Any federal official who can’t respond with a loud and unhesitating “Hell No!” has no business being involved in setting policy for dealing with the Crusade Against Jihadism.

At the end of a Senate hearing yesterday, Dennis Blair -- Obama’s Director of National Intelligence -- refused to answer a very simple question.

Now, the DNI -- like most people who live behind the walls that protect our nation’s secrets -- is not going to answer a lot of questions. But this question was simple, and didn’t require complex decisions on divulging secrets.

Blair was asked whether, if we now caught Usama bin Laden, should the terrorist boss be read his “Miranda” rights. And Blair declined to answer.

Will someone explain to me what that was not the lead story on every newscast yesterday, and the top story in every newspaper today. Instead it has been ignored and buried. Why? Is bin Laden an enemy leading a war against us, or is he a criminal? The answer to that question is the clearest indication of this administration’s seriousness about the biggest threat to American security today.