BACK TO THE BRIAR PATCH:

Top C.I.A. Pick Has Credentials and Skeptics (SCOTT SHANE and MARK MAZZETTI, 5/06/06, NY Times)

Gen. Michael V. Hayden, who senior administration officials said Friday was the likely choice of President Bush to head the Central Intelligence Agency, has a stellar résumé for a spy and has long been admired at the White House and on Capitol Hill.

But General Hayden, the principal deputy director of national intelligence, would also face serious questions about the controversy over the National Security Agency's domestic surveillance program, which he oversaw and has vigorously defended.

His Senate nomination hearing, if he is chosen to succeed Director Porter J. Goss, is likely to reignite debate over what civil libertarians say is the program's violation of Americans' privacy.

Mr. Bush has often reserved decisions about top-level appointments until just before they are announced, but senior administration officials said Friday that General Hayden was the clear leading candidate.

Confirmation hearings would give the administration's opponents a highly visible forum for questioning not only the eavesdropping program but President Bush's overall handling of national security.

Can even the Timesmen be so obtuse that they haven't yet figured out that the GOP loves it when Democrats stand up against spying on terrorists?

Posted by Orrin Judd at May 6, 2006 8:55 AM