Fmr. CIA Officer Michael Scheuer on Obama's choice of Leon Panetta:

[jenmito]

"I think the impression that will be brought in the intelligence community is that the Obama administration means to punish those people who were defending America through the rendition program or through Guantanimo Bay."

He said this on CNN and makes me feel all the BETTER about this choice! How DARE a CIA officer say Obama wants to punish people who were defending America because he wants to send a clear message that we will NO LONGER TORTURE and try to restore our moral standing in the world! :thumbsdown:

[The_Casual_Observer]

1. Michael Scheuer is an asshole.

[jenmito]

4. That's obvious.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

2. CNN is leading the anti-panetta charge.

earlier today, that bimbo Frances Townsend, now this guy.

I do believe that CNN suffers from the "I wanna bee lyk Faux" disease.

[jenmito]

5. Jeez. And didn't they have Tony Snow as a commentator for a while?

:eyes:

[ChairmanAgnostic]

32. yup. they also have

the majority of the retired (ahem) generals that the DOD paid to visit Gitmo, only to show up on the news as allegedly independent cheerleaders promoting IraqNam AND denying any torture allegations. They also hid their ties to the DOD, the training the DOD gave them to promote "the Cause", and their own lobbying/corporate ties to the Military-Industrial complex.

Ike was right. That is our greatest danger, not Al Qaida, nor muslims, not even AIPAC. The MI Complex. They are our enemy.

[jenmito]

34. Wow...

thanks for the info.! :hi:

[calimary]

36. They also consistently cover up Bill Schneider's real identity.

He's not just "senior political analyst" but he's also a senior fellow with the American Enterprise Institute.

Hmmm... built-in bias, anyone?

BTW - watch him carefully. Watch his face. When he reports on stories that are adverse to bush or the republi-CONS, he's as sober as an undertaker. When it's the Dems in the bucket, or Clinton, or, now, Obama, watch for the twinkle in his eye and the impish smile and demeanor in his on-camera presentation.

And then - try to figure out a way to play poker with him!!! He gives away his bias EVERY time. It's that built-in. He can't help it.

[Sebastian Doyle]

37. Nor do they mention Leslie Blitzer's obvious bias

The so called "Wolf" used to be an AIPAC spokesshill and a "journalist" with the Likud mouthpiece "Jerusalem Post".

[ChairmanAgnostic]

39. Didn't Blitzer rep Jerry Falwell for a time?

[Radical Activist]

3. Sounds good to me.

They should be prosecuted as traitors and war criminals.

[jenmito]

6. Exactly.

Maybe they WILL be!

[bottomtheweaver]

12. Seriously.

I thought it was an endorsement when I read your OP!

[jenmito]

14. It may of well have been!

:)

[Phx_Dem]

7. The CIA has been out of control for a long time. It's time

to hand over the reins to someone who has integrity and is loyal to the President, not the Agency. Fuck them.

[jenmito]

19. Exactly. This was a signal to EVERYONE that America is BACK!

I'll finally be proud of my country again!

[IndianaGreen]

8. The last thing CIA needs is another George Tenet or Michael Hayden.

This is the best selection made by Obama to his national security team.

[jenmito]

20. Yet Feinstein and Rockefeller want "insiders" AKA-people ok with torture.

:eyes:

[IndianaGreen]

35. Kudos to Obama for standing firm against torture and other abuses

Which brings to mind what Keith Olbermann said tonight, that DiFi and Rockefeller were on the oversight committee over intelligence, yet they did nothing to stop Bush's abuses. Keith also noted that Senator Ron Wyden was consulted on the Panetta selection, while DiFi and Rockefeller were kept in the dark. Wyden opposed torture and rendition. I think this might be a significant clue as to where Obama wants to steer the intelligence establishment.

[scarletwoman]

9. Michael Scheuer is an egoistic self-promoting amoral gasbag. He can go suck eggs.

I don't know enough about Panetta to offer an opinion about his appointment. But I have no such hesitation when it comes to Scheuer -- he's an asshole.

So maybe that means Panetta isn't such a bad choice after all, if it pisses off Michael Scheuer. At least that's one point in Leon's favor.

sw

[jenmito]

21. Panetta is STRONGLY against torture. That, alone is good enough for me. n/t

[Bolo Boffin]

57. Amen.

He once said about the 9/11 attacks that the only good thing about them was that John O'Neill, his rival at the FBI, was underneath one of the towers. Egotistic self-promoting amoral gasbag is too kind to this person.

[Arkana]

10. Torturing detainees is not "defending America", you sanctimonious prick.

Not you, OP--Mr. Scheuer.

[jenmito]

26. Excuse me???

Just kidding. I knew who you were talking about. :D

[EFerrari]

38. He was just as horrible testifying before Congress about torture. n/t

[bottomtheweaver]

11. That's a bad thing?

Seriously, punishing the torturers is change I can believe in! Go Leon!

:thumbsup:

[jenmito]

15. In the eyes of the "it's ok to torture" crowd, yes...

to the rest of us, it's a GREAT thing!

[babylonsister]

13. He's on PBS' News Hour, too, vs. Ray McGovern. FYI. Now.nt

[jenmito]

16. Thanks! n/t

[jenmito]

17. Did I miss it?

[babylonsister]

22. Depends on when you get the program. You're in eastern time?

I'm central. Basically, Ray likes Panetta, thinks a 'manager' type will be more important than an intel guy. Scheuer of course argued; he's a spook, or former spook, and wasn't happy about Panetta or Blair.

