‘Good job!’: The secret behind Panetta’s system
By MICHAEL SNEED msneed@suntimes.com January 25, 2012 9:58PM
FOR USE AS DESIRED, YEAR END PHOTOS - FILE -In this Dec. 7, 2011 file photo, former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich leaves the federal building with his wife Patti, right, in Chicago after being sentenced for 14 years on 18 corruption counts, including trying to auction off President Barack Obama's old Senate seat. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green, File)
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Updated: February 27, 2012 8:44AM
The Panetta System...
“Good job tonight! Good job night!”
Thus spoke President Barack Obama to U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta minutes before Obama’s State of the Union Tuesday evening.
◆The backpat: Obama’s praise of Panetta, who masterminded Osama bin Laden’s demise, sent the press scurrying to get the scoop on the adulation — which was the dramatic Navy Seal rescue of an American woman and a Dane kidnapped by Somali pirates.
◆The backshot: So what’s the secret behind Panetta’s amazing ability to get things done?
◆The Panetta Code? “Leon has a system...a remarkable style of governance,” said Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke, who served with Panetta on the U.S. Catholic Bishop’s lay review panel probing clerical sex abuse.
◆The Panetta Process? “Listen, analyze and assess everyone’s input critically,” said Burke — who added: “Then Leon would hone in on the problem by stating: ‘Okay. Here is where we are at and here is what we need to do.’ He made it all look so easy.”
◆The Burke punt: “So I used the Panetta process when I was vice-chairman of the Bishops Board and asked to FIRE Leon because one of the Bishops didn’t like his voting record on abortion,” said Burke.
◆The Panetta solution: “So I called. We talked. We listened. We assessed. And then Leon said: ‘Okay, here is where we are at. I have no Intention of leaving!’”
Amen.
Where’s Waldo?
The shocking absence of the media hogging/attention grabbing/stargazing/publicity seeking U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. at his favorite public runway — the President’s State of the Union speech — was noted by top Dem insiders.
◆“He’s always there,” said a top Dem source.
◆Hmm: Is it the fact the feds and the House Ethics Committee are on his tail? Is it because his re-election opponent — former U.S. Rep. Debbie Halvorson — is giving him a run for his money.
◆Answer: “He (Jackson) had an important meeting back in the district that had been scheduled for some time and he couldn’t change it,” a Jackson spokesman said.
Dear Demi ...
Sneedless to say, while tittletattle twaddlers are tripping over their shoelaces to find out what caused actress Demi Moore’s abrupt hospitalization Monday night (was it anorexia, drug abuse, too much coffee, gingivitis, thin knees, hanging out with an aging star like Madonna who dates young guys, being dumped by a doofus named Ashton Kutcher) — remember this: Young guys eventually grow up.
The Blago Beat ...
It’s been quiet on the Blago homefront as the Ides of March imprisonment of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich approaches.
◆But wait: Former first lady Patti Blagojevich just posted on her Facebook page she took her daughter, Amy, 15, to get her driver’s permit Wednesday. “Where did the last 15 years go?” posted Patti.
How sad.
Sneedlings ...
◆Shorts in a bunch: Sneed pal Maggie Gentilcore, a Scottish lass, has a Victorian version of Sarah Palin’s “panties in a wad” quote.....“Knickers in a twist.”
◆He’s at it again: House Speaker John Boehner, the weeping warrior, was indeed teary-eyed while embracing outgoing Congresswoman Gabby Giffords Tuesday night.
Sneedlings ...
Congrats senior Quinn aide Lindsay Anderson and hubby, Jim, on the birth of their daughter, Grace Kathryne...Today’s birthdays: Eddie Van Halen, 57; Wayne Gretzky, 51; Bob Uecker, 77, and Ellen DeGeneres, 54.
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