The Panetta pick

Obama chose his new CIA chief, Leon Panetta. It seems like a pretty good choice to me. I don't much about the guy but from what I'm reading, he's a savvy insider without the baggage of being beholden to the Village elders. He's also been solidly and consistently anti-torture. Word has it he's likely to change the focus of the agency from enabling the warmongers to giving real world intelligence analysis to the president.

The biggest point in favor of his appointment is that it has the new chairwoman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Diane Feinstein, throwing a hissy fit.

“I was not informed about the selection of Leon Panetta to be the CIA Director. I know nothing about this, other than what I’ve read,” Feinstein said in a statement. “My position has consistently been that I believe the Agency is best-served by having an intelligence professional in charge at this time.”

Well, Sen. Feinstein, if you want to be the one that chooses the cabinet, run for President yourself dammit. Outgoing chair Jay Rockfeller is also deeply concerned about this pick. Considering the pair are two of the greatest enablers of the gross civil rights violations of the Bush regime, if they hate the pick, it must be a good one.

[More posts daily at The Detroit News.]