Panetta is a Realist and he is not going to be much different from Realist Bob Gates. He might be carrying a sharper knife.
GW Bush was forced to replace NeoCon Rumsfeld with a Realist and Bush first offered the job to James Baker, who turned him so Bush offered the job to to Realist Gates who took him up.
Obama offered the SecDef job to Republican Realist Gates the same way Clinton offered the SecDef job to Republican Realist Cohen.
Realist? I don’t necessarily agree with that. I certainly do not agree with that assessment with Obama. Obama brought in Idealogues and yes men he could push his agenda through.
Panetta has virtually no experience matters of intelligence and defense. He worked on civil rights, environmental, and Employment issues. Panetta thinks of himself as a ‘centrist’.
His pick to head the CIA is total crap. If, Obama had picked a Dem who worked on the Armed services committees, intelligence committees, or even some long time foreign policy idiot, it would have made some sense. This is a slap in the face to the intelligence community and a signal that he intends to cut their balls off if they cross him.