Editorial - 30 Dec 09

Unfit for Duty

H omeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says investigators did not have enough information to keep a terror suspect from boarding a flight bound for Detroit, and that the system worked as it should have.

Come again?

According to reports, the airplane terror suspects father approached US authorities recently and informed them that he believed his son was a terror risk. The results of that conversation will be forthcoming, but it's certainly not going to bode well for our security structure.

We also know that the suspect was able to smuggle an explosive device onto an airplane, and that he tried to detonate it mid-flight, and that he ended up getting burned in the process.

Ms. Napolitano's statement is frightening. We're not faulting her for the lax security measures as much as I'm faulting her for making such an asinine statement, and for her apparent sensitivity to the topic at hand.

No, Ms. Napolitano, the system is supposed to prevent explosive devices from getting on airplanes. And it's supposed to prevent people who display terrorist leanings from getting on airplanes. The system is not supposed to rely on faulty explosives and brave passengers to prevent tragedy.

The incompetence of this administration is staggering. They've taken their eyes off the prize to push through the health care and stimulus blunders. When they should be focused on jobs and security, they're instead focused on things that few people want, and that almost nobody wants the way they're doing it. The czars appear incompetent, the department heads appear incompetent and not one person among them is listening to the American people.

November can't get here soon enough. Among other things, Ms. Napolitano appears grossly unfit for duty.



Editor - bethesite.com