Under the unfortunate headline “Chas Freeman pulls out“, The Politico reports that Chas Freeman has withdrawn his name from consideration for the position of chair of the National Intelligence Council. Under fire from both the left and the right, one presumes that the administration asked for and got Freeman’s withdrawal.
The controversial appointee to chair President Barack Obama’s National Intelligence Council walked away from the job Tuesday as criticism on Capitol Hill escalated.
Charles W. Freeman Jr., the former ambassador to Saudi Arabia, had been praised by allies and by the director of national intelligence, Dennis Blair, as a brilliant, iconoclastic analyst. Critics said he was too hard on Israel and too soft on China, and blasted him for taking funding from Saudi royals.
Freeman “requested that his selection to be Chairman of the National Intelligence Council not proceed,” Blair’s office said in a statement. “Director Blair accepted Ambassador Freeman’s decision with regret.”
The fawning media has repeatedly informed us, in awed tones – how “smooth” the Obama transition has been. I have been a political and news junkie for a lot of years and I do not recall seeing this much trouble with nominees before in my lifetime. I don’t know of anything like it in the history of this country. There have been a string of very, very messy nomination failures in an administration that is not yet past its first two months in office.
Some “smooth”.
I just read the article about Freeman withdrawing his name from consideration to head the intelligence council. What surprises me is Mr. Freeman’s resume and with all of the supposed brillance in the White House, they selected this man with such a colored history and did not see the negative reaction he would attract from both sides of the aisle. Mr. Obama does not and I repeat does not inspire me and I am most apprehensive of the kind of foreign policy he is going to pursue. The Americans who voted for this bright and articulate individual is clearly someone with blinders on. If the Republicans do not capture this opportunity, my beloved country is in for a long winter of distress. Thank you.
Did you see the text of Freeman’s rant? Good articles over at the Commentary Magazine blog.