New Photo Caption Contest: Because CIA Experience is Highly Overrated, You’re Hired!

(Rex Features, via AP)

While the Department of State, Justice, IRS and the NSA are all embroiled in scandal, and the Obama administration is imploding before our eyes, now is the perfect time for President Obama to select a new deputy CIA director with no experience at the CIA and no intelligence gathering experience at all.

Avril Haines, a lawyer in the White House Counsel’s office, has just been named the new #2 at the CIA replacing Michael Morell who is resigning after 33 years with the agency.

As PJM’s Bridget Johnson notes in her piece on this matter, here is what CIA Director John Brennan said about the qualifications of his new deputy:

She has published in the area of private international law and the law of war, has taught classes as an adjunct faculty member at Georgetown University Law School, and has represented the United States in international negotiations at the Hague Conference, the United Nations, and elsewhere.

In the Obama administration job qualification space-time continuum, Ms. Haines is about six months away from taking over as CIA Director.

The subject of our new photo caption contest was posted at The Daily Beast (along with an interesting background piece about Ms. Haines) and the following caption:

 Avril Haines has up until now remained a low-key member of the Obama administration.

Now, I am quite sure our witty, creative, contest regulars and brilliant newcomers can write a much better caption than that.  After all, this is a charming group photo of President Obama and his brain trust in action solving all our domestic and international problems, planning his next $100 million family trip to Africa.

As all contest regulars know, we only have one rule and that is, “be nice and stay classy because the media is watching.”  However, recently we have changed that rule to read, “be nice and stay classy because the IRS and the NSA are looking out for you.”  (No one gives a hoot what the media thinks anymore.)

In case you missed it, here were the winners from our last, highly competitive contest.

Since this new caption contest is somewhat about the CIA, here is what a family member once told me who worked for the CIA in operations around the world for several decades. He said, “Working for the CIA is like you are drowning and they throw you a straw.”

I always loved that line. So glad I finally found an excuse to share it!