Can Leon Panetta Run the CIA?

Barack Obama’s last major appointment won’t go down as his most popular. Yesterday, word leaked that Obama had named Leon Panetta, a veteran D.C. power player, as head of the CIA. The initial reaction from Sen. Diane Feinstein: “My position has consistently been that I believe the agency is best served by having an intelligence professional in charge at this time.” According to The Times, Obama struggled to find anyone who that description who wasn’t knee-deep in Bush Era interrogation and detention programs. Obama had been prepared to appoint John O. Brennan to the job before a firestorm of criticism from the left led Brennan to withdraw.