Trading places

I am a great admirer of David Petraeus, but director of Central Intelligence? I'm not so sure about that! Meanwhile, spook chief Leon Panetta becomes Secretary of Defense, presiding over the army, navy, marines, and air force. Huh. In the New York Times, Mark Mazzetti and Eric Schmitt seem to think this is a very fine thing, recognizing as it does "a significant shift over the past decade in how the United States fights its battles — the blurring of lines between soldiers and spies in secret American missions abroad."

Well, perhaps. Or does it just reflect the way Barack Obama does business? My first reaction was: this is weird. My second reaction was, hey, a lot of the stuff Mr. Obama does is weird. (Ordinarily I wouldn't use a lazy word like stuff on a matter of national security, but it does seem to be one of the president's favorite nouns.)

I hope it's not as stupid as it seems. Nixon swapped cabinet secretaries one time, and Dubya also played musical chairs. And look on the bright side: the CIA director wears a suit. That's a good thing, because there's no room on Mr. Petraeus's uniform blouse to add the inevitable medals to the array he already displays. Blue skies! -- Dan Ford