A reader:

It’s not “awful”! The entire point of the Negreponte post is to make the director of the CIA pretty much like the director of NSA, DIA, etc., etc.
Before, the DCI wore two hats, one of which gave him the president’s ear.
That hat is now on Negreponte’s head. If this switch wasn’t made, then the entire point of a Negreponte role was moot. DCI is still a “more equal than others” kind of roll, but frankly, Goss has enough stuff to worry about trying to fix the place. He doesn’t need to be briefing Bush every morning.
I think it’s a good move. Of course, Negreponte’s roll is a bit like Homeland Security, he hasn’t got a lot of assets of his own, so he knows what the others decide to tell him. Technically, that’s everything. In reality, who knows?

ME: I was talking about impressions: It sounds bad (although I don’t think the media often sheds tears for the CIA). But a close intel watcher added a reality check too: “This will make CIA even worse, because…Langley will feel neglected. “