Hello Leon Panetta

President-elect Barack Obama has selected Leon E. Panetta, the former congressman and White House chief of staff, to take over the Central Intelligence Agency. This choice has been seen as a victory for human rights and a steep U-Turn from the previous administration when it comes to civil liberties and human rights. Mr. Obama criticized the CIA during the campaign for using interrogation methods which he decried as torture. This is one of the great choices Mr.Obama has chosen for his cabinet.

Without knowing much about him, we simply cannot endorse him. However, given his organizational abilities and track record, we need someone who can help clean up the agency and its bad blood. We simply cannot put in another spy and think change. What Mr.Obama promised is Change. And we need it in every agency. In every corner. This is the only way to move forward. Washington and Langley has become rotten over the years and this is not something that should come as a surprise to anyone.

The problem with having another simple spy from the agency is that he will not think outside the box. We need better intelligence. We need to remove the people, or the mentality of those who still believe torture is OK as long as it is not done to them. Now, the hope is that Mr.Panetta will deliver. The expectations are already high. The conservatives will certainly be all over him at every single chance they get.

MSNBC’s Rachel Madow seems to be excited about this choice. She is a good measuring stick when it comes to doing a litmus test on the left base. Of course Pat would be a good measuring stick to check out the right.

The Senate Intelligence Committee has a job to do, which it has never done, and in many cases it has acted as a junior member of the intelligence community. The many intelligence failures has started right from there. We need laws that can hold the Senate Intelligence Committee accountable when it comes to intelligence failures. This will enable members to work harder, investigate better and make the right choices. Yes, it is intelligence, yes we need secrecy, but we also need transparency at least at the senate committee level, so that the senators will do their job without fear of being bullied or wire-tapped themselves by the CIA.

The bottom line is this guy, at least in paper, looks better than that lame duck George Tennet.