Liberal Bloggers Keep Torture Supporter Brennan Out of the CIA

Posted by ZP Heller, AlterNet at 6:00 AM on November 26, 2008.

In what Glenn Greenwald is calling the best political news he's heard since the election, John Brennan has taken himself out of the running for an intelligence post in the Obama administration.  Brennan has been Obama's top intelligence adviser, but he is also closely connected with Former CIA Director George Tenet and was a staunch proponent of the Bush administration's controversial policies on torture, rendition, detainment, and warrantless wiretapping. 

Perhaps the best part is, the reason cited for Brennan withdrawing his name was that liberal bloggers had "raised a firestorm" about his nomination recently.  Kudos to Greenwald, Digby, Cenk, Andrew Sullivan, Jane Hamsher, and other bloggers who took this on, not to mention the 200 psychologists who wrote to President-elect Obama protesting Brennan's possible appointment.  It's great to know that we have the power to effect change like this in Washington, particularly now when it's so critical for Obama to move away from Bush's legacy of torture and human rights violations.  (Now let's turn our attention to the Gates appointment, especially if it has repercussions for Afghanistan.)

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Tagged as: cia, torture, intelligence, barack obama, rendition, rachel maddow, glenn greenwald, jane hamsher, john brennan

ZP Heller is the editorial director of Brave New Films. He has written for The American Prospect, AlterNet, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and The Huffington Post, covering everything from politics to pop culture.