The last ten days have revealed a piece of good news, in a morbid sort of way. At a time of rampant economic uncertainty with millions of Americans facing the prospect of layoffs or having their hours and pay cut, there is one place left on earth where one’s job is so secure that no power — not lawbreaking, not even lethal incompetence — can trigger termination. That place is the Obama administration.
The Department of Justice released its long-awaited report on Fast and Furious Wednesday. That report acknowledge that Fast and Furious was a monumentally idiotic operation, but it let Attorney General Eric Holder off the hook. It singled out three of his closest lieutenants, Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, acting ATF chief Ken Melson and Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jason Weinstein. According to the report, none of those three informed Holder that the operation was happening, even after it had been implicated in the murder of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry. None of those three, or any of the other 11 officers implicated, have been fired. Weinstein and Melson were allowed to resign, and Breuer remains on the job. The kindest thing that can be said of Holder is that he failed to keep track of what was happening in the agency we pay him to run. It’s more likely that his lieutenants have provided a useful shield; Holder was allowed to read and edit the inspector general’s report prior to its release.
Despite the fact that he presided over an operation that resulted in hundreds of deaths and made Mexico’s drug war even more violent, Eric Holder still has his job. So does Lanny Breuer.
The bloody incompetence at Justice is only one of many instances of fireable offenses going unfired, though.
Last week a different investigation found that an Obama cabinet secretary broke the law. The Office of the Special Counsel found that, in an official appearance, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius violated the Hatch Act. That law forbids federal officers from campaigning on the taxpayer’s dime. Sebelius appeared at a gay rights gala in February and explicitly electioneered on behalf of President Obama. After the fact, her office covered for her, changing the status of the event from official to political and she reimbursed the government out of the salary we pay her to work within the law. In pre-Obama Washington, the after-the-fact alterations would be considered a cover-up and the Hatch Act violation alone would trigger a firing. But this is Obama’s Washington.
Secretary Sebelius gets to keep her job.
While that news was breaking last week, US embassies were under siege all over the Middle East. In attacks that began on the 11th anniversary of 9-11 in Cairo, Egypt and in Benghazi, Libya, groups that were initially called “protesters” attacked and overran embassy security. In Cairo, they removed and desecrated the American flag before raising the black flag of Islam that declares Allah supreme. In Benghazi, they used military assault weapons and tactics to breach the pitiful security at the US consulate and then killed four, including the US ambassador to Libya. Ambassador Chris Stevens’ murder was the first murder of a US ambassador in the field since 1979. Evidence quickly emerged that the attacks were pre-planned, timed to the 9-11 anniversary and coupled with a demand to release Omar Abdel Rahman, mastermind of the jihadists’ first attempt to destroy the World Trade Center back in 1993. Here at the Tatler, we had posted a warning regarding the Cairo embassy on September 10. Evidence has emerged since then that the US had 72 hours warning both in Cairo and Benghazi. The “protest” in Benghazi was reportedly led by an alumnus of the terrorist detention facility at Guantanamo, a known jihadist picked up in the Afghanistan war in 2001. He had been Obama’s ally against Gaddafi in the illegal war in Libya, only to predictably turn against the US at the first opportunity.
The US secretary of state bears responsibility for the security at US embassies and consulates abroad. But despite the fact that there was chatter that an attack could happen and that the 9-11 anniversary was upon us, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton failed in her job. She failed to take the threats seriously enough to secure her offices in the field. Like the failure at Justice, Clinton’s failure got Americans killed. She doubled down on that failure by trotting out US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice to tell the American people that there was no evidence that the attacks had been pre-planned.
Why Rice was sent out to tell implausible tales to the American people, rather than take to the United Nations and demand a united response against acts of savagery against the United States, is a question that the media has not asked. Rice is supposed to represent the United States at the world body, not play public relations on behalf of an administration in trouble. But nevertheless, she is an unconvincing liar and was obviously hopelessly out of her depth and out of touch last weekend, insisting that the attacks were due to a film rather than a continuation of the war waged by jihadists against the United States for decades. Both Rice and her boss, Hillary Clinton, consistently fail to understand the war we are in and must win if our way of life is to survive.
Rice and Clinton still have their jobs.
