1 This is exactly like the bible you wingnuts.

2

Gates, who vowed he'd resign before he ordered ground troops in Libya, is departing.

Ut-oh.

Panetta the Hun?

 

3 This whole shakeup is weird.  Petraeus should be Secretary of Defense, Panetta should be in a fucking old folks' home, and the CIA should be shut down.  It isn't like they've known about any national security crisis before it happened in the last 50 years. 

4 Odd, yet complex. Compelling and rich.

5 Leon Panetta, meanwhile, is moving to... Secretary of Defense.

Can't think of anything appropriately snarky, so I'll settle for

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME??!?!?!?

6 Odd move. Seems like his genius is in military matters.

He's famous (albeit legitimately), so we all should take comfort in the familiarity factor. And he's not Van Jones.

Gates, who vowed he'd resign before he ordered ground troops in Libya, is departing.

Uh, you mean to imply what it looks like? That's about the least useful thing Obama could do right now, so I guess it's possible.

7 Any chance in hell the ROE in Shitcanistan will change? 

8 Isn't this literally like moving deck chairs on the Titanic, or would that be Treasury Secretary Clinton?

9 I mean that hurdle is now removed in favor of a pliable political hack, yes.

10 >7 Any chance in hell the ROE in Shitcanistan will change?


Yeah, no shooting.

11 Panetta the Hun

We've seen worse moves by the command staff.

12 I suspect that most of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan was about intelligence, so Petraeus is apt to be a discerning customer of its products.  My guess is that he will master this task and be a good candidate for Secretary of State.

13 Typhoid Gorelick wasn't available? 

14 I question the timing.

15 Is Petraeus remaining in the Army?  Except for Hayden, has any other DCI/DCIA been active-duty military?

16

Gates, who vowed he'd resign before he ordered ground troops in Libya, is departing.

Uh, you mean to imply what it looks like? That's about the least useful thing Obama could do right now, so I guess it's possible.

I was wondering that too. Someone I know talked to a Libyan friend of his who got out of the country last week. Anyhow the guy said that he thinks it is going to be a mess for a long time and that eventually one of Gaddafi's children will take over. If there is not a leader with a strong hand, the  country will splinter back into tribes fighting each other.

17 will the left still call him "betray us"

18 5 "Leon Panetta, meanwhile, is moving to... Secretary of Defense." Can't think of anything appropriately snarky, so I'll settle for ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME??!?!?!? Posted by: fluffy at April 27, 2011 06:14 PM (SwkdU) Why not? He's no less qualified for that job than to head up the CIA. Come to think of it, he's no less qualified to be Secretary of Defense than Obama is to be POTUS. We are SO boned...

19 Riding bikes, playing golf, shooting hoops and being a carnival barker is a sure sign of what Ace?

20 O sure buried that arrogant asshole.

Bravo.

21 Panetta isn't fit to lead a Boy Scout Troop in Hemet. Talk about failing up. He needs to retire and get some books ghost written.

Glad Gates is out of our misery. That's a plus. He'll make millions lobbying for some kind of DADT bullshit.

22 will the left still call him "betray us"

That depends on whether he actually gets any actionable intelligence against the noble muslims.

23 I question the timing.

I question the judgment.

24 Got an e-mail from D'oh Boy an hour ago.  "Hey, folks.  I'm going to find out next month if I get to go to Afghanistan.  I put my name on the roster a while back.  Sure hope I go."

Momma wants to go with him.  And kill any fucker who so much as looks sideways at him. 

25 Atlas Shrugged producer going Galt.

26 23 I question the timing.

I question the judgment.


I question if my local store has enough valu-rite.

27
Gates, who vowed he'd resign before he ordered ground troops in Libya, is departing.

When is Gates leaving? Because I'm pretty sure that Barky will announce US ground troops being sent to Libya this week......just in time to try sucking the news oxygen out of the Royal Wedding.

28

Oh dear, I thought his name was BETRAY US??

 

What changed LIBTARDS?

29 25 Atlas Shrugged producer going Galt. Posted by: FlaviusJulius at April 27, 2011 06:23 PM (qIHlG) Unfortunately, Atlas Crapped Out looks more like it.

