March 3, 2005

WASHINGTON IN A NUTSHELL

CIA Director Porter Goss says he's 'amazed' at workload (Ryan Pearson, AP, 2/2/05)

In a rare public appearance Wednesday, CIA Director Porter Goss said he is overwhelmed by the many duties of his job, including devoting five hours out of every day to prepare for and deliver intelligence briefings to President Bush.

"The jobs I'm being asked to do, the five hats that I wear, are too much for this mortal," Goss said. "I'm a little amazed at the workload."

Here we have all of Washington in one neat little fact: bureaucratic capture, the importance of face-time, inability to prioritize and the eternal truth that anything can be accomplished, if you don't mind who gets the credit.

Posted by David Cohen at March 3, 2005 9:40 AM
Comments

Well, that makes sense. Bush said it was HARD WORK and people just laughed at him.

Considering what Goss did before he was confirmed, it's not hard to believe.

Unfortunately, given what has happened in the past 4 years, I fear many others in this administration are as much in over their heads as they are.

Posted by: Steve Talbert at March 3, 2005 10:37 AM

We're all in over our heads. It's nice having company.

Posted by: Sandy P at March 3, 2005 10:53 AM

If he can't prepare a sensible, comprehensive briefing in 90 minutes, then he's in the wrong job. The President certainly wouldn't need 5 hours, and most visitors to this blog wouldn't, either.

Posted by: jim hamlen at March 3, 2005 12:06 PM

Jim:

That might be true if the briefing was simply intended to inform. Strategic briefings take longer to prepare.

Posted by: Peter B at March 3, 2005 2:32 PM
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