Homeland Security Is on the Job — Don’t Panic!
On the morning of December 28, Janet Napolitano confidently reported that “there is no indication that the man who attempted to destroy an airliner in Detroit on Christmas Day is part of a larger terrorist plot.” Larger than what? Tea bag protests? Right-wing religious nuts who shamefully display Christmas trees? She also assured us: “Despite Abdulmutallab’s success at getting dangerous chemicals on board the plane, commercial flying is safe.” Compared to what? Going for a casual stroll in Juarez? Well, it’s still a big relief.
There was, of course, some incredulity when Secretary Napolitano (in the interest of national security) feigned ebullience earlier, maintaining that “the system worked” and “everything happened that should have.” Her comments were immediately taken out of context by the right-wing nuts who are out to get this fine civil servant fired, unjustly. Put into the proper context, she was obviously correct. There were no complaints from CAIR — a highly regarded group protective of the rights of downtrodden and oppressed Muslims in the United States — and the full quotas of eighty-year-old Episcopalian bishops and three-year-old toddlers were immediately subjected to close airport scrutiny.
Nevertheless, leaving no room for error, those screening efforts will be further intensified immediately, as will those of suspected tea party protesters and other right-wing extremist enemies of the state who oppose ObamaCare. We must be mindful of the clear and present dangers they present, and must be thankful that not even one of them has thus far managed to explode a large airliner over a heavily populated city. Credit where it’s due.
More or less concurrently with Ms. Napolitano’s morning revelation on December 28 that there was no “larger terrorist plot,” it was speciously reported by ABC News that:
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, charged with the attempted Christmas Day bombing of Northwest Airlines flight 253, told FBI agents there were more just like him in Yemen who would strike soon.
And in a tape released four days before the attempted destruction of the Detroit-bound Northwest plane, the leader of al-Qaeda in Yemen boasted of what was planned for Americans, saying, “We are carrying a bomb to hit the enemies of God.”
Two days before Ms. Napolitano’s assuring comments that there was no indication that a larger terrorist plot was involved, ABC News had reported the following:
The plot to blow up an American passenger jet over Detroit was organized and launched by al-Qaeda leaders in Yemen who apparently sewed bomb materials into the suspect’s underwear before sending him on his mission, federal authorities tell ABC News.
Even the pristine mainstream media are trying to cause panic and can’t be trusted. It’s great to get the real scoop from Ms. Napolitano. It is also comforting to learn that she is keeping current with world events and that under her wise guidance we are all safe.
It had been reported that Ms. Napolitano would soon visit our enemies in Israel to find out how they deal with airport security measures, so that the United States will not make the same mistakes. Good on her! This is a dangerous world, and she can’t be too careful! As was predicted with extraordinary prescience by the New York Times when she was confirmed as secretary of homeland security on January 20 of last year, she has brought to the job:
… pragmatism and nonpartisanship. Like Mr. Obama, Ms. Napolitano promotes herself as a postpartisan executive governing from the center, even if it infuriates the left and the right. Allies and adversaries alike praise her as having a sharp mind.
Right on! Sharp as a tack! President Obama should be proud that she was his choice.
Nevertheless, President Obama, who doubtless got carried away in the intense emotion of the moment, had better watch his language. In his comprehensive and highly informative address to the nation on December 28 concerning the alleged acts of a mere isolated extremist, he:
… said he launched two probes because … it’s “absolutely critical” that “we learn from this incident and take necessary measures” to prevent similar acts in the future.
Obama said he’s ordered a review of how information regarding Abdulmutallab’s terrorist ties was handled by the federal government and an overall examination of the nation’s terrorist watch list system.
The second probe will examine all screening policies, technologies, and procedures related to air travel, he said.
“We will continue to use every element of our national power to disrupt, to dismantle and defeat the violent extremists who threaten us, whether they are from Afghanistan or Pakistan, Yemen or Somalia, or anywhere where they are plotting attacks against the U.S. homeland,” he vowed.
Demonstrating a momentary lack of cultural sensitivity, President Obama actually used the “t-word,” earlier banned from the administration lexicon as “too inflammatory and representative of old-fashioned ‘politics of fear.’” A new phrase was wisely offered as a politically correct substitute: “man-caused disaster.” It is obviously possible that some who are about to cause, or have caused, man-made disasters may be offended by the appellation “terrorist,” which should therefore be avoided at every opportunity.
“Right-wing extremist” is a far better expression and should be used consistently.
