Robert C. Gates seems to regurgitating GOP talking points. He polished it up with a slam of the network news anchors, but otherwise this sounds like an application essay for an internship at the RNC. The real questions Robert should be asking are this: Why did Bush wait this long to change the civil service rules for these departments? Why were they not changed by executive order before? Additionally, what civil service rules apply for the FBI and the CIA? Can Bush Fire a bad Agent at will? I am sure it takes a few hearings to fire an FBI agent, but Bush thinks a Border Patrol Officer is more of a concern? I wonder why those questions are not addressed. I am laughing. I don't really wonder. I just like to think I wonder, because I will pull my hair out in rage if I don't hope that Administration is really trying to reform the FBI and CIA. I will not be holding my breath, nor stilling on any billboards until they do.