Perhaps all of these people retain their jobs because their boss has also failed to do his, and is in no position to hold anyone to account for anything. President Barack Obama, we learned last week in the midst of a jihadist hell week, has skipped out on more than half of his presidential daily briefings. These briefings are at the core of his main responsibility, which is not partying in front of a champagne fountain with Jay-Z, but keeping the nation secure. Rather than attend the intelligence briefings, he read bullet point summaries on his iPad. In so doing, he fails to get personal interaction with the intelligence professionals who analyze and assess threats to the United States.
He made this choice out of arrogance. Barack Obama believes he is a better writer than his speechwriters, and a better political operative than his political pros, and a smarter general than his generals. He believed it was unnecessary to hear more than the USA Today-style digest of the threats to America and her interests. He also believed it was more important to go for a puffball interview on David Letterman’s show, and meet with athletes and a fake pirate in the Oval Office, than meet face to face with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while that country faces the prospect of nuclear war with Iran. On Letterman’s show, Obama could not — would not, really — even recite the size of the US national debt. For Mr. Obama’s information, it’s $16 trillion and counting, more than five trillion of that piled up under his watch alone.
Had Obama skipped the silliness earlier than today, when he finally decided to jettison the iPad and attend real briefings, and taken the time to understand the nature and origin of the threats to America, he might have noticed that a certain date was approaching. He might have taken that warning from Cairo seriously. He might have ordered his secretary of state to beef up security. But he did not, and US embassies through the Islamic world are under attack, encouraged by his government staging a photo-op arrest on the weekend to tie the attacks to a film, not the global jihad. Obama assaulted the First Amendment rather than assault the terrorist who are assaulting America and leaving his own MidEast policy in ashes.
In order to find his lieutenants incompetent and worthy of firing, President Obama would first have to be competent himself. It is clear after the last week that he is not.
Barack Obama retains his job, at least until November 6.
Question: Was Obama’s jidahist ally armed by the US? Was it another example of the administration arming known dangerous individuals who then killed Americans?
Being fired might harm someone’s self-esteem. Ergo, no one in this regime can be fired. Self-esteem trumps competence to these folks. Unless, of course, their desire is to harm the US.
Oh yes, well… we certainly don’t want to damage anyone’s “self-esteem.”
What’s really sad, in this psychologized world in which we live, that could almost be the real reason. It is the reason that many schools now no longer give students, D’s and F’s, or mark papers with “red” check marks for unsatisfactory work, because it will damage poor little Johnny’s “self-esteem.” Never mind that Johnny graduates from High School with a 5th grade reading ability, that’s not important. So yes, that “firing” public officials for incompetence, or criminal conduct, is just out of the question, we don’t want to hurt their feeling after all.
“…there is one place on left earth where one’s job is so secure that no power — not lawbreaking, not even lethal incompetence — can trigger termination. That place is the Obama administration.”
Is this even a surprise? This administration values loyalty over competence. “Progressives” used to level that charge at Bush all the time, yet fail to notice the hypocrisy here. Or excuse it because they are advancing the Progressive agenda.
(Note: “P”rogressive is capitalized to identify a group, as opposed to people who promote real progress. Self-identified Progressives tend to not want progress for anyone besides themselves, and usually only economic.
I am always amazed, but never surprised, that total screwups in government keep their jobs and in fact are typically promoted.
No private concern would ever keep such incompetence around. Even companies I’ve worked for who had relatives on the payroll, generally kept the incompetent relatives away from anything important, usually allowing them to quietly draw a paycheck if they just stay out of the way.
This November 6th, the American people get to decide if we want 4 more years of incompetence.
I do think you are unfairly lumping Ambassador Rice in with the rest of the Zero crew. She was sent out to lie to the American people on Sunday. And she performed admirably.
If she has any self respect, she should have resigned in protest before going on the air. The body of a murdered fellow diplomate wasn’t even on America soil yet, and she was out there spinning the coverup to protect her bosses.
I see that as merely displaced loyalty, not incompetence.
The only type of people this administration is hiring are those who are not that easy to be embarrassed (by their own conscience, preferably).
Have the parents of the dead Border Patrol agents as well as of the Mexican citizens sue the three members of Holder’s staff in civil court for negligence and contributing to the deaths of their loved ones. Sue as private citizens not as members of the government and provide them from getting help from the Government. And then, as part of the proceedings, tell them that they will be let off the hook if they tell the truth about Holder’s involvement.
