John Negroponte is confirmed as the first US national intelligence director. Photograph: Ron Edmonds/AP
John Negroponte is a man who presses buttons. His recall from Baghdad, where he was US ambassador, to become potentially the most powerful spy chief in US history has provoked more or less the same reaction as the news last year that he was to succeed Paul Bremer as Washington's top man in Iraq. It all comes down to his involvement in the "dirty wars" in Central America in the 1980s – basically that US military aid for Honduras could have ended if Mr Negroponte had told congress of accusations the Honduran military was taking part in torture and extra-judicial killings as it fought Nicaragua's Sandanista goverment.
"Mr 'Honduran death squads? La la la, I don't see any Honduran death squads!' to supervise 15 intelligence agencies. Awesome, the dude who gives new meaning to the phrase 'couldn't find ass with both hands'," writes Wonkette. A blog supporting Tim Kaine's bid to become Virginia governor comes up with the post title "Republicans: We're the Torture People!" It continues: "Come join us, we're Republicans. We don't take shit from nobody. That's why we promote people like John "Honduran death squads" Negroponte to positions of high authority."
There is equally predictable material on the other side with Little Green Footballs applauding Mr Negroponte for walking out of the UN security council (a previous job was the US's pre-Iraq war ambassador to the UN) when the Iraqi ambassador accused Washington of trying to exterminate the Iraqi people.
For a more rounded look, a profile from today's Guardian examines the long diplomatic career of a man who writer Duncan Campbell says has reached the "pinnacle of rehabilitation" with his latest job. Tongue Tied, however, makes a good point: "I wonder why we would pull our ambassador out of Iraq at such a critical time in our effort. What message are we sending? … Are good people in so short a supply that we have to just keep re-assigning them to more and more important jobs?"
