LEON PANETTA FOR CIA DIRECTOR: Richard Miniter comments: “Obama needs to explain why an inexperienced former congressman and lobbyist will be a better CIA director than the guy doing the job now.” Meanwhile, Dianne Feinstein may oppose him. In a related development, I saw Newt Gingrich on TV saying that the CIA “can’t be run by an outside political appointment.” I’m not so sure that it shouldn’t be, as I believe there’s some cleanup that needs to take place. Here’s a similar point from Angelo Codevilla: “Leon Panetta may not know very much about foreign affairs or defense matters. He is wholly unacquainted with the questions and quarrels that have roiled the US intelligence community for a half century. But, as veteran political warrior, he will do what President Obama expects of him: prevent CIA from making war upon him as it made war on George W. Bush.”

UPDATE: “They’ve got to put him somewhere.”