I love how the Panetta appointment is pissing folks off

[bigtree]

. . . and I like WHO it's pissing on.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. I especially like it that Diane Feinstein is pissed off.

[Captain Hilts]

4. Not the actual pick. The announcement. Not giving Congress a 'heads up' is how GWB did things.

Not cool and Biden has apologized for it.

Unlike folks here, Biden has manners and Feinstein has made nice also. Good for both of them.

[Captain Hilts]

2. I'm not aware of it pissing anyone off on substance.

The style in which it was announced, but the choice, while unusual, isn't pissing anyone off.

[thunder rising]

3. Nope DiFi and RockyFeller are not happy with the choice.

[Captain Hilts]

5. Feinstein has come out and said she's looking forward to talking to working with Panetta. nt

[islandmkl]

6. "I don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows"...

being dissed, as opposed to trying to fix things, is so...oh...bushie..

[bigtree]

9. that's because she knows he'll have access to whatever she's approved

Under Bush, Feinstein and Rockefeller had cover for their support of torture policy and the like because they could claim to hold knowledge that the public didn't have access to and they were permitted to keep it secret because of bogus claims of national security. Panetta will get to see that 'evidence' and Feinstein will have to deal honestly this time around with the Democratic administration. What she was hoping for was a CIA pick who agreed with her equivocations and would be willing and obliged to keep covering for her.

[bdamomma]

7. Feinstein her name is coming up alot.

how was she ever appointed to chair the Intelligence Committee and now she is saying to seat Burris, what is she up to?

[Captain Hilts]

12. In both cases she's following protocol and standard procedures. nt

[bigtree]

13. she's caught between her obligations to defense cronies and her desire to appear 'moderate'

She always kneejerks back to populism after she votes with or agrees with the conservatives. I suspect she couldn't keep her seat if she didn't act like a Democrat once in a while.

[Cha]

8. Al Giordano is not too impressed with DinoFi..

"Broom The CIA"

<snips>

"Clearly, Feinstein and company don't have legitimate objections to Panetta, which makes the appointment of a liberal former US Representative - Time magazine notes that, in Congress, Panetta "repeatedly voted against President Ronald Reagan's military initiatives" - all the more attractive. They are merely scrambling to cover their own asses and cover up their own involvement in actions that, if ever exposed, would become the war crimes of two centuries.

The Panetta appointment also explains a lot about Obama's establishmentarian choices for Secretaries of Defense and State. He picked his battles, and it may be that Panetta is being sent in with a broom to sweep out the dirtiest, smelliest, most illegal enterprise in the United States government (one that has had a corrupting influence on Defense and State, too).

And if Feinstein et al really do try to head it off at the pass and deny Panetta's nomination, all the new president has to do is gather up some of the documents about illegal activities at the CIA - Drugs, anyone? Attempted coups? Illegal domestic surveillance? - in recent years that will be newly available to him on January 20, leak those documents to the press, cause a storm of controversy (and some Pulitzer Prizes to boot), have the new Senate Foreign Relations Committee chair, Senator Kerry, call for public hearings (reminiscent of his Iran-Contra and BCCI investigations), and, voila, place Feinstein and friends - and those who are behind them in this - in checkmate."

<much more>
http://narcosphere.narconews.com/thefield/

[spanone]

10. c h a n g e

[eleny]

11. I like his stand against torture

I hear DiFi was for it in certain circumstances. So I'm glad that Obama chose someone who is clearly against it to set a new standard for all, including "her majesty".

[BlooInBloo]

14. Current speculation is that it was leaked by someone wanting to kill the nomination...

I like the choice, personally. He has a looooong track record of being a civil rights advocate.

And pissing off DiFi and Rock is a bonus, naturally.

[bigtree]

15. the clue was the immediate headline that 'Democrats' were 'unhappy' with the pick

. . . a bogus headline.

Panetta's public and vocal criticism of Bush 'war on terror' makes his appointment promising. I'm actually beginning to feel good about the direction of this administration on the issues which matter most to me. DiFi and Rock are busted.

[Autumn]

16. Gotta agree with you there

I'm liking a lot of these picks and it just tickles me pink.:toast: