So President Obama will nominate Lt Gen James Clapper, USAF (Ret) to be the next Director of National Intelligence.
This is something that Sen. Dianne Feinstein does not like, because Clapper is from the DoD. She said: "The best thing for intelligence is to have a civilian in charge. The elbows are less sharp."
Well technically Dianne, Clapper has been a "civilian" for 15 years, as he retired from the Air Force in 1995. But what you probably meant was that we can't have any of those dastardly types with military resumès running the intelligence biz.
While there are many qualified "civilian" senior executives out there in the Intelligence Community (with sharp elbows to boot!), those with experience leading the various agencies are primarily military generals. In fact, before his current intelligence related leadership gig, Clapper ran *two* of those 3-letter intelligence agencies (DIA, NGA). So, by all measures, he is supremely qualified.
But unfortunately for Clapper, he served 45+ years in the military and DoD civilian positions, which disqualifies him in the eyes of Sen. Feinstein. By all means oppose him for his leadership style, personality, or aversion to congressional oversight. But don't oppose him because he has spent his life in military service.
Oh, and one more thing Dianne...according to the Veterans' Employment Opportunities Act, veterans "are entitled to receive preferential treatment in hiring for Federal government jobs, including civilian military jobs and homeland security jobs." In addition, the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) of 1994 "prohibits discrimination against reservists and veterans in any aspect of employment, on the basis of their military service."
So, while this is an appointment, and not a hiring, it would seem to me that Sen Feinstein is trampling all over the spirit of at least two federal laws, and is being extremely shortsighted to boot.
C'mon Cali voters, why do you continue to send these military-hating women to the Senate?
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