Of course there is trouble in paradise. No administration is immune. Our country is, indeed, on troubled waters but let us never forget that the presidents we elect are not the smartest people….they are, at best, good politicians…salesmen…and after they have sold us they need to surround themselves with “important” people…people important to both republicans and democrats and people who will ultimately make them look good. In all of this, in due time, the rats in th pack will surface and it then begins a game of putting out all of the little fires in order to keep ones eye on the ball. Do I want Obama to succeed? Yes. However, he will have to deal with the political rats. They are surfacing quite early in the game. Perhaps that is a good thing for us all.

I think he is a good choice. Tonight the Mayor of Carmel, Sue McCloud, who was a long time CIA officer with postings all over Europe was positive with the selection when interviewed on the local news. She felt that what was most needed was a top manager, and someone who knows the score in WDC, and who will also not be operating by the Bush handbook. Not only has Panetta remained very active in public policy through his foundation, Monterey is the site for the TED conferences that bring together all the robust thinkers, and Panetta is part of that. Panetta is from Carmel/ Monterey, which is also the HQ for the prestigious Naval Postgraduate school. Here is a piece from the local paper about the pick: “We need the CIA to collect reliable, actionable intelligence in ways that respect American values and honor the Constitution,” said Rep. Rush Holt, D-N.J., chairman of the House Intelligence Committee’s oversight subpanel. “Saying the runup to he invasion of Iraq in 2003 was a major intelligence failure, John Arquilla, professor of defense analysis at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey said, “Panetta is the last person to march into the president’s office and say there would be a ‘slam-dunk’ on anything. He’d weigh the certainties and uncertainties, and come up with a measured conclusion.” ‘The Obama team had struggled to settle on a CIA candidate after passing over former high-ranking agency official John Brennan in December, because he was seen as too closely tied to the policies of the Bush administration. ‘Panetta would not have complete control over the CIA and its nearly 20,000 employees. He would report to retired Navy Adm. Dennis C. Blair, who was picked by Obama in December to serve as national intelligence director, a position created in 2004 to oversee the operations of the CIA and the other 15 agencies that make up the U.S. intelligence community. ‘Unlike Panetta, Blair has a long track record in national security matters. He also served a year at the CIA as the agency’s military liaison. How Blair and Panetta work together could be crucial to the operation of the intelligence community under Obama. ‘Panetta enjoys a close personal relationship to Obama and “excellent and an extensive relationship with Congress, which is also important in the intelligence realm,” said Potter. CIA role reduced ‘The CIA has seen its role and influence reduced dramatically in recent years as part of a reshuffling of the intelligence community. ‘Agency insiders have feared that trend would continue under Obama after the departure of President George W. Bush, whose father was director of the CIA in the 1970s and for whom the agency’s campus is named. ‘If he gets the job, Panetta probably would be charged with reining in controversial programs approved by Bush, including a secret network of CIA prisons, the transfer of detainees to countries known to engage in torture and the use of harsh interrogation methods. ‘Carmel Mayor Sue McCloud, a retired career CIA officer, said Panetta would “have some considerable knowledge” about intelligence matters because of his White House position. “It will be refreshing to not have to define everything from square one,” she said. “He’s not a neophyte, someone walking in cold.” ‘Panetta, a son of Italian immigrants who worked on his family’s farm in Carmel Valley, served as Clinton’s chief of staff for 2½ years, until January 1997. “How do you define ‘intelligence work?’” commented Ed Laurance, dean of the Graduate School for International Policy Studies at MIIS. Panetta “given all his experience, has been up to his eyeballs in intelligence,” including his work with the Iraq Study Group in 2006. “That’s what that was all about: What did we know and when did we know it? “He knows a lot about intelligence work in terms of getting the agencies to work together,” Laurance said, adding that even if Panetta has little direct experience in intelligence gathering or analysis, he does have the skills to pull the nation’s “gaggle of intelligence agencies” together.’

The next director of the CIA does not need to be an analyst, that is what the career people are for. What the CIA needs is a moral compass. It needs someone to restore morale in the ranks. It needs someone who can restore the integrity, honor, and ethics of the CIA. The CIA needs administrative healing. Leon Panetta sounds like the person for that job.