“He (Panetta) is a guy who has had a long and storied career in Washington and has really served his country well. And it is kind of sad that in its twilight he’s done such a dishonorable thing by – at a time – by going after the president that he served at a time of a lot of different instabilities around the world.”
Former Obama spokesman Bill Burton was called upon to put down Leon Panetta. (Reuters.com)
One would think the Obama administration could have provided someone with a bit of gravitas to appear on CNN to support the president amidst the latest attacks in Leon Panetta’s new book. The quote above, however, comes from Bill Burton, a former Obama spokesman, who left the West Wing more than three years ago. Some say he left because he wasn’t picked to replaced former Press Secretary Robert Gibbs
While I am certainly not an admirer of Burton and his usual “shoot from the hip” remarks about Republicans, I must admit I agree with the first part of his statement about Panetta’s service. As I have previously written, however, I believe cabinet members, staffers and military officers, who disagree with their commander-in-chief’s positions, should do the honorable thing and resign.
The individual need not hang out all the dirty laundry in his resignation statement, but it shouldn’t be an “I’m retiring to spend more time with my family” cop-out either. It should be a clear statement that he/she opposes the president’s position on – subject – and, as a matter of integrity, I believe the president deserves to fill my position with someone who fully supports him.
I’ve been following the political scene long enough to realize that most administration appointees simply hold down their desks until the next administration, hoping they’ll be selected for the next plum position. And, there are those generals in the Pentagon looking for that next star, next chief-of-staff job, or joint chief slot.
Yes. I believe in loyalty, and I still remember “I will faithfully discharge the duties” part of the oath I took upon entering the military service. Those same words appear in the oath taken by cabinet members and congressmen. Call me naïve or Pollyannish, but I simply believe its dishonest and a disservice to stay in a position in support of policies you do not support.
General Jim Jones resigns as President Obama’s national security advisor (the guardian.com)
I am often reminded of the resignation of General Jim Jones, Obama’s national security advisor. While he was occasionally criticized for his methods, he knew it was time to go when Obama’s inner circle – Rahm Emanuel, David Axelrod and Robert Gibbs – cut him out of discussions. He was once denied access to Obama during a European trip.
There are those Panetta supporters, who say the timing on the book gives the president two years to correct his mistakes and change his course, but skeptics say Panetta is just looking for that next assignment on the Hillary Clinton team. For as Mark Moyar wrote in his Wall Street Journal book review, “he (Panetta) breezes through the 2012 terrorist attacks at Benghazi, Libya … and dodges critical topics such as the scarcity of security assets in Libya and the White House’s chaotic response to the attack, not to mention its obfuscation in the aftermath.”
As I recall the comments pro and con about Panetta’s timing in publishing his book at this time, I refer you back to Burton’s quote leading into this post. It speaks to Burton’s blind loyalty as he calls attention to the “instabilities around the world,” failing to recognize that they were made worse by President Obama’s lack of leadership.