It is comforting to know that the country is in good hands and that, despite President Obama’s regrettable “terrorist” slip of the tongue, things will continue on in their seamless and noble fashion under his wise command and aided by his trusted friend and colleague Secretary Napolitano. We should all look forward with unrestrained glee to the future when the Department of Homeland Health and the Department of Global Carbon Emission Control will guide our lives. One can only hope that they demonstrate comparable dedication and efficiency.
Ms. Napolitano may be a fool but the real villian is Adm. Denis Blair. He is supposed to be the professional, Ms. Napolitano is a political appointee in the mold of Janice Reno.
This would be oh so funny, if it wasn’t all oh so true!
Yes, 2010 is coming…and I’m feelin’ it….
“Unrestrained glee”….indeed!
Yippee.
In case no one else noticed it, this particular terrorist actually succeeded in what he was trying to do. He managed to board an airplane bound for the United States carrying a relatively unsophisticated explosive device without being caught. He travelled the entire distance to the States without catching anyone’s attention and actually set off the explosive device. Thus this terrorist is batting a .1000 and the entire high priced and high technology anti terrorist system is batting zero.
That the terrorist failed to kill the thousands he intended means nothing, because by the grace of God, the other passengers themselves saved the day.
But the simple fact remains that every step of this terrorist outrage was successfully carried out, and that should scare the daylights out of all of us. Except of course for Janet Napolitano who disturbingly thinks the system worked “smoothly” and the Narcissist in Chief who treated the whole affair with an air of academic indifference.
We now know that the American CIA knew in advance that this terrorist was dangerous and yet they failed to notify the other authorities. But then again aren’t there several dozen CIA agents and directors now being investigated by Obama’s Justice Department Head Eric Holder for having used questionable methods to interrogate terrorists and haven’t some of the top CIA people resigned as a result of this investigation? Could there be some connection between that investigation and this huge intelligence failure?
What should really, really, worry all Americans is that this most recent act of terrorism simply shows how big and ineffective the Department of Homeland Security is. It has turned into a giant, inefficient, bureaucratic nightmare that is incapable of stopping a single terrorist who is trying to work his way through our defenses. This was a guy with explosives in his underwear who entered a supposedly secure location within an airport and we still could not stop him. Could you imagine what would happen if six Muslim jihadists simply decided to pick up some automatic weapons and ammunition and attacked a hotel or school here in the United States, like they did in Mumbai, India? Nothing very complicated, nothing as “sexy” as bringing down an airliner, just simple, plain, terrorism on our soil with nothing more sophisticated than a semi-automatic machine gun you could pick up in any gun store right here in the United States. If we can’t stop a guy with explosive underwear in a “secure” airport, what chance do we have of stopping the common terrorist attack right here in the United States? Can’t think it could happen here? Just ask the families of the dead victims at Fort Hood how much damage a sick Muslim fanatic can do with a handgun. Homeland Security has never looked as impotent as it does today.
With these stunned twats at the helm, all we’ve got is a prayer. May Allah and the spirit of George Orwell protect us!
Israel’s officials have implemented rational profiling. They focus on those most likely to be terrorists. In other words, dark skinned Muslims get special attention. It’s all about the probabilities. An older Scandinavian great-grand mother is far less likely to be a member of al Qaeda. Alas, the ACLU and its leftist allies will scream bloody murder. Janet Napolitano’s trip to Israel is therefore a waste of time.
David,
Janet Napolitano’s trip to Israel is therefore a waste of time.
Compared to what?
“Compared to what?”
She could instead be playing tiddlywinks in her office all day long. That would be a much better use of her time.
Thank God no one was hurt. The White House has morphed into a Saturday Night Live sketch. Who are the writers? My hat is off to them for this comic relief.
Question is, will it stay this funny up until the next elections? Another questions, do Republicans learn from their opponents mistakes?
I agree. let’s put former President bush anf former Veep Cheney in charge of homeland security. this way the terrorists can only kill 3000 of us at a time…
It really doesn’t matter whether Janet Napolitano is replaced in the near future. Barack Obama will still be the president of the United States. He is existentially committed to the notion that America is a racist nation crapping all over the oppressed dark skinned people of the world. It’s our fault that they are angry with us. Obama agrees completely with Ron Paul, “They’re terrorists because we’re occupiers!” Obama is unlikely to change his mind. All of his decisions within the next three years will be based on this absurd premise.
Barack Obama is a poorly read and intellectually shallow man. Sadly, few people have yet realized that today’s Ivy League institutions are essentially scam operations. Obama most assuredly greatly benefited from Harvard’s standard policy of providing its minority students with inflated grades. He is now too busy to get his act together. A president of the United States simply lacks the time to catch up with their reading and serious thinking. We are royally screwed.
