Obama should have put Panetta at Treasury, not CIA

[Ardent15]

Companion to my other thread. Leon Panetta, as a member of the House Budget Committee and later director of the OMB, helped balance the budget in the 90s.

He seems a lot more qualified for Treasury than he is for CIA.

[MannyGoldstein]

1. Panetta Is A Clintonista

Much better to get a Democrat instead.

[Ardent15]

2. How is Panetta not a Democrat?

[MannyGoldstein]

3. The Clintons Are Reagan Republicans

As are virtually all of their crew.

Look at what they did - "free" trade with China and total financial deregulation while proclaiming "the end of big government is over". Not to mention the first use of torture (the outsourced torture "extraordinary rendition" program) as official US policy.

[stillcool]

5. Do you judge all people like that?

"Have you, or have you ever been associated with" We really need to have another McCarthy type hearing in D.C.

[MannyGoldstein]

9. Panetta Was Chief Of Staff

He was charged with leading the efforts in carrying out Clinton's edicts. I don't see how he can escape culpability - we're not talking some factotum here.

[Ardent15]

10. Clinton was a good President

I don't see the problem.

[MannyGoldstein]

11. He Savaged The Middle Class And Introduced Torture As US Policy

Otherwise, not bad.

[YDogg]

4. but he didn't.

:shrug:

[Peace Patriot]

6. I don't think Panetta is a civilian. An old, experienced hand, high up in the CIA,

was needed to repair the organization after the war with Rumsfeld. Panetta was greeted with cheers, applause, champagne, confetti, dancing in the aisles--when he showed up for work at Langley. Would they do that for an unknown civilian? His nomination sailed thru Congress, and by the media, without a whisper, except for DiFI who made an early peep about his "inexperience" and then immediately shut up. Not another word about that.

I think he's been CIA since his very short stint in the army (2 yrs), early on in Vietnam, and coming out a Lt. Col.

Obama's a smart guy. He wouldn't put an unknown civilian in charge of the CIA. He needed somebody to fix this gravely wounded agency immediately, and to watch his back.

[Ardent15]

8. True, but every agency of government has been "gravely wounded"...

...by the Bush administration, and unfortunately, there's only so many good competent people to fix the mess.

[Metta]

7. He's got a gang of Wall Street traitors in there now. Geithner looks really sleezy on tv.

Like he doesn't have a straight bone in his body.