[fatnotlazy]

I don't know why Gates decided to stay on with Obama in the first place. He didn't know anything about Obama and the people who actually control the agenda? Either Gates is as dumb as a rock or he just didn't want to give up his cushy job. Now he just wants to sell a book. I have no sympathy for him.

[N. Theknow]

Spot on.

[PowderMonkey]

"I don't know why Gates decided to stay on with Obama in the first place."

"Potomac fever" takes everybody within two months of arrival. Lived it, worked it, and survived among its victims as a "Consiglieri." The first thing to go is the moral compass. The enormity of national influence wielded, even among low level apparatchiks is astounding, intoxicating, and highly addictive. Your perceived worth is measured by who you work for, who you know...how much "juice" you got behind you. Let's not even mention the perks, parties, women, and influence peddlers. Few can walk away from it. Most stay on, even into a retirement that can fetch a six figures income.

[StormEye]

"Now he just wants to sell a book. I have no sympathy for him."

Exactly my thoughts.
The honorable course of action would have been to resign and then tell the nation what was going on in the Obama Regime. I appreciate the after-the-fact report about the phoney president's administration but it's too late in coming. Maybe the country could have avoided another four years of Obama if Gates had spoken up sooner.

[tanknetter]

Gates stayed on, in fact I think that Bush, Cheney and other GOP leaders encouraged him to stay on, out of the fear that AQ would exploit the transition between the two Administrations to launch a major attack or a series of major attacks.

Go back to late 2008 and early 2009 and read the articles on the transition, indicating that it was the most well planned and thorough ever conducted. Gates staying on was part of that ... no one wanted a neophyte Administration confronted with a major terrorist event. Remember that Bush had the expertise of both Cheney and Rumsfeld to draw on following 9-11. Gates was supposed to provide that to Obama.

It can certainly be argued that Gates hung around too long, probably should have left after the 2010 midterms. I wouldn’t be surprised at all that he stayed beyond that in the anticipation that with Republicans running the House of Reps things would change for the better ...