News Recap

Lots of interesting articles from this past week. David Ignatius on Panetta. Lewis Shepherd says swap Panetta and Blair. Three good ones from IntelNews - Baer for Panetta, CIA Insiders Issue Political Threats & Panetta's CIA Nomination Part of Broader Obama Plan.

Spencer Ackerman suggests John Brennan is set to have a lot of power. ThinkProgress on McConnell's new role in the Obama administration.

And this is worth reading again - Feinstein on prosecution and investigation of CIA officers.

The media furor over Panetta will die down this week. That furor was very pro-status quo - lots of quotes from ex or senior CIA officials discrediting Obama and Panetta's anti-torture ideas.

It'll be interesting to see what kind of stories are planted over the next two weeks. I believe Panetta will be a competent D/CIA. It will take strong leadership on his part and Obama's to rid the government of state-sanctioned torture. For an investigation to happen, we will need the support of Congress on top of those two.