell called a card-carrying member of the Likud Party.”

The implication of this is that Powell has a pattern of anti-Semitic behavior. While Stephens never owns that this is, in fact what he’s implying, it’s hard not to see the suggestion (which is, of course, baseless).

Stephens might protest that he’s simply attempting to point out the alleged absurdity of Powell’s claim that several remarks by leading Republicans show that there’s a “a dark vein of intolerance” running through the GOP. Set aside, for the moment, that Powell’s examples are substantially more well-grounded than Stephens’. Were that the columnist’s point, then he would be repudiating his own case that Hagel is suffused by the “odor” of anti-Semitism, an argument built solely on the same sort of quotes he says Powell is wrong for using. So either a) Stephens should admit that the GOP emits the “odor” of racism, or b) he should retract and apologize for his own insinuations about Hagel (which others have done him the courtesy of taking apart).

There’s also an amusing implication in the column that the only lobby anyone ever suggests “intimidates” people is the so-called Israel Lobby. Stephens’ evidence for this strange claim is his own Google searches for “the farm lobby intimidates,” “the African-American lobby intimidates,” or “the Hispanic lobby intimidates.” Even accepting the idea that two seconds of Google work counts as evidence, one might suggest Stephens search for “the NRA intimidates” or the “the AARP intimidates.” He might be surprised at the results.

Stephens himself suggested that Hagel is anti-Semitic but pleaded on Sunday that he made no such charge. But Stephens isn’t the only accuser of Hagel’s to run into trouble recently. Elliott Abrams, a former Bush official and Paul Ryan adviser whose charge of anti-Semitism against Hagel was far more overt, has been roundly condemned, including by his own boss.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) — rumored to be a potential roadblock in the confirmation of Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense, today announced his support of Hagel’s bid — following a lengthy meeting between the two.

Schumer was thought by many to be a bellwether on whether coordinated attacks on Hagel’s stance on Iran and Israel by neoconservatives were having the desired effect. In the aftermath of a ninety minute meeting between the two on Monday, Schumer made clear that the smear tactics of the Washington Post’s Jennifer Rubin and others had not swayed his decision, announcing his support in a prepared statement:

Based on several key assurances provided by Senator Hagel, I am currently prepared to vote for his confirmation. I encourage my Senate colleagues who have shared my previous concerns to also support him. [...]

I know some will question whether Senator Hagel’s assurances are merely attempts to quiet critics as he seeks confirmation to this critical post. But I don’t think so. Senator Hagel realizes the situation in the Middle East has changed, with Israel in a dramatically more endangered position than it was even five years ago. His views are genuine, and reflect this new reality.

In his statement, Schumer also noted that Hagel provided assurances on his commitment to female and LGBT service members, another concern of several members of the Senate.

By announcing his support, Schumer joins Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) in firmly stating their backing of Hagel in the coming confirmation fight. “After speaking extensively with Sen. Hagel by phone last week and after receiving a detailed written response to my questions late today, I will support Sen. Hagel’s nomination as secretary of Defense,” Boxer said in a statement.

Walmart U.S. president and CEO William Simon is expected to announce on Tuesday that the company will hire any U.S. veteran who wants a job provided that the veteran has left the military within the last year and has not been dishonorably discharged.

“Let’s be clear; hiring a veteran can be one of the best decisions any of us can make,” Simon will say according to his prepared remarks. “Veterans have a record of performance under pressure. They’re quick learners, and they’re team players. These are leaders with discipline, training, and a passion for service. There is a seriousness and sense of purpose that the military instills, and we need it today more than ever.”

First Lady Michele Obama, who, along with Dr. Jill Biden, heads up the Obama administration’s “Joining Forces” program designed to put returning veterans to work, applauded Walmart’s “historic” decision. “We all believe that no one who serves our country should have to fight for a job once they return home,” Mrs. Obama said in a statement. “Wal-Mart is setting a groundbreaking example for the private sector to follow.”

The unemployment rate for veterans, while steadily falling, has remained much higher than the national average, as servicemembers returning from war have struggled to find work. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported this month that he unemployment rate for post-9/11 veterans was at 10.8 percent (well above the national average of 7.8 percent). However Veterans Affairs noted that “the annual jobless rate for post-9/11 Vets was 9.9 percent in 2012; a significant drop from the annual average in 2011 of 12.1 percent.”

“The military instilled in you a sense of pride, honed your leadership skills and drew on the deep sense of purpose you carry throughout everything you do,” says Walmart’s “Careers With A Mission” website, “Continue making the most of these traits without compromise at Walmart.” The company says it hopes to hire more than 100,000 veterans under the new program.

Walmart became involved in the Obama administration’s “Joining Forces” program in 2011, announcing that it “guarantees a job at a nearby store or club for all military personnel, and military spouses, employed at Walmart and Sam’s Club who move to a different part of the country because they or their spouse have been transferred by the United States military.”

“They like military people because they have a sense of hierarchy and a commitment to the organization they are in,” Nelson Lichtenstein, a labor historian at the University of California who wrote a book on Walmart, told the New York Times. “And that’s important to Wal-Mart.”