Barack Obama picks Leon Panetta as CIA Director?
My jaw dropped.
As it did for Senator Dianne Feinstein the incoming Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Feinstein was caught completely off guard when she learned of Obama’s decision to appoint Panetta. “My position has consistently been that I believe the agency is best served by having an intelligence professional in charge at this time,” said Senator Feinstein. Her sentiments were echoed by West Virginia Senator Jay Rockefeller, her predecessor at the helm of the Senate Intelligence Committee. While Obama and Vice-President-elect Biden have since apologized to Feinstein “profusely” the appointment of Panetta and the manner in which it was done does not inspire confidence.
Panetta, a former Congressman and best known as a former Chief of Staff to President Clinton, has no formal experience concerning intelligence. It was not an area he delved into in his capacity as a legislator or in service of the executive branch. There’s nothing personal against Panetta. I’m sure he’s a swell guy who is kind to small furry creatures. Frankly, Panetta was probably as surprised as anyone else to be receiving such an appointment. So I don’t think this reflects poorly on Panetta. It does, however, reflect poorly on President-elect Obama.
Obama’s decision to elevate Panetta to oversee the gathering of foreign intelligence reflects poorly on him because it indicates he can be pushed around. Leon Panetta was not Obama’s first choice to take the helm of the CIA. Obama’s first choice was John O. Brennan, who had advised him on intelligence matters during the Presidential campaign. Before going into the private sector, Brennan had been a Deputy Executive Director in the CIA and had been acting director of the National Counterterrorism Center. In other words, if Jack Bauer was real then Brennan would have been his boss.
Unfortunately, therein lay the problem. Brennan was accused of being “an ardent supporter of torture” by blogger Glenn Greenwald who objected to, amongst other things, the use of enhanced interrogation procedures despite their efficacy in preventing terrorist attacks. (
salon.com) Other left-wing bloggers followed Greenwald’s lead and Brennan advised Obama he was no longer interested in the CIA post or for that matter an appointment to be the Director of National Intelligence. It is worth noting that some in Congress wanted Obama to reconsider Brennan but to no avail. (
online.wsj.com) This is hardly surprisingly considering that in some quarters it was the Obama team that “pulled the plug on him.” (
npr.org)
Six weeks passed from the time Brennan “withdrew” his name from consideration until Dianne Feinstein received the shock of her life. Other names were bandied about such as Stephen Kappes, the Deputy Director of the CIA. But the left-wing blogosphere was nearly as apoplectic about Kappes as they were about Brennan. (
talkleft.com)
California Democratic Congresswoman Jane Harman, a longtime member of the House Intelligence Committee and more recently the Chairman of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Intelligence, was also mentioned as a possibility. Michigan Congressman Pete Hoekstra, the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, publicly endorsed Harman for the job and recommended her to Obama’s Chief of Staff, Rahm Emmanuel. (
humanevents.com) Although I’m sure Hoekstra’s endorsement didn’t enhance Harman’s street cred with the ACLU. The Left objected to Harman’s “early support of domestic eavesdropping programs.” (
thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com)
I have every reason to believe the Senate will confirm Panetta. I would not be surprised if Feinstein is sufficiently mollified to give him a vote in the affirmative. After all, at this point Obama could appoint SpongeBob SquarePants to head up the CIA and the Senate would confirm (unless, of course, it was discovered that SpongeBob had authorized the waterboarding of Sheldon J. Plankton.)
All levity aside, one must ask if Barack Obama wants to lead America or does he want bloggers with bleeding hearts to lead him by the nose? Do we want Barack Obama to protect America from internal and external threats or do we want him to say “how high” every time the Daily Kos or the Huffington Post tells him to jump?
These questions must be asked because there has long been a strong current in American left-wing thought that the CIA ought to be abolished. If a handful of left-wing bloggers can tell Obama who he can and cannot appoint to lead the CIA then one must wonder if they can persuade him to abolish the agency altogether. Granted this is an unlikely scenario. However, the CIA might very well become a shadow of its former self under the Obama Administration.
Given that the war on terror is far from over this is not the time to be scaling back our intelligence gathering capabilities nor is it the time to undermine our ability to identify and thwart plots to attack the United States. Barack Obama has an obligation to protect us from such attacks. As such Obama would be wise to stop heeding the advice of bleeding heart bloggers who are more concerned with the well being of terrorists than they are with the safety of innocent American civilians. Should Obama insist otherwise then he will have a made a conscious decision to limit his intelligence.
Aaron Goldstein was a card carrying member of the socialist New Democratic Party of Canada (NDP). Since 09/11, Aaron has reconsidered his ideological inclinations and has become a Republican. Aaron lives and works in Boston. 