Barack Obama retains his job, at least until November 6.
Make that January 20. He has at least ten weeks after his firing by the American people to vacate the Oval Office. He can do a lot of damage in the interim.
Expect the blind sheikh to be ‘returned’ to Egypt in that time period.
I believe the term is “transfer” custody of…. since releasing or returning would be illegal and all that other minor stuff.
But is it illegal if the President does it?
If the Sheikh is to be returned to Egypt, it should be in a plastic bag or pine box. Of course, if he and those convicted with him had been executed for their crimes, we wouldn’t worrying about what a feckless administration might be planning.
It is a grave error to consider these people incompetent. They are very competently going about doing what they were installed by the Soros Cabal to do; destroy the United States as a great power.
Competance isn’t in the job requirements. Holder is the poster child of incompetance. The man’s eyes glaze over when he’s asked his name.
The only criteria that counts is ideology.
This, and most articles discussing this Administration, confuse competent management (or not) with criminal behavior. No one would accept Al Capone’s statement that “mistakes were made”, in the Valentine’s day massacre. There is a distinct difference between criminal conduct, and incompetency. It has taken several years, and we are not there yet, but the apparent Fast & Furious crime wave within the DoJ, and perhaps other Executive Departments, is coming into vague focus. We now have some facts.
DoJ stonewalled a Congress demand for documents for almost two years. On the last day, when a subpoena was certain, the White House extended Executive Privilege over the DOJ documents. DoJ said all documents had been given, some 7,000. BUT. The IG reviewed some 100,000 documents within DOJ, and was refused review of NSC documents as “beyond his purview”. AND. The IG report states that essentially all management levels within DoJ up to but not including the AG failed their duty.
This does not compute.
Executive privilege only covers direct communication with the President. Are we to believe that lawyers’ papers in Arizona, about hundreds of murders caused by AFT direct action, were direct communicated to the Chief Executive but his AG did not even know of their existence? Or curious what they said?
The statement from Democratic Congressman Cummings that the IG debunks the right wing attacks by proving that since every level in the DOJ was incompetent (or maybe criminal??) up to, but not including the AG, that this is simply a partisan witch hunt.
Where does incompetency step over into perjury, criminal conspiracy, and criminal behavior? Do these big shots, drool regularly and walk into telephone poles, while confronting national crimes? Or is some slick lawyer lying through his teeth?
We do not yet know but the options have narrowed. Today,we only know that entire segments dealing with weapons crimes, within the DOJ failed their basic duty, per their IG. And the big boss did not know. Our options are the Keystone Cops, or the SS. This is scary stuff.
“Our options are the Keystone Cops, or the SS.”
Or both. Barack Obama is a latte’ or “Marxisant” Communist. Therefore, he
is corrupt, criminal, incompetent and stupid. Fast and Furious was an effort to ply the Mexican Drug Cartels by helping to arm them, but intentionally without the cover provided by Bush’s Wide Receiver – via actually tracking the weapons and informing the Mexican Gov’t. of the operation. Hey, “What could possibly go wrong?” The payback from the Cartels would primarily be illegal campaign contributions.
Criminals prefer to deal with criminals. At the same time, the incompetents in the Obama Adm. are exactly who he wants, perhaps to help facilitate his manifestly absurd outreaches and public justifications, but also to reinforce his self-generated sense of superiority. That’s why they won’t be fired, along with the fact that they “know things”. And it’s why Obama’s policy and forays will always fail in the big picture called “life” and History.
Then there’s the small fact that ideological Communism always does fail. It’s been fatally flawed from the time when Marx first wrote it down. If “history is class warfare”, essentially seen as a physical principle, how does Communism escape it? Instead of producing the epitome of class division, its own Master-Slave state?
“Scary stuff”!
DoJ silences Obama associate Daniel S. Mahru with his freedom
http://illinoispaytoplay.com/2012/09/20/doj-silences-obama-associate-daniel-s-mahru-with-his-freedom/
I hope the International Court puts out a warrant for Holder’s arrest and prosecution.
What does it take to fire Obama, the most incompetent president we have ever had?
What does it take to fire the MSM, the most odious propagandists?