30 Can someone please explain to me why Panetta is still hanging around? I have plants that have accomplished more than Leon in the past 20 years.

31 Sounds like a plan to me.

32
Can someone please explain to me why Panetta is still hanging around? I have plants that have accomplished more than Leon in the past 20 years.



Well, he has a pretty tasty sandwich named after him.

Come to think of it, the Earl of Sandwich was a worthless piece of shit as well.

33 O/T re thread below, mile wide tornado heading toward Tuscaloosa, AL.

34 Because I'm pretty sure that Barky will announce US ground troops being sent to Libya this week......just in time to try sucking the news oxygen out of the Royal Wedding.

That. Son. Of. A. Bitch.

35 And kill any fucker who so much as looks sideways at him. 

Posted by: Jane D'oh at April 27, 2011 06:23 PM (UOM4

Be comforted by the fact that he is probably a lot better at that than you are, Jane. He and his buddies are a lot better at that than most people there.

My brother volunteered to go Afghanistan last year, switching units to avoid going to a nice safe truck-driving job in Kuwait, reasoning that if he was going to be a year away from his wife he better be doing something "useful." (Read: dangerous and exciting)

36 CIA heads don't talk to the press and this way we can abandon Afghanistan without anyone notable objecting.

37 Glad Gates is out of our misery. That's a plus. He'll make millions lobbying for some kind of DADT bullshit.

Posted by: sifty at April 27, 2011 06:22 PM (ei2Q9)

Maybe he can pull a Wesley Clark and be a cover boy on The Advocate.

38

Leon Panetta, meanwhile, is moving to... Secretary of Defense.

Gates, who vowed he'd resign before he ordered ground troops in Libya, is departing.

Well then, it's settled!  Gibbsy takes over as commander in Afghanistan!

39 I'm thinking this is the WH's way of keeping Petraeus under foot so he can't go and run as Palin's, West's, Bolton's VP.

40 We've seen worse moves by the command staff.
Posted by: The Light Brigade


Hey, I made it to the end!

41 Can someone please explain to me why Panetta is still hanging around? I have plants that have accomplished more than Leon in the past 20 years.

Can't retire, I have a house to pay off.

42

PETRAEUS anagram = E  PASTURE

E PASTURE is where they will send conservative bloggers.

Connect the dots, people!

43

It's no loss for the CIA, beyond time to turn that around. 

I feel for Defense, WTF is JEF thinking.

44

Petraeus. to head CIA? that, move is. smooth

sweet! like mint tea. my. sore scrote. it doth, soothe

his, surge. got the job, done in. Iraq

now. go down, slow. rub this salve. on. my, sack

45

Momma wants to go with him.  And kill any fucker who so much as looks sideways at him. 

I believe the Army has discontinued its popular Bring Your Mom To Work To Kill A Muslim Day.

46

My brother volunteered to go Afghanistan last year, switching units to avoid going to a nice safe truck-driving job in Kuwait, reasoning that if he was going to be a year away from his wife he better be doing something "useful." (Read: dangerous and exciting)

Posted by: Grey Fox, conniving useful idiot at April 27, 2011 06:28 PM (Wc7h

--------------------------

Yeah, he's as well-trained as he can be.  He's been disappointed a couple of times where he thought he was going.  He wants "the experience" of Shitcanistan.  Mom and Dad, not so much. 

47 What the hell ever happened to Carville anyway? How did he miss out on these sweet Clinton Staff recycling gigs?

48 @43:

PETER USA

Scary Papist stuff, folks!

49

Lets see.... Patreus has had HOW many Casulties in Afganistan?  You do know casulties are WAY the F UP? And trust me, Military and CIA types do NOT go well together... this is another case of redefining historical missions to blur the lines...

And Panetta... how does someone go into the Army in 64 as an OFFICER, and only do 2 years? (discharged in 66?)

 

So... lets see.... our intelligence was blindsided by whats going on in the mid east... we're getting hosed in Afganistan, and soon Pakistan.... yet both of these guys get promoted????

/shakes head and goes to get a beer...

