Friday, October 18, 2013

Am I Missing Something...

After September 11, 2001, the "Department of Homeland Security" was started.

...Because Republicans were largely in control at the time, instead of getting an entirely new agency, they reorganized Immigrations and Customs and told them not to work on either immigrations, or customs, and they are now called "Homeland Security Investigations" - in my experience, they mostly work local drug cases.  Oh, and they gave them a HUGE budget increase.  They nationalized airport security guards, calling them TSA and giving them pensions.

...because a hurricane could attack the "Homeland", they added FEMA and disaster relief?

Then they added the US Coast Guard and Secret Service.



Confusing?

Who would you put in charge of all this?  I'm not going to say one was better than the other, but George Bush nominated Governors - people who had been CEOs.  Why?  Well, George Bush was a Governor, and the massive bureaucracy they were creating needed a CEO.  Then Bush nominated Michael Chertoff...a lawyer.  Barack Obama had Janet Napalitano - he was a lawyer too.  Now, he has nominated Jeh Johnson to be the Director of Homeland Security for the United States.

Jeh Johnson 
Working hard to repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell

 to 1989          private practice lawyer
1989-1991      Federal Prosecutor, New York City
1992-1998      private practice lawyer
1998-2001      General Counsel for the Air Force
2001-2009      private practice lawyer
2004               lawyer for John Kerry's presidential campaign
2006               lawyer for Obama presidential campaign
2009-2012      Department of Defense General Counsel
2013-present   private practice lawyer



"One of the most highly qualified and respected national security leaders" - White House official

With that background, he is the obvious choice for DIRECTOR OF HOMELAND SECURITY.

2 comments:

LL said...

Janet Napolitano had no qualifications to be Secretary of Homeland Security beyond being a fat lesbian who had once been Arizona Governor. She's a chuckle head who has difficulty understanding -- anything beyond the basic "progressive" mantra. And I'm not sure whether she understands that or if it's simply "parroted". You'd have to be WAY more than optimistic to think that her replacement would be more qualified than she is when you consider that Obama is making those decisions based ONLY on political loyalty.

And yes, I blame Bush for creating the monstrosity. G. W. Bush and his administration didn't know what to do post-9/11 so they simply cut and pasted to create an even bigger and more unwieldy government bureaucracy that was doomed to be a failure based on its weight and footprint.

In my unworthy opinion, the same goes for the Patriot Act. Any competent investigator could have obtained what the Patriot Act authorizes pre-Patriot Act (which restricts freedom in my opinion). Because there are a lot of incompetent/lazy investigators throughout government, they got the Patriot Act shortcut at the expense of the American People. Congress, fearful of another 9/11 would have passed anything. And it opened the door for the NSA scandal as we now know it that has resulted in immeasurable damage to the US worldwide in terms of trust and prestige - if not in fact.

sorry or the rant - sorta.

Woodsterman (Odie) said...

Oh good, we're all saved.