It's Déjà Vu All Over Again

The subject of John Negroponte's nomination for director of national intelligence (DNI) was discussed on the best network circus of political opinion, The McLaughlin Group, this past Sunday morning. They briefly mention his involvement with the contra death squads of Honduras, but passed it off as example of Negroponte being, as Tony Blankley put it, "as tough as nails". They also failed to point out Negroponte has no intelligence background (unless you count receiving intelligence reports as experience). Wouldn't you think that someone who is going to be the intelligence czar oughta have some expertise in the subject? But since it's an open secret that this is purely a political post, why should I be surprised that The McLaughlin Group was speculating on the location of Negroponte's future office? Blankley suggested, with some humor, that Negroponte might have much more leverage with the president against the other branches of the intelligence community if he can get an office in the west wing.