Secretary Napolitano is correct.
The system did work – for her and for all the other big shots who can’t remember the last time they flew commercial air.
Nobody is going to inconvenience, delay, or humiliate them- all the Secretaries and Directors and Chairman and Special Advisors, the Under-secretaries, Assistant Directors and so on. Nobody’s going to paw through their underwear or confiscate their belongings.
For the rest of us- get ready for orange jumpsuits, and being cuffed to the seat for the whole flight. With any luck the so-called “experts” won’t demand body cavity searches- not that our lords and masters will have to worry about any of it.
Welcome to post-Constitutional America.
Its become apparent in the aftermath of this near tragic event that the main players are so busy in CYA mode that they are incapable of affecting the changes necessary to protect the flying public. From Obama – to Janet Napolitano – and to the lesser minions within DC connected to this failure – all are in CYA mode.
The result is the finger-pointing we see going on now from the current feckless administration. They look foolish and incompetent – and it would seem they are. Blaming Bush/Cheney? Come on Janet – you’ve had nearly a year on the job and you still look incompetent. That alone speaks volumes – you are in over your head.
The CIA are in the business of gathering intelligence – not policing from that gathered information. It would seem they did their job – disseminate the information gathered. It is the job of those downstream from this info to ACT upon it. At the very least put said individual on the no fly list until info can be confirmed or proved invalid.
What has happened is inexcusable. A lone traveler from Yemen with NO luggage – and paying IN CASH should raise the alarm regardless of who it is. If this were my white grandmother doing all this they’d have done a strip and cavity search – why did this not set off alarms with anyone? Why?
Could it have anything to do with the culture being tended oh so carefully by the Obama administration? I say it does.
If I hear one more Obama supporter blame all this on Bush/Cheney I’m gonna water-board his/her ass!
Napolitano is busy investigating the axis of evil (Bible Belt – Pennsylvanians clinging to guns and God – Alaska), she must not be distracted by the scary tactics of the right-wing warmongers.
She is so much on another planet that she failed to notice that if she had any class she would have resigned by now.
But probably even having “any class” is a right-wing extremist thing.
#13 Ken I agree with you that Janet being on the job for a year and still looks incompetent. Bush was on the job 8 years and did not look competent for a minute. Look here simpletons: you can not blame a President for a security laps no matter who that president is. I agree with Ken this SOB paid cash for the ticket, traveling overseas with no luggage and I just read a report in NY times that apparently a wealthy Indain man convinced the ticket agent to let him board without a passport!! are you kidding? no one can blame any president for this. weahter Bush or Obama.. apparently both the Bush administration and Obama administration had and have concern with Schipol airport in the Netherlands. look the best solution is not to let any Muslims in our country. but this is not going to work because most of you simpletons here are not going to have enough gas to drive your 150 F ford trucks!!! so I think we should do a better job of screening people and where the flight originated.
I am from Iran and a Muslim and sometimes they scrutinize me more than others. Look I am perfectly ok with that because I don’t want to get my a…s blown up 30000 feet above earth!!!! shocked aren’t you!!! Here is a Muslim that does not want to blow people up!!!
Now here is a joke from a Muslim with a great sense of humor: a man goes to an adult sex toy store and asks the clerk for a female doll. the clerk say would you like a black doll or a white doll. the man replies a white doll. the clerk then asks do you want a Christain doll or a Muslim doll. the man asks what is the difference? the clerk goes Muslim dolls blow themselves up!!!
Ok now simpletons I am now going to find the nearest Mosque here in NYC and pray to the mighty Allah to keep terror, terorrists and trerism out of our country!!!!!
Happy New Year.
“Blaming Bush/Cheney?”
George W. Bush is a politically correct whack job. He is greatly responsible for the damage. The former president did not fire the inane Norm Mineta who adamantly refused to implement rational profiling. In many respects, Barack Obama is Bush on steroids. Both of these dudes attended Harvard University. What more do you need to know?
David Thomson writes, “Israel’s officials have implemented rational profiling. They focus on those most likely to be terrorists…. Alas, the ACLU and its leftist allies will scream bloody murder. Janet Napolitano’s trip to Israel is therefore a waste of time.”
Indeed, Israel’s airport security is not only layered – starting from the entrance to the airport – but focuses on the “doer”, with the search for the “device” secondary. So, yes, they do profile. And it works. From the British dunce whose Arab boyfriend had given her a “package” to a recent case which turned up an explosive built into carry-on no thicker than wax paper, they find what the amateurs and PC friendly TSA don’t. Thus there’s no need to remove shoes or toss that 3.5 oz tube of shampoo. But it takes people who *act* like lives are on the line and have the skills to do the job right. (Most of their profilers are ex-Army.)
