OIC, it's the CIA...

I never read Brooks before he joined the NY Times Op-Ed page, and I simply don't understand how he came to garner a reputation as "a conservative that liberals can read." Why should I, what with columns like this and all...

This is obviously not a new line of attack; conservatives have been going after the CIA ever since the Iraq War started going south when they ran out of statues to pull down. This is really the definition of chutzpah... this is the same CIA that was constantly being hounded by Cheney and Co. for not giving up the goods they wanted (and *only* the goods they wanted). And now Brooks is accusing them of politicizing the place... up is down, black is white.

Well, maybe they are a bit politicized now, but only to defend the institution from being further transformed into a tool of the ruling party. The civilians and career professionals at Langley are fierce in defense of their political neutrality, and the Bush Administration represents a dire threat (as does Porter Goss).

Additionally, its not like they haven't had more tangible insults from Dubya and his gang... as David from AmericaBlog points out, remember Valerie Plame?