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MAN IN THE MIDDLE OPINION: TIME FOR OBAMA TO LEAVE THE GOLF COURSE, RETURN TO WASHINTON AND HAND NAPOLITANO HER ‘WALKING PAPERS’
Regarding the attempted terrorist attack on an inbound international flight, there is enough blame to go around. As fresh intelligence information reaches us by the hour it is clear the failure stretches from Yemen to Amsterdam to London to Washington. The breakdown of procedures and information sharing will span several key agencies and a number of international governments. Beyond the ‘blame game’, everyone is playing, it is clear Hilary Clinton’s famous campaign prediction of the “3:00 am” call came true and where was Barack Obama? Well, he was on the golf course.
It took a full three days for Obama to finally make an appearance on Monday to address the nation on Homeland Security. The barrage of criticisms from Republicans was so great that the White House and its press representatives The Washington Post and New York Times floated a story entitled “Big First Year Leaves Obama Tired,” as if to excuse POTUS for his lackluster response to the developing crisis. Even after Monday’s forced appearance, the criticism grew from the right and the left, so Obama made another appearance on Tuesday wearing the new Polo shirt Michelle gave him for Christmas. Now the Polo corporation was probably giddy over the noticeable plug for their product, and I may be old fashion, but I like my President to be a little more “Presidential” during a time of crisis. And make no mistake, this is a crisis.
As a hopefully logical individual, I cannot blame POTUS for what happened aboard Flight 253, but I can find fault with his appointees. The weekend performances of White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs and Homeland Security Chief Janet Napolitano left no doubt, after a year on the job, they are ill-equipped to handle their responsibilities. In the wake of no public appearance from Obama or Biden, Gibbs and Napolitano hit the airwaves for a ‘gaffe-filled’ 72 hours, that is now a matter of public record.
Gibbs is an arrogant and egotistical man, whose endless verbal missteps should have either earned him a reappointment or a dismissal at this point in time. On his best days, he is either an apologist or an obstructionist for the administration, but more often than not, a fountain of misinformation. His main gig seems to be releasing stories glorifying the “unprecedented” accomplishments of the Obama administration. He and Obama have used the word “unprecedented” so much, that the usage of that very word became the subject of a Politico story reprinted by news outlets worldwide. What was truly unprecedented this time was how causally the President took this threat on American life.
As for Napolitano, she is unqualified for the job. Political appointment as payback for support is nothing new in Washington. Napolitano, as Governor of Arizona was one of the first major Democrats to support Barack Obama. She was also a key member of his transition team. Napolitano came under fire after she said Sunday that “the system worked,” noting that the crew of Flight 253 “took appropriate action” to address the terrorist plot as it unfolded. But her remarks were met with instant criticism, prompting the Homeland Security chief to clarify herself during a round of media appearances Monday morning. The secretary then conceded on Monday that the system did not work. After her Monday appearance on The Today Show, calls for resignation started to surface.
Earlier this year the Homeland Secretary faced calls of resignation when her office released a paper entitled “Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment.” This report famously stated that, disgruntled military veterans were vulnerable to recruitment efforts by extremist groups as risk factors for rightwing extremism. Reaction from the military was swift and Napolitano made multiple apologies for any offense veterans groups had taken at the reference to veterans in the assessment, and promised to meet with those groups to discuss the issue.
In March 2009, Napolitano told the German news site “Spiegel Online” that while she presumes there is always a threat from terrorism: “I referred to ‘man-caused’ disasters. That is perhaps only a nuance, but it demonstrates that we want to move away from the politics of fear toward a policy of being prepared for all risks that can occur.” In my opinion, Napolitano’s attempt to minimize terrorism only gives comfort to our enemies.
In April 2009 Napolitano, trying to defend her plans to thicken US-Canadian border security, claimed incorrectly that September 11 attack perpetrators entered the United States from Canada. Her comments provoked an angry response from the Canadian ambassador, media, and public.
I can live with an “ass” for a Press Secretary, but Napolitano fronts the most public and perhaps the most important agency in the government today. It was clear from day one, and continues to bear true by her performance over the past 11 months, she does not have the experience to lead Homeland Security. She does not project the resolve or determination of former directors Tom Ridge and Michael Chertoff to develop and coordinate a comprehensive national strategy to strengthen the United States against terrorist threats or attacks. It is about time the “very tired” Mr. Obama leave the links in Hawaii and return to Washington to hand Napolitano her walking papers. It is time for the President to start taking National Security more seriously.