But intelligence is the true front line, and there’s yet more they could teach us. Senor and Singer’s new book “Startup Nation” describes a small Israeli company that applied skills learned in tracking those potentially linked to terrorism to develop an algorithm that can now be applied to detect credit card fraud. And unlike the separate databases maintained by TSA, State, FBI, CIA, et.al, in Israel that intelligence data *is* shared. But somehow I doubt Napolitano is smart enough to bring that lesson back either.
“But somehow I doubt Napolitano is smart enough to bring that lesson back either.”
Janet Napolitano’s intelligence is of secondary importance. It’s the political correctness! Both George W. Bush and Barack Obama are politically correct whack jobs. They adamantly reject rational profiling and any other investigative technique that point to dark skinned people as more likely to commit certain criminal or terrorist acts. You mentioned algorithms that detect credit card fraud. The system will be dropped immediately if it results in the arrest and conviction of more blacks than caucasians. And I am not indulging in hyperbole. Race guilt often turns our police and legal institutions into almost worthless entities.
from #4: ” . . .simply shows how big and ineffective the Department of Homeland Security is. It has turned into a giant, inefficient, bureaucratic nightmare that is incapable …”
Bingo. This is the case with all government bodies. Next up to become inefficient, bloated and fraud-riddled departments are Health Care and Cap and Trade. The only government bodies that deliver some sort of effective service to the country do so at ten times the reasonable cost of such a service (i.e. military).
This is because in the public sector there is very limited accountability and no need to convince anyone to keep them in business and pay their costs. The only answer is to limit government to the absolutely essential functions. Start by reverting to the enumerated powers. Everything else is whistling in the wind.
#15 Mr. said: you can not blame a President for a security laps no matter who that president is.
The ultimate responsibility for the executive branch is the President/Commander in Chief. This is why Truman had a sign the at said “The Buck Stops Here” on his desk. The DHS was created after 9/11 precisley because the various agencies weren’t sharing information. Apparently the only thing that’s changed is the amount of taxpayer dollars being wasted on duplication of effort.
#16, Bush went to Yale.
As I recall the DHS was checking cars going from the US to Mexico for Illegal weapons, while at the same time allowing cars coming from Mexico with drugs to come in with no inspection. DHS is a bureaucracy run by corrupt politicians, and if you put your security in their hands you are as crazy as a bed bug.
Obama’s Insecure Last War Doctrine Part I
All the hullabaloo over the Obama administration’s original laissez faire attitude toward the Christmas Day near-catastrophic event in the Detroit skies is bewildering to my simple mind.
First, DHS Secretary Janet “What Threat?” Napolitano says it’s all good, that the “system worked,” after it didn’t work, then says the system sucks, then says it was an isolated incident.
Three days later our vacationing president chimes in with a call for action to forestall any repetition of such isolated incidents.
Isolated? My foot! Is anyone in charge here?
The pols on both sides of the aisle are shocked, shocked, I tell you, at the ineptitude and complacency of our . . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=1396)
I don’t know, given the continual dribble about systemic dot connecting failures by the best and the brightest, I can only assume some of those CIA agents were more concerned about pre trial depositions over enhanced interrogations and their possible criminal liability. I’m sure now that the miscreant is lawyered up they’ll be able to make some good deals–conjugal visiting rights while doing life and free zoos and wham whams for the duration– in return for information leading to the capture and conviction of more man made disaster makers. Wonderful, I love the rule of Harvard lawyers where life is a negotiation.
3. Ken Besig Israel: states:
Spot on, sir.
And so nice to see Mr here. It’s always good when the 14 year olds can come out to play.
Something interesting going on, though. Has “the one” decided to not run again in 2012? It’s sorta scary not having the previous administration to blame when things go wrong, isn’t it? Tends to change one’s perspective and take some fun out of it, huh?
Government is incompetent – always was, always will be. The bigger it gets the more incompetent it becomes. The issue with Homeland Security is its incompetence at using the current security systems/ watchlists/databases. Government can’t deliver the mail properly and the solution is to have someone else deliver mail, not to imagine that government mail delivery can be efficient. Same principle applies to Homeland Security.
The problem is that a screwed up security system is dangerous and scary, whereas a screwed up mail service is just annoying and interferes with private wealth creation.
#25 wc: absolutely
Obama’s Insecure Last War Doctrine Part II
One of the great yogi-isms and far more perspicacious than “You can observe a lot by watching,” is Yogi’s classic, “It ain’t over ’til it’s over.” That should be obvious in baseball as well as in war.