50 Momma wants to go with him.  And kill any fucker who so much as looks sideways at him. 

Posted by: Jane D'oh at April 27, 2011 06:23 PM (UOM4

What the hell. I'll go with him

Seriously Jane, be proud.  You taught him to do what is right, to stand and face the enemy, to love your Country and your Family.

He is as strong and fierce as a million man army because you are his mom.

Plus, everyone here has been praying for him for a very long time.  He has half the angels in Heaven protecting him

51

Panetta's "qualifications" for heading the CIA were that he had been the OMB Director and Clinton's Chief of Staff, so he had apparently heard some briefings at times.* What skills could he possibly possess that would make him a good SecDef?

_{*Yes, those really were given as reasons.}  

52 48:

He is so ugly that the Air Force pilots requested an open cockpit on Air Force One.

53 48 "What the hell ever happened to Carville anyway?"


My theory is, he had his scalp ripped off in a tragic wood chipping accident.

54 My theory is, he had his scalp ripped off in a tragic   hilarious wood chipping accident

FIFY.

55 Governing by Peter Principle, brought to you by the Obama Administration. Hmmm... I think that I finally found what Obama excels at.

56 well, they say that he assumed huntsman could be a potential opponent so he appointed him ambassador to China to glaze him with the administration "taint" and since they saw how well that has worked guess they want to fully "taint" petraeus. 

57

Governing by Peter Principle... I think that I finally found what Obama excels at.

 

What gave it away for you?

58 My theory is, he had his scalp ripped off in a tragic wood chipping accident.

Posted by: CoolCzech at April 27, 2011 06:34 PM (kUaEF)

Ah, yes, that's a good look for him. I'd considered it myself.

59 "So, the, uhh CIA labs have finished making my, uhh 'Birth Certificate'!

"Great job, Leon!!  Now, I have another, uhh mission for you...."

60 I'd say Carville is a dead ringer for Skeletor, but I like Skeletor too much.

61

40 I'm thinking this is the WH's way of keeping Petraeus under foot so he can't go and run as Palin's, West's, Bolton's VP.

 
She's my first pick for the job, but a recent poll out said something on the order of 60 percent of indies would NOT vote for her. We can hope that changes but unless she gets out there and slams General Jugears McBogey hard and often it doesn't look good.

62 My theory is, he had his scalp ripped off in a tragic wood chipping accident.

Posted by: CoolCzech at April 27, 2011 06:34 PM (kUaEF)

Have you ever used one of those things? We have one that will take 8 inch diameter logs. They make me nervous.

63

Oh;, good.  Panetta messd up the CIA royally and made it pretty much irrelevant.  Now he is getting  a shot at messing up the whole shebang.  With Gates leaving before he sends ground troops into Libya, I guess that means our all knowing, wondrous and magnificent leader will order ground troops into Libya.  Once again, I ask, why?  Is this a chance for our troops to get beheaded by both sides?  What is it to us if Libya has a civil war?  Let them eliminate each other and good riddance.  I seem to recall from history lessons (the accurate kind before PC and the communist driven revisions) that the US had a hissy fit when GB tried to interfere in our civil war.  OTOH, Al Quaeda...oops...the rebels are begging for intervention.  Would that he had intervened in the Iran protest.  That would have been in the US's best interests.

64
My theory is, he had his scalp ripped off in a tragic wood chipping accident.



Didn't that happen long before he became famous? Because no human being is that hideous via natural means.

65 15 Is Petraeus remaining in the Army?  Except for Hayden, has any other DCI/DCIA been active-duty military?

Posted by: Leo Ladenson at April 27, 2011 06:19 PM (mAm+G)

Stansfield Turner and Bobby Inman, both of whom were Admirals at the time they took on the position of DCI and both of whom are loathed in the memory of CIA.  

66 What about me?

67 A guy who was on the Iraq Study Group that said the surge was a bad idea and wouldn't work for Secretary of Defense? Only in Obamaland.

68 So Petraeus gets H.W.'s old job? Think ahead, politicos.

69 If Obama insists on recycling Clinton staff then he should have made Dick Morris the head of the CIA. The guy can lie like nobody else and he once took a call from the President while getting head. If that doesn't scream SPY material I don't know what does.

