President George W. Bush Chooses Gen. Michael Hayden to Head CIA
Robert Paul Reyes
May 08, 2006
President George W. Bush chose Counsel to the President Harriet Miers to lead the embattled CIA.
Not really, but Bush's real selection, Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden, may be as doomed as Miers.
"Mike Hayden is supremely qualified for this position," Bush said in the Oval Office, with Hayden at his side. I thought that Inspector Clouseau was the epitome of cluelessness, but Dubya has stolen the crown from the hapless French detective.
Republicans and Democrats are not happy about a military officer taking over the helm of the civilian spy agency. If Hayden's nomination is approved by the Senate, military officials will be in charge of every major spy agency.
Congress does not have the cojones to impeach President Bush for spying on the American people, but I hope that the Senate will at least use Hayden's nomination as a referendum on Bush's illegal domestic surveillance program. Hayden used to oversee this controversial program as the former head of the National Security Agency.
I hope that Hayden's nomination process will make Judge Robert Bork's nomination battle look like a Sunday School picnic.
Some of Hayden's supporters suggest that Hayden could resign his military post to make him more palatable to the opposition, but that's patently ridiculous. Mike Tyson might take off his boxing gloves and put on a "Make Love not War" T-Shirt, but I would still give him a wide berth. It's not Hayden's uniform, but his military mind-set that is out of place in a civilian spy agency.
"There's probably no post more important in preserving our security and our values as people than the CIA," Hayden said. This from the man who trampled our civil liberties as head of the domestic surveillance program.
I have no faith in the ineffectual and corrupt Bush administration, but if Hayden's nomination is not scuttled, I won't have any faith in Congress either.
Not really, but Bush's real selection, Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden, may be as doomed as Miers.
"Mike Hayden is supremely qualified for this position," Bush said in the Oval Office, with Hayden at his side. I thought that Inspector Clouseau was the epitome of cluelessness, but Dubya has stolen the crown from the hapless French detective.
Republicans and Democrats are not happy about a military officer taking over the helm of the civilian spy agency. If Hayden's nomination is approved by the Senate, military officials will be in charge of every major spy agency.
Congress does not have the cojones to impeach President Bush for spying on the American people, but I hope that the Senate will at least use Hayden's nomination as a referendum on Bush's illegal domestic surveillance program. Hayden used to oversee this controversial program as the former head of the National Security Agency.
I hope that Hayden's nomination process will make Judge Robert Bork's nomination battle look like a Sunday School picnic.
Some of Hayden's supporters suggest that Hayden could resign his military post to make him more palatable to the opposition, but that's patently ridiculous. Mike Tyson might take off his boxing gloves and put on a "Make Love not War" T-Shirt, but I would still give him a wide berth. It's not Hayden's uniform, but his military mind-set that is out of place in a civilian spy agency.
"There's probably no post more important in preserving our security and our values as people than the CIA," Hayden said. This from the man who trampled our civil liberties as head of the domestic surveillance program.
I have no faith in the ineffectual and corrupt Bush administration, but if Hayden's nomination is not scuttled, I won't have any faith in Congress either.
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