I’ve been trying to stay low-key today. While waiting for the Pistons vs Cavaliers game to start at 2:30 this afternoon, I channel surfed and listened to C-Span for several hours of last Thursday’s Senate Intelligence Committee hearings on General Hayden’s nomination to head the Central Intelligence Agency.

I don’t know General Hayden personally, but I’ve never heard a derogatory thing about his leadership or the way he does business. I have been in a position to hear such things. I’m confident in his ability to perform the duty to which he’s been nominated.

That’s my opinion, and I know it doesn’t amount to anything among the people charged with deciding whether to entrust him with this position. I did find the commentary of the various Senate committee members interesting. On the one hand I sensed sour grapes that most of them hadn’t been entrusted with knowledge of this highly compartmented program when the Agency provided the mandatory briefing to Congressional Intelligence Committees but limited participation in accordance with the law. On the other hand, I can see the committee members’ position that their collective knowledge and experience would have been valuable. Even with that, given the nature of the questioning of at least one member who should have known the nature of the answers to the questions was classified and needed to be addressed in the closed session scheduled for later in the day raised grave doubts in my mind about that member’s trustworthiness to keep that information quiet. That member’s desire for political gain seemed to exceed the need for protecting methods and sources, reinforcing the decision to only brief key committee members.