70 BTW, wouldn't it be a wonderful thing if secretary of defense was someone who had actually had experience in the military instead of syncophants being rewarded because this administration  does't know what else to do with them.

71 What about me?

Posted by: Valerie Plame 007 at April 27, 2011 06:41 PM (T0NGe)

You've been OUTED beeyotch!

72 Posted by: Kal Penn at April 27, 2011 06:38 PM (Kq/LG) My first inkling was him campaigning for any office higher than assistant deputy dog catcher (which is also far beyond his abilities and experience). Then... Biden. After that was every person in his cabinet. But he threw me a curve ball there by not talking to them for over a year. Perhaps he developed some sense? Nope. He talks to his team of criminal, communist, child molesting czars instead. This is just icing on the cake.

73 I think I found out why Panetta is going to Def. Department:

Leon Panetta, a Democratic party insider with budgets as his background, would oversee steady declines in Pentagon spending and divert weapons dollars to the Treasury Department to help reduce the U.S. deficit. (Reuters)

...

Didn't he say that he'd save by cutting waste in Defense?

74 What about me?

Posted by: Valerie Plame 007 at April 27, 2011 06:41 PM (T0NGe)

I'll show you what working undercover really means honey...

75

I think that Carville, as Bill Clinton's nastier alter ego, really dislikes Obama. Bill Clinton also dislikes Obama, but will never quite show that in public.

Panetta will be a real screw up as SecDef.  His main job will be to cut the budget there by about 25%.  See morale plummet.

Patreus has a really thankless job ahead at CIA.  No one will really know for years if he did a good or bad job.  It's like Sisyphis cleaning out the Augean stables.

76 Heh. I think I skipped a sentence or two in #70. I think Petraeus to the CIA is the best we could hope for (Obama wants all these people sworn to utmost secrecy for the rest of their lives). Panetta is a hack's hack. A Calabrian Clinton with neither the skills nor the brains.

77 I'm available Mr. President!

78 63 What skills could he possibly possess that would make him a good SecDef? Posted by: Miss'80sBaby at April 27, 2011 06:34 PM (170sK) *** He's the only one left in the federal government that still watches CNN instead of Al Jazeera for his intel?

79 There was also this reported yesterday:

White House approves $25 million for Libyan rebels

80 Sell used cars much?

81 He's worked in government.  He can do anything.

Word up!

82

Posted by: momma

What's it gonna take to get you into my pocket today, little lady?

83 Speaking of Libya, I learned today that The Path to Prosperity budgets for Iraq and Afghanistan but doesn't provide money for Libya. So any further money would have to be approved through supplementals.

84 Panetta got his intelligence from CNN, will he get his DoD policies from Hogan's Heroes?

85

I can't wait till I'm an old man........and look back on this period and read some history and see how the Leftist of the future try to white wash this disaster of a Presidency.....that is if I even make through this Precidency!

The way I feel, and the way things are going, I'm 50%-50% on whether I'll make it!

86 9 I mean that hurdle [ground troops] is now removed in favor of a pliable political hack, yes.

Posted by: ace at April 27, 2011 06:16 PM (nj1bB)

But, I thought the military was stretched to the breaking point, yada, yada.

Not to mention they are just getting the genocide started in Syria. Oh, wait, Assad is Shia, never mind. Obama won't touch him. 

87 >>CIA...It isn't like they've known about any national security crisis before it happened in the last 50 years.<< Yeah. What you don't know about "any national security crisis" would fill a book.

88 It seems like I make the mistake of thinking, surely this is the worst it can be, almost daily.  Then, I wake up the next day to find some fresh outrage.  Today, I find out that Leon Panetta will be my husband's boss.  When our pay was being used as a political football, I was so pissed I seriously considered telling my husband that we are done with the military life.  How can we continue to sacrifice for a government that is being perverted beyond recognition?  I realize we pledged to defend the constitution (and not the institutions), but so do they when they take the oath of office.  I'm in a moral quandary.

89 Our top priority will be to raise the self-esteem of Muslims.

90 Yeah, deWon is real fucking smart.   He not only can't lead he can't choose the right people to lead, either.

91 Now the New York Times finally has one of their own in charge of Defense.

Pinch will get the orders before the generals in the field will.

