The Panetta Pick

TW: A couple of folks have asked about he Leon Panetta pick for CIA. I like it. A couple of Dem Senators getting hissy about the protocol of the pick does not bother me but Panetta is another strong player brought in by Obama. Long-time key player in the House for the Dems as well as Bill Clinton's former Chief of Staff, Panetta is positioned to bring reform to an agency that always seems to need some reform but rarely gets it. Craig "Curmudgeon" Crawford likes the pick as well.

From Crawford at Congressional Quarterly:
"Barack Obama might be quite wise to go with a CIA chief who is not an intelligence community careerist. Leon Panetta is no dummy even if he does lack spook background. And it could be a hint that the new president is paying attention to the experiences of predecessors like John Kennedy, who always regretted listening too closely to CIA pros in his first weeks at the White House...[TW: Crawford then goes into the whole Bay of Pigs fiasco]"
http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/01/obamas-cia-choice-a-smart-move.html

TW: Also from Crawford who seems to be warming the BHO after alot of skepticism during the campaign:
"With each new announcement of Barack Obama's choices for those who will help him govern, most seem to reinforce a pattern that defines his style. Call it Competent Change.

The sometimes radical feel of his campaign -- the hip poster art, web savvy outreach and appeals to anti-war voters -- led many who watched Obama's operation, and probably a lot of his supporters, to think that Washington was in for a sweeping overhaul run by outsiders.
Instead, Obama's idea of change seems to be less dramatic than advertised. But that does not mean that the status quo will be maintained. He is building a team that brings competence and experience to the work of making a difference.

Changing Washington from the inside requires players who actually know how the place works."