New DNI can be blunt

Washington Times:

When Adm. Dennis C. Blair was in China as commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific, a Chinese admiral confronted him rather aggressively on the issue of Taiwan, warning the United States not to interfere in China's campaign to gain control of the self-governing island.

Admiral Blair listened for a minute, then said: "Admiral, let me tell you a couple of things. First, I own the water out there," gesturing toward the Pacific Ocean. "And second, I own the sky over the water out there. Now, don't you think we should talk about something more constructive?"

The anecdote, confirmed by Adm. Blair, illustrates the sort of plain speaking that characterizes the man President-elect Barack Obama has nominated to be the nation's top intelligence officer. As Director of National Intelligence (DNI), the retired admiral would be responsible for setting objectives and standards for 16 disparate intelligence agencies including the CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency, and for coordinating their sometimes conflicting operations.

...

Considered by some to be an aloof workaholic, Adm. Blair has occasionally shown a playful streak. As captain of the destroyer Cochrane, with home port in Japan, he tried to water ski behind the ship after it had been at sea for many weeks. Adm. Blair has told friends he thought the crew needed a bit of entertainment.

The admiral went over the side of the ship and was fed a rope by the crew of a gig, or small boat, and got into position aft of the ship to be pulled up on the water skis. When the destroyer started to speed up, however, the sea was rough and he lost control. He went head over teakettle into the ocean, much to the glee of the sailors gathered on the fantail to see their skipper dunked.

It is an interesting story worth reading in full. Blair could be the voice of sanity the Democrats need to bring them back from the alternate universe they have occupied through much of the Bush administration. BTW, that is a knock on the Democrats and not Bush.

Hopefully he can dissuade the Democrat witch hunters from trying to criminalize their policy differences with the Bush administration.