[jenmito]

28. Yeah.

Thanks for the summary, though. :hi:

[TheKentuckian]

18. Maybe we need to be harrassing congresscritters on Panetta's behalf

It starting to sound like the powers that be are downright fearful and when that's the case then its time to ratchet up the heat.

Pump til they bleed.

[jenmito]

29. I agree...

We need to start making phone calls and writing emails!

[Cha]

23. WHOA! It shows that fascist asshole

hasn't been paying attention.

[jenmito]

31. Well, I think he is just another lying neocon who's for torture...

and wants it to continue.

[H2O Man]

63. Partly correct.

He is not a neoconservative. But he did play a significant role in the torture policies.

[jenmito]

64. OK then...

I sit corrected. Thanks.

[Vattel]

24. As an American,

I'm sick of assholes like Scheuer and Bush implying that Americans want to be defended by means of torture, rendition, killing innocent bystanders by the thousands. Only cowards want security at that moral price.

[bottomtheweaver]

27. They aren't "defending" anything but their own fat asses.

The purpose of the Bush-Cheney CIA torture program was and is to cook up phony intelligence, period. That and sadistic kicks. And that's no joke.

[grantcart]

25. Baer, former CIA Field Agent, Middle East praises Panetta choice

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1869824,00.html?iid=tsmodule

Leon Panetta: An Intel Outsider the CIA Needs

Leon Panetta may not have an intelligence background, but his appointment as CIA director shows that Barack Obama understands the CIA's problems. As a former White House chief of staff, Clinton Administration budget director and eight-term California Congressman, Panetta knows his way around Washington better than most people, and that kind of knowledge is exactly what the CIA needs right now.

Panetta is experienced enough to understand that the CIA was the victim of political manipulation under the Bush Administration. It was the Bush White House that cherry-picked the intelligence on Iraq, not the CIA. Panetta will have the ear of the new President to walk him through all of this and to make the case that there is no point in throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Panetta will also serve as a good counterweight to retired Admiral Dennis Blair, the designated director of national intelligence who is unlikely to streamline the intelligence community or challenge the Pentagon's preeminent position.

The CIA will need Panetta to hold off the Senate and House intelligence committees, which are gearing up to rip into the CIA for the past eight years of renditions, secret prisons and bad intelligence on Iraq. Mistakes aside, the last thing the CIA needs is another round of overly intrusive congressional hearings like those that so badly damaged the agency in the 1970s. If today's Congress were to deliver a coup de grâce to the CIA, the Pentagon would effectively be the nation's only intelligence agency.

[Cha]

30. That's a fantastic statement of

Robert Baer's endorsement of Leon Panetta. Thanks.

[jenmito]

33. Great article. Thanks!

Baer's opinion means a lot more than Scheuer's!

[grantcart]

40. welcome

[spanone]

41. hey mike, fuck yourself....it's called C H A N G E

[jenmito]

45. I'm sure he'll be a frequent Faux "contributor."

:eyes:

[BeyondGeography]

42. "Patriot" games are over, Mikey

Where have you been?

[firedupdem]

43. The criminals are on their way out dude....

We're not doing the "illegal" shit anymore. Find another line of work if you're scared because the shit you've been doing is no longer allowed!

[jenmito]

46. Exactly. And the louder people like him complain,

the better Obama, as President, will look.

[firedupdem]

50. They make themselves so obvious! Ass Holes! n/t

[jenmito]

55. Yup. And that's GREAT for US! n/t

[yardwork]

44. The more the intelligence community complains, the more like this pick.

I thought it was a good pick when I first heard the news, but now I'm beginning to think it was brilliant.

[jenmito]

47. Me, too. n/t

[yardwork]

48. Anything that has them this upset must be a good strategy.

Any anyone defending torture is automatically on the wrong side of the equation.

[jenmito]

49. Yup. I Iook forward to watching the confirmation hearings to see if any Dems.

vote against him or out themselves as being pro-torture.

[yardwork]

51. Feinstein has already made her position clear.

I fully expect to hear more.

[jenmito]

53. I know. But one time she was asked directly about it and claimed she was against

"harsh interrogation practices" in ALL cases. It was reported yesterday. I forget when she said it or when she was asked. We'll see her true colors and I'm sure they'll be "pro-torture."

[Generator]

52. From everything I've seen

This pick is the best thing that Obama has done since Nov. 4th. Maybe he's gonna screw gays and women (and certainly atheists) but at least maybe now no one will be tortured in my name. That was worth my voting for him.

McCain/Palin/Repuke scum have NO problem with torture-they just use tortured language to CLAIM they don't, like Bush. And I have my doubts about Feinstein and many Dems-including Hillary-but as anti-torture as Panetta is, it's a start. And his legal council guy is the real deal too-makes Gonzalez look like the mean bully dumb punk he was.

[jenmito]

54. It was a CLEAR message that he intends to restore America's credibility

in the world. And being 2 of the 3 groups you mentioned Obama "maybe screwing," I don't believe he WILL do that at ALL. We'll see, but as far as I remember, he's the only PE to even MENTION gay people, atheists, and women specifically in his major speeches.

[samsingh]

56. i feel better now - Panetta will be doing the right thing

[jenmito]

58. I love that Obama's choice is angering the pro-torture crowd.

[samsingh]

59. exactly - it's a great indicator

[mvd]

60. I love the Panetta pick

Makes me feel a lot better about the direction of the CIA under Obama.

[jenmito]

62. I think almost all of us agree.

Finally!

[Joe Chi Minh]

61. Oh, I'm sure CNN will give Ray McGovern the same air-time....!