And do you think US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice is going to be fired because of all the lies she told on TV last weekend about the killings in Libya being caused by a Internet video, an not because of a direct al Qaeda terrorist attack? Not on your life. She will eventually concede the point and then blame it on poor “intelligence,” rather than on her pathetic attempt to shield an inept administration that was trying to hide its massive failure in the Middle East. And you just know she will admit this only AFTER the election. We live in dangerous times and we don’t have anybody in charge at the White House. That alone should make every American vote for Romney in November.
You do a great disservice to America by referring to these people as “incompetent”.
The problem is much more serious than mere incompetence.
Agree. They are both stupid and industrious.
Have you ever heard of General Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord’s leadership matrix? Without a grid to illustrate, it goes like this:
“I divide my officers into four classes; the clever, the lazy, the industrious, and the stupid. Most often two of these qualities come together. The officers who are clever and industrious are fitted for the highest staff appointments. Those who are stupid and lazy make up around 90% of every army in the world, and they can be used for routine work. The man who is clever and lazy however is for the very highest command; he has the temperament and nerves to deal with all situations. But whoever is stupid and industrious is a menace and must be removed immediately!”
Interesting that now that the administration’s fatuous riot explanation of Bengazi has been blown to smithereens by Congressional intel briefing publicized yesterday, the story is unreported in the MSM, while it flogs the 47% story. Unbelievable. Could the MSM sink any lower? I expect Romney to win the election and the MSM to refuse to report it.
Really?
How about with the “Palestinians didn’t cheer 9/11 because I didn’t saw it on the CNN”?
Actually, incompetence in this Administration is only acceptable if it does one of two things;
1. Harms the United States and its allies; and/or
2. Covers the President’s backside while he is engaged in (1).
Seen in this context, Holder’s “management style” makes perfect sense. He probably took pains to know as little about F&F as possible after first approving it. Because while he is apparently slightly to the left of Sarah Brady on gun ownership (witness his behavior as Reno’s Deputy AG under Clinton), he is also smart enough to realize the potential for blowback if this op ever became public- as it did.
His primary consideration from the beginning has been retaining his job, his pension, and his law license- and staying out of the Iron Bar Hotel. In this, he apparently has been successful.
Once more we see that C. Northcote Parkinson was correct in saying that “a bureaucrat seeks to multiply subordinates rather than competitors“. Especially when sacrifices are needed to cover the bureaucrat’s derriere’ after he spiral-fasteners the canine as spectacularly as Holder & Co. did here.
clear ether
eon
Well, Amb. Rice, Hillary Clinton, Kathleen Sebelius, and Eric “The Red” Holder are all a reflection of O’Dismal. They’re his policies they’re implementing. And was it incompetence, willful negligence, or working with the other side that got the ambassador and three other killed? One has to wonder.
And he needs Holder to write all those pardons after O’Dismal goes down in flames. Oh where to start? The blind sheik, Tony Rezko, Blago, the GTMO detainees, the terrorists sitting in American jails, and all the blacks down to their proportion of the population. You know, its only fair.
“President Barack Obama, we learned last week in the midst of a jihadist hell week, has skipped out on more than half of his presidential daily briefings. These briefings are at the core of his main responsibility, which is not partying in front of a champagne fountain with Jay-Z, but keeping the nation secure. Rather than attend the intelligence briefings, he read bullet point summaries on his iPad. In so doing, he fails to get personal interaction with the intelligence professionals who analyze and assess threats to the United States.”
Is this the same iPad that the supposedly smart-as-a-whip tech-savvy President was caught unable to operate in public a few days ago? If so, it sounds like he didn’t even get the bullet points, let alone the live briefings.
If this isn’t grounds for firing him, I don’t know what is….
In a perfectly just world, Barack Obama and most of his appointees would get the bullet points.
Blindfold optional.
“What Does It Take to Get Fired In the Obama Administration?”
Easy: An open mind.
Oh, I dunno. I’m all for an open mind — just not so open one’s brains fall out!
Dear Mr. President,
I believe I am perfect for your administration, since they say I screw up every chance to get off the island. Please let me know of any positions on Guam, though I could fit right in with your people anywhere.
P.S.: You can call me “little buddy”, unless you are using it with the V.P.
Imposter alert! YOU can’t be Gilligan, because we all know Gilligan is the current President and yes, he does screw up every chance of getting off the island! Moreover, Mr. Howell is a candidate to replace him. Here’s how the votes will break down:
Mr. Howell: Votes for himself; Howell 1, Gilligan 0.
