Shouldn't conservatives be thrilled to see a former Clintonite like Panetta get fried up like latkes by "his own team?" After all, if Panetta is the fall guy, that means Bush, Cheney, Gonzo, Ashcroft and John Yoo aren't going to be the ones in front of the firing squad. That should have conservative pundits like Strassel dancing in the streets, yes?In the game of political football that is today national security, spare a thought for CIA Director Leon Panetta. Quarterbacking is hard enough without getting sacked by your own team.
President Barack Obama fought hard for the former California congressman during his uncertain February confirmation fight. That's about the last thing the president has done for his spy chief. Quite the opposite: If the latest flap over CIA interrogations shows anything, it's that Mr. Panetta has officially become the president's designated fall guy.
The title has been months in the making. Mr. Obama is contending with an angry left that's riled by his decisions to retain some Bush-era counterterrorism policies. He's facing Congressional liberals still baying for Bush blood. He's hired Attorney General Eric Holder, who is giving the term "ideological purity" new meaning. Mr. Obama's way to appease these bodies? Hang the CIA and Mr. Panetta out to dry.
Ahh, but the problem is for Panetta to be the fall guy, there's the implication here that others will fall with him. Some of those others may in fact be Republicans, current or former. The risk of that is apparently so great that Strassel is playing the "won't you think of poor Leon Panetta" card this early in the game. It's a feckless and desperate move that strongly implies there's much hidden from the public eye.
All the more reason for Holder's investigation to go to the top.
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