Our supremely-confident president felt that America’s War on Terror was over with his ascendancy to his office, that is, if that war ever existed. Perhaps influenced by his Muslim roots, Obama doesn’t believe in any such thing as worldwide Islamic terrorism so how can we have a war against it?
This allegedly brilliant man could learn a great deal from the wisdom of the very uneducated Yogi Berra who might have appended another word for Obama to his quotation: ”It’s not over til it’s over, Dolt!”
And, don’t try to feed me the lie that “Obama just sent 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan so that proves he’s serious about battling terrorism!” Those troops, whose numbers suddenly grew to 40,000 according to some Democrat Party hack on Fox News Wednesday, are a charade.
At best, they will save some American lives but with Obama’s 2011 deadline for a political miracle in that sorry nation, the Taliban and al Qaeda are gleefully waiting until Obama’s troops come marching home so they can pick up where they left off in 2001.
These terrorists, as well as being a blood-thirsty lot, are a smart and patient lot.
Meanwhile, Commander-in-Chief Obama is failing to fight the most proximate last war, George W. Bush’s War on Terrorism launched on October 7th 2001 and amazingly concluded by Barack Hussein Obama in short order on January 20th, 2009.
Precisely what war, if any, . . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=1397)
All searches of persons, luggage and private belongings at airports in the United States by the TSA (Trasportation Security Administration) are patently illegal and unconstitutional.
Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution is the part of the Bill of Rights which guards against unreasonable searches and seizures. It was ratified as a response to the abuse of the writ of assistance, which is a type of general search warrant, in the American Revolution. The amendment specifically also requires search and arrest warrants be judicially sanctioned and supported by probable cause. Search and arrest should be limited in scope according to specific information supplied to the issuing court, usually by a law enforcement officer, who has sworn by it.
In Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U.S. 643 (1961), the Supreme Court ruled that the Fourth Amendment applies to the states by way of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Supreme Court has also ruled that certain searches and seizures violated the Fourth Amendment even when a warrant was properly granted.*
Probable cause
In United States criminal law, probable cause refers to the standard by which a police officer has the authority to make an arrest, conduct a personal or property search, or to obtain a warrant for arrest. It is also used to refer to the standard to which a grand jury believes that a crime has been committed. This term comes from the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution:
“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” — Fourth Amendment, Bill of Rights.*
*from Wikipedia.
Nude scanning of indivuduals at airports is to be opposed fully, completely and totally. It is an invasion of privacy not permitted without probable cause. Searches of person and property can only be accomplished according to the Constitution of the United States of America. Without probable cause, the nude scanning of individuals is molestation and voyeurism at its very worse.
Rep. Tom McClintock, a California Republican who co-sponsored the legislation however, called the scanning “a virtual strip search” and said security officials can use less invasive methods such as bomb-sniffing dogs to detect explosives.
“It is precisely the same as being pulled into a side room and being ordered to remove your clothes physically,” he said. “In either event, your nude image is being inspected by several security guards.”**
However, another California Republican, Rep. Dan Lungren, who’s been promoting the technology for four years, said the Christmas Day incident should help support his cause when Congress reconvenes in January.**
**from http://www.mcclatchydc.com/nation/story/81412.html.
Note that Rep. Dan Lungren is making an unsubstatiated comment. There is no way that any person, let alone hundreds or thousands, at an airport could be said to be a suspect. Neither is there any implication that, in a court of law, it could be shown that there was probable cause for any of the thousands of searches that the TSA conducts. None.
Only in a fascist, communist run government could there be such wholesale inculpation. Each unlawful and unconstitutional search by TSA and the US government is tantamount to a false arrest and molestation of the privacy of individual citizens subjected to nude scanning. Unchecked or stopped, the current TSA “security screening” is allowing TSA to commit pornographic voyeurism en masse. To allow these types of searches to exist or continue in the United States is moral debasement by citizens and elected officials.
There are alternatives to illegal and unjustified law enforcement; alternatives that do not put billions of dollars into the hands of scanning system salesmen, manufacturers, and nude scanning promoters — all voyeurs, molesters and immoral creeps.
The DHS has already made me feel so safe that if I can drive there in less than six hours, I drive there. They way these nitwits are going there won’t be any more commercial air travel to protect.
obviously allah wanted the bomb to fail insallah
Well done, Dan! Funny, but too true. The creation of DHS was nothing more than a typical government response to a problem they didn’t understand and didn’t know how to fix. Appoint a commission, look really busy for a while, then add another layer of bureaucracy. And what good have all those extra bureaucrats done?