Pile-on time for Tenet!

With Tenet now among the dearly departed, it's pile-on time for supporters of the Administration. In a now-familiar pattern, we can expect right-wing partisans of all shades to jump on this long-suffering public servant. For the record then, let's review past comments on his performance from the President himself:

• On CIA performance in the lead-up to the September 11 attacks (recall the Aug 6, 2001 Presidential Daily Briefing from the CIA, which triggered no action of any sort): "I've seen no evidence... that this country could have prevented the attacks."
• After Tenet accepted responsibility for failing to remove the Nigerian Yellowcake assertion from the President's 2003 State of the Union address: "I've got confidence in George Tenet."
• Following the complete failure of David Kay and his Weapons Survey Team to find any of the promised WMD in Iraq: The President still has "great confidence" in Tenet (McClellan)
• And finally, on the occasion of his resignation: "He has been a strong and able leader at the agency. He's been a strong leader in the war on terror."

Now for the first on-piler: Tenet blamed for exaggerating Iraqi WMD capabilities by... Ahmed Chalabi! Talk about your Chutzpah!

Update! Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) in at second place: "There were more failures of intelligence on his watch as director of the C.I.A. than any other D.C.I. in our history." Oooh - good point, Rich! And under which Administration?