The personnel shufflings haven’t yet spread to the analytical shop. But signs are starting to point to a broad shake-up, charged by political motivations. And it’s in this context that Goss’ actions take on a darker tint.” (Slate )
Kaplan describes how — in what should be starting to sound like a familiar pattern in light of Bush’s recent Cabinet choices — Goss “auditioned for his current job by doing political hackwork for the president”, as a hired gun to discredit Kerry and to scoff at the Valerie Plame scandal. Although ensconced bureaucrats always raise the hue and cry whenever an outsider takes control of their agency, rarely is it such a political hack. Kaplan finds it more worrisome that the directorate of the CIA is “a political arm of the Oval Office” than even at Justice or State, because of the CIA’s importance in providing the administration with ‘disinterested analysis.’
But we already have abundant evidence that that is not what Bush and Cheney are interested in, and Goss’ role will be one of refining their ability to live in la-la land for the next four years.
