By Mr. Curmudgeon
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is in hot seat after assuring the American people that anti-terror security measures “worked.” What exactly was it about her Homeland Security measures that saved 289 passengers abroad Northwest Flight 253? “Everybody played an important role here.” Napolitano told ABC’s “This Week,” “The passengers and crew of the flight took appropriate action …” Jasper Schuringa, the brave Northwest passenger who suffered burns to his hands fighting the terrorist while simultaneously patting out the Nigerian's flaming pants, is certainly a hero, but there isn’t enough of him to go around. Moreover, it must be remembered that the terrorist’s ineptitude in setting off his explosive device was a stroke of good luck for his fellow passengers. In other words, after billions of dollars allocated by Congress for the creation of a multi-layered behemoth Homeland Security Department, alert passengers from Amsterdam and incompetent Al Qaeda pants bombers form the cornerstone of Janet Napolitano’s working “system.” That means we are all in grave danger.
Even the Washington Post is less than thrilled with Obama’s Homeland Security chief, “Her [Napolitano's] claim neither passed the laugh test nor was remotely true. Ms. Napolitano's acknowledgement Monday that the system "failed miserably" is the first step on the long road to plugging the troubling security gaps that have been exposed.”
A Washington Times editorial stated, “It is hardly obvious why the actions taken after the attempted attack should assure us that travelers should be ‘confident’ that air travel is ‘safe.’ Nor is it obvious that the heroic actions taken by a passenger, Jasper Schuringa, who stopped the bombing, were part of some grand government design. Mr. Schuringa put out the fire with his bare hands while he was screaming for someone to give him water.”
The New York Times is trying to get their man Obama to straighten up. “Ms. Napolitano’s statement was just one of the targets for criticism after the botched Christmas Day bombing…Critics also took aim at Mr. Obama for continuing his Hawaii vacation for three days before appearing in public to address the threat, and they cast the incident as part of a broader assertion that he is not serious enough about terrorism.”
Obama’s appointee to head the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA), Erroll Southers, has yet to be confirmed by the Senate. Republicans have understandably held up Southers’ appointment because he intends to turn the TSA into a Democratic Party constituency. Napolitano and Southers would allow the nation’s airport security employees to unionize. The lives of American citizens would become just another collective bargaining chip.
Since the Obama administration is not serious about preempting terror, only prosecuting in its bloody aftermath, Napolitano needs to upgrade the Homeland Security system by hiring Dutchmen like Jasper Schuringa to defend American air passengers. They can call them The Flying Dutchmen.
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