The twin spectacles of Republican lawmakers opposing one of their own for defense secretary and the conservative media  slamming that nominee, Chuck Hagel, as a leftist, raises a thought-provoking question: What Obama nominee  wouldn’t the GOP oppose?

To get at the extremism that is exposed by such a question, let’s broaden the scope of possible nominees. Imagine that, in the basement of the White House, President Obama had a machine that could let him travel to any time or dimension to recruit for his top positions in his administration. Then ask yourself: Would Republicans still oppose those all-star picks, even icons of their own party? The answers seem pretty clear:

11. Abraham Lincoln, R-Ill.

Billed as the founder of the modern Republican Party and yet also the political hero of Democratic President Obama, Lincoln seems at first glance to be a perfect consensus pick for any number of Cabinet slots in the Obama White House — especially because he would get a boost from the Beltway’s all-powerful neoconservative think tanks that admire his record of suspending habeas corpus for accused enemies of the state.