We've been following the political maneuvering over Leon Panetta's CIA nomination since it began -- and in a prime example of the punishingly quick news cycle on Capitol Hill, opposition to the pick has almost totally dissipated now that it's actually been announced.

Well, except for Kit Bond (MO), the senior Republican on the Senate intelligence committee. Bond chose the same day he announced his retirement to mount a crusade against Panetta's alleged failure to understand pre-war intelligence lapses. (Whereas Bond was consistently on the right side of the intel.)

So if Bond wants to dig into every word of Panetta's anti-Bush op-eds for a public flogging, one would expect that Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) -- his House counterpart and FISA-eviscerating buddy -- would be all for it. Right, Rep. Hoekstra?

[I] support President-Elect Barack Obama's choice of Leon Panetta to serve as Director of the CIA ... A consumer of intelligence for years, he consistently has demonstrated an ability to lead in a bipartisan fashion and always see the big picture - attributes that would benefit the CIA and our nation.

That was actually a joint statement from Hoekstra and Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ), one of the strongest civil liberties advocates on the intelligence committees (and, in the interest of full disclosure, a past TPMCafe contributor).

Nice show of party unity from Bond and Hoekstra there.