Is this the beginning on the October Surprise....

[whistle]

...that BushCo has in store for this country?

The New York Times
June 5, 2004
Some Fear Power Vacuum as C.I.A. Loses Its 2 Top Leaders
By DOUGLAS JEHL

WASHINGTON, June 4 — The departure of George J. Tenet, the director, and James L. Pavitt, the clandestine services chief, from the Central Intelligence Agency removes the top two generals who have steered the nation's covert war on terrorism since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

As they step down this summer, the pair will leave what some in government worry may be a power vacuum, after a period in which an aggressive hand from Mr. Tenet and Mr. Pavitt has proven instrumental not only in directing the agency's own efforts, but in forging cooperation among disparate and rival departments involved in the fight.

Still, one senior government official involved in intelligence issues described a sense of apprehension about what he believed would be a long, awkward lull ahead. "The election's coming up, and chances are slim that Bush will nominate anyone before the election, and what you end up with is McLaughlin being the acting," the official said. "I mean, he's a good guy, but it's not like having a real person there."
<snip>
At a time when the C.I.A., the F.B.I. and the new homeland security department are still struggling to transcend their own rivalries to cooperate on counterterrorism issues, Mr. Tenet and Mr. Pavitt both had far more experience than officials like Robert S. Mueller III, who took over as F.B.I. director in 2001, two weeks before the Sept. 11 attacks, and Tom Ridge, the former Pennsylvania governor and current homeland security chief.
<snip>
Most of the estimated $40 billion a year that the government now spends on intelligence is controlled by the Pentagon, and without Mr. Tenet in place the power balance in a rivalry between the C.I.A. and the Defense Department may tilt more toward Stephen Cambone, the under secretary of defense for intelligence, congressional officials said.


<more>

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/05/politics/05INTE.html?th=&pagewanted=print&position=

[Cooley Hurd]

1. "Why, there was no way to stop the Election Day attacks..."

"...no one's been at the helm of the CIA since June! And I ain't no psychic!"