Gates is a career bureaucrat and a YES man. Panetta is as well and will toe the line in the dismantling of DOD. Petreus going to the CIA will keep him quite until 2012 and then Obama will fire him like he fired Gen. Jones and Adm. Blair.
Lord forbid Patreus should think of running against Obama for POTUS, so Obama makes him part of Obama's regime. Obama is afraid of Patreus.
Obama is more afraid of Donald Trump.
He was furious over what was happening to the polls so he decided to release his long form.
The Donald just turned it back on him saying essentially that he was the only person to make Obama do something in 3 weeks that nobody else could do in 2 and a half years.