Brennan’s Grilling

The Washington Post, by Greg Miller: “A Senate hearing on the nomination of John O. Brennan to serve as CIA director exposed deep skepticism of key aspects of the Obama administration’s approach to fighting terrorism, including its unprecedented reliance on targeted killing and the secrecy it maintains around the exercise of that lethal power. … The hearing was one of the most heated sessions for a CIA nominee over the past decade … Brennan delivered a confident and at times combative defense of his record and the administration’s decisions, and emerged from the session on course to be confirmed for the CIA job, perhaps as early as next week. TAKEAWAYS FROM GRILLING Politico’s Josh Gerstein: 1) Senators were looking for a piñata. 2) Drones are here to stay. 3) The campaign is over, but attacking Obama for leaks is not. 4) Torture remains bitter topic. POLITICAL WHIPLASH FirstRead writes, “You’ll be forgiven if you’ve had political whiplash with Republicans defending Obama on the issue (of Drone strikes against American citizens). Both Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and ex-Bush U.N. Ambassador John Bolton gave full-throated defenses of Obama’s use of drones even in the targeting of American citizens-turned-al Qaeda operatives.  … This is not a Democrat vs. Republican issue. This is an Executive branch vs. Legislative branch issue.” YOU DON’T NEED TO KNOW From National Journal, “You might not think about Charlottesville, Va., when you think about drone surveillance, but it just became the first U.S. city to formally pass an anti-drone resolution. Brought to the city council by a local civil liberties group, the resolution forbids the city from gathering any information with “city-owned, leased, or borrowed drones.” It also encourages the state and Congress to pass similar legislation.”