Sixty-seventh Day

On tonight's edition of CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley, Scott Pelley interviewed Leon Panetta and began his interview with this lead-in:

"In the last few weeks the President has told his military that there are terrorist attacks no one knows about because the press covers them up, he's described the news media as the 'enemy of the American people', he has likened his own intelligence agencies to Nazis, and now we have the wiretapping charge against President Obama. Is it appropriate to ask whether the President is having difficulty with rationality?"

Wow - that's quite a statement.

I don't know why more people aren't asking it.  And we know the answer is yes, so why isn't something being done about it?

Where are the Republicans?

They're in charge right now.

Here is Leon Panetta's response and the rest of the conversation:

"Scott, the coin of the realm for any President is trust; trust of the American people in the credibility of that President.
"And when he says the things that he says, in particular this allegation about wiretapping that has no bit of evidence to support it, it raises concerns about trust in the President.  Because there are one or two conclusion you draw.
One is that he says these things knowing that they're not true in order to divert the public.  And if he's doing that he's misusing the powers of the Presidency.
Or, he truly believes that they are true when indeed they're not true, and he hasn't tried to find out the truth which then shows a real lack of judgment.
Either way, I think it undermines and weakens the strength of the Presidency in this country.

Scott Pelly:
"How is this calculated in Moscow, and Beijing, and Pyongyang North Korea?"

Leon Panetta:
"Well that's the greatest danger.  You know, in many ways we've seen the President say the things he's done and we often kind of move on.
But, the danger is, what if something should happen that requires the President of the United States to take action?  For example we're dealing with North Korea and the threats from North Korea.  What if the President decides that we have to take military action as a result of that? Or what if we find out that Iran is actually developing a nuclear weapon that requires military action?
He's got to stand up and tell the world, and this country that that's required, when indeed his credibility is now subject to question.  I think that is raising the most serious danger with regards to the ability of this President to relate to this most serious world."