I'm asking Porter Goss nicely...

The Washington Post has some of the details about the brewing mutiny at the CIA. Porter Goss, the guy who recommended massive cuts in the intelligence budget as a member of Congress, apparently prefers to meet with the personal staff he brought with him from the Hill. My guess is he's more comfortable with them because they treat him with the respect he wants.

Now, I like Hill guys. They get politics pretty well, they're quick studies by nature, and usually they're interested in developing solutions that work. But apparently, these Hill guys -- from the House Intelligence Committee -- were mostly (if not all) low- to mid-level CIA guys who never really distinguished themselves. As most Hill guys would, they saw the writing on the wall and found other jobs.

Well, now they're back at the CIA and they're in positions of power. And the senior, experienced guys at CIA have to answer to them. But it seems to me that rather than actually listen to these senior guys, and try to make things work, Goss' boys are prancing around like Fredo Corleone would, demanding respect while never really having to do the heavy lifting themselves. They're already using their bruised egos as an excuse to talk to people like David Brooks at NYT. It's probably just a matter of time before they do something worse. You know, like maybe out a covert agent.

There may be a few places you can act like Fredo and not end up like he did, but I'd be willing to guess the CIA is not one of them.

So, I'm gonna ask Porter Goss, nicely, and with respect, will you please keep your family in line? It's kind of important.