92

syncophants

 

Synchronized Ass Kissers?

93

We have one that will take 8 inch diameter logs

I'm not impressed.

94 We have one that will take 8 inch diameter logs

You rang?

95 We have one that will take 8 inch diameter logs

So do I!

96 This was done so Petraeus stays quiet and behind the scenes and not out on the Sunday shows making people think he should be President.

Obama isn't a stupid man. Evil, yes, stupid, no.

97 This was done so Petraeus stays quiet and behind the scenes and not out on the Sunday shows making people think he should be President.

Obama isn't a stupid man. Evil, yes, stupid, no.

Posted by: Clubber Lang at April 27, 2011 07:09 PM (QcFbt)

 

Never thought of that.  Makes sense, though.

98 There are a lot of crappy things that I expect to see in my lifetime. My former sack of shit Congressman as head of the Defense Dept. would have made me laugh at the person who would have predicted it. Enjoy your Panetta Institute seminars after the next 9/11, America- topic " What we did to deserve this."

99
Panetta got his intelligence from CNN, will he get his DoD policies from Hogan's Heroes?



Nah. F Troop.

100 Hereclese (Hercules) cleaned out the Augean stables.

101 "Seems like his genius is in military matters"

Imam Petraeus is the worst general we have ever had.

102 Hereclese (Hercules) cleaned out the Augean stables.

Posted by: Cincinnatus

 

Well YEAH, Heraclese DID clean out the stables, but could Sisyphis have done it?  I mean, he had to roll that boulder up the hill for ever?  

Yeah, and I misspelled Petraeus too.  Ich bin ein  dumbkopf!

103 Panetta as SecDef? Really?

104 94 Our top priority will be to raise the self-esteem of Muslims.

This.

105

It makes perfect sense that Leon Panetta, who is a partisan hack without intelligence or military experience will move from heading intelligence to heading the defense department.  While Betray-Us, the pet name for General Petraeus by all (D)emocrats, should head intelligence because he keeps winning wars and (D)emocrats hate that.

So the plan is to bury General Petraeus until the next terrorist attack... which will be all his fault, per the pre-approved narrative required to discredit a General careless enough to actually win.

106 Be comforted by the fact that he is probably a lot better at that than you are, Jane. He and his buddies are a lot better at that than most people there.

107 77 BTW, the whole Baier panel of idiots (Fred Barnes, whatsherface and Krauthammer) is in rare form tonight.  They have taken stupid and obnoxious to stratospheric levels.  I wonder if they know how stupid they sound?

Posted by: iknowtheleft at April 27, 2011 06:45 PM (G/MYk)

They were all giggling like a pack of not-so-bright hyenas, hoping to stay in with the "cool" crowd. To Baier's credit, he was just barely able to contain his nausea.

108 So, I'd like to see Petraeus get questioned at his confirmation hearings about the whole Terry Jones Koran flushing burning free speech issue. He did a bang-up job in Iraq, but I was more than a little disturbed by his unwillingness to call out the murderers for what they are.

I mean, if we aren't willing to stick up for something as fundamental as freedom of speech and religion, what the hell are we doing there?

Along with my discomfort with a potential Presidential candidate not "getting" the First Amendment, I think the Big Bosses need to get tweaked now and then (especially four star generals) just to let them know they're not God.

109 Sounds like a lateral move to keep P from bolting and running for President.

He can not be any worst that Leon, and he actually knows how important good intel is.  That's a plus!

110 Spooks & spooky special forces are the boots on the ground we need. 

111 Odd move. Seems like his genius is in military matters. Intelligence is a related field (lot of intel in warfare) and yet it's not exactly his proven area of standout excellence. I think it makes sense. Petraeus isn't a generic ex-infantry general, after all. His counter-insurgency work shows that he can get to grips with foreign, and in particular non-Western, cultures and operate effectively in them. Apparently this is one of the things the CIA is glaringly bad at: the stereotypical CIA hand in Obscuristan is a white-shoe Princeton alum who has never developed a feel for anything beyond the local Hilton bar. Also, the CIA has a sizeable army of black units which are basically special forces with the numbers filed off, and by all accounts they're been busy over the last decade.