Mrs. Howell: Votes for her husband; Howell 2, Gilligan 0.
Skipper: Votes for his Little Buddy; Howell 2, Gilligan 1.
Gilligan: Votes for himself; Howell 2, Gilligan 2.
Ginger: Always had a secret crush on Gilligan; Howell 2, Gilligan 3.
Mary Ann: Aligns herself with the Howells; Howell 3, Gilligan 3.
So it all comes down to the Professor. Since the Professor deals in facts & logic, and doesn’t live in Wonderland, there’s only one choice for him: Mr. Howell will be our next President.
Obama: 43%. (3/7)
Romney, 57%. (4/7)
Actually, no. The Professor would vote for himself, the Skipper, or abstain.
Being a scientist who deals in facts, he would understand that Thurston Howell III was as big an idiot as Willy Gilligan. He was just a different kind of idiot. Specifically, the kind who believes that every problem can be solved by the country club method of either (a) throwing money at it, (b) renaming it, or (c) simply pretending it doesn’t exist.
The Professor would understand that there were exactly three “reality-based” people on the island. Namely, himself, the Skipper, and Mary Ann. (She was a farm girl. Farmers are planners- see The Last Centurion by John Ringo.)
He would have proposed a plan like this;
“The Skipper is in charge- lifeboat rules. He tells me what to do to get us off this rock, and Mary Ann what to do to keep us eating. Everybody else, when one of the three of us asks you to do something, just do it, please- we’ll discuss the dynamics of the situation once we’re back in civilization.”
Come to think of it, Romney resembles the Professor a lot more closely than he does Mr. Howell. Right to the haircut and the white shirt.
If he had a pocket protector, he’d pass for a full-on engineer. Somehow, I don’t think this is just a superficial resemblance.
He may be rich, but he apparently has a brain as well. And isn’t afraid to use it.
Two claims Obama cannot make with a straight face. Not after the last four years.
clear ether
eon
Rock got the vote count right, but for the wrong reasons. Ginger is a Hollywood liberal, and will vote for the bumbling ‘celebrity’ candidate who provides freebies to the deadbeats who refuse to climb trees to get coconuts. Eon is right that Mary Ann is the conservative, self-reliant farm girl and she’ll vote for the accomplished candidate who will get the island’s financial house in order.
Giving Obama the wrong club on the only hole Camp David?
Expecting Holder to get canned is akin to SoI Ken Salazar being held responsible for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and deaths resulting from the explosion.
Even though Salazar MONTHS prior he and his underlings neglected the SOP for timely inspections. Dor Salazar was spending FAR more time looking into ‘alternative, cleaner energy’ producers.
They’re both dingleberries.
Obama has golfed four times more than Bush did in eight years Published:06/18/2012
http://dailycaller.com/2012/06/18/obama-has-golfed-four-times-more-than-bush-did-in-eight-years/
O flashback!
Oil Spill Timeline by RightChange PLUS 2 years ago
http://vimeo.com/12933322
Don’t be silly, you can’t get fired when you are in the union. You just get put in the time out room.
Black Christians Abandoning Democrats Heeding Bishop E.W. Jackson’s Call for Mass Exodus – Christian Newswire Thursday, September 20, 2012
http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/49693?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
Voting Republcan.
The whole situation gets sillier, stoopider and sadder by the day. Remember: the ONLY reason this man is still in power and has any chance at all of reelection is due to the MAIN STREET MEDIA lying and covering up his crimes and scandals. Period. They should be publicly scorned and ostracized as enemies of the Republic. The American Ayatollah in the White Mosque could not survive without them.
Ambassador Stevens’ murder was obviously the end result of yet ANOTHER massive security breach from this administration; he was hiding at a ‘safe’ place that was supposedly ‘secret’. I wonder who, in the State Department would know that information? Hmmm….who would know, who…..HUMA would know…
It’s all a colossal lie,
everything was known and planned by Obama and his minions,
every detail, was planed in and well known in advanced by Obama and his liars
They just got caught,
The media is ensuring that the public only sees what the media wants the public to see and is letting criminals off the hook again.
“What Does It Take to Get Fired In the Obama Administration?”
Saying something bad about the pedophile “prophet” or Karl Marx might do it.