Jim Geraghty of National Review Online’s TKS Blog was highly skeptical of the rhetoric emanating from Tim Russert’s chat with Stephen Flynn and Adm. James Loy on Homeland Security. Unintentially perhaps, this exchange was one of the high points:
MR. RUSSERT: Mr. Flynn, if you were president for one day and you could do anything you wanted to steer the nation towards a direction that you think would be important to homeland security, what would you do?
MR. FLYNN: I think the most important thing is something that Admiral Loy mentioned, this is really to engage the American people, to get out of this kind of paternalistic approach of, “You shop and travel. We’ve got it under control.” The problem with the statement that everything that can be done is being done is missing the most critical element to our success in dealing with this issue, which is the engagement of we the people. And coming clean about the limits about our intelligence, coming clean about the limits of what our military capability can be done and the need to roll up sleeves and plan many years ahead making our society more resilient, not fail-safe, resilient, the kinds of things we stand up and applaud when we see the Londoners get back on the train the next day, what we saw in the Blitz, this is the kind of character that is in the American people I’m convinced. I saw it being in New York on 9/11 with no federal authorities in sight. It’s the failure to call upon us all to be a part of this solution, to share the sacrifice in dealing with this war, I think, is the most important thing I use my day for.
In response, Geraghty writes:
Actually, amongst the tired
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