There she goes again. DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano just can’t speak in public without destroying any remaining confidence Americans have left in her agency. CNS News reports that at a conference devoted to “environmental justice”, Secretary Napolitano announced that the Department of Homeland Security would be creating the “Climate Change and Adaptation Task Force” to mitigate the affects of global warming on security and response operations. No…really. According to CNS, Napolitano said the task force would examine: 1) “How will FEMA work with state and local partners to plan for …
The “readout” from Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano’s November 30 visit to Mexico City constitutes a soothing tidbit of information—bureaucratic Muzak: In the face of ever-evolving, multinational threats, the U.S. is committed to working with our international partners to enhance information-sharing and our mutual security. We look forward to our continued partnership with the Mexican government as we forge an unprecedented international security framework that facilitates legitimate trade and travel while protecting our citizens. Not once does the Secretary mention the raging war against the drug cartels.
Pat-downs and body scanners seem to be keeping some from getting in the Thanksgiving spirit this week. As if the security lines weren’t bad enough during the busiest time of the year to fly, travelers are now faced with the invasive screening measures. Seniors speculate how to get out of their wheelchairs to walk through scanners, and parents wonder if their toddlers will be selected for additional screening. The bottom line is that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is currently treating every traveler as a threat. Last week Homeland Security …
For two years now, President Barack Obama’s administration has been on a concentrated mission to expand the size and scope of the federal government. Of course, this passionate mission is derailed when the inefficiencies of certain government services are highlighted in the American conscience. And every time the general public decries a specific example of government ineffectiveness, the Obama team’s reaction is incredulous shock. How could anyone not blindly trust the federal bureaucracy? Once again this is the case as a tidal wave of criticism befalls the Transportation Security Administration …
In a recent CQ article, former Secretary of Homeland Security, Tom Ridge, weighed in about congressional oversight of homeland security. Congressional oversight of homeland security may sound as exciting as a colonoscopy, but it is actually a very big problem. Currently, over 100 committees and subcommittees have jurisdiction over the Department of Homeland Security. As you can guess, Members of Congress use this as a political tool—holding hearings completely unrelated to actual security and many times making unreasonable or uneducated requests of the department. All of this undoubtedly distracts DHS …
Washington is reveling this week in one of its oldest traditions – dissecting a Bob Woodward book that analyzes the sitting president. While much focus will be given to what one senior official said about another senior official, there is real news that deserves the bulk of the attention. Specifically, President Barack Obama’s shocking statement to Woodward that “we [America] can absorb another terrorist attack.” He goes on to say: “We’ll do everything we can to prevent it, but even a 9/11, even the biggest attack ever…we absorbed it and …
Over the last four weeks, The Heritage Foundation sent multiple teams of respected energy, environment, homeland security and response experts to the Gulf to study the federal response to the oil spill. These three delegations, with more to come, have traversed the areas hit hardest by the crisis, talking to response workers, affected oil crews, fishermen, elected leaders and BP representatives. What we found is simple: President Obama’s administration has turned a crisis into a disaster, and someone needs to be held accountable. Accountability is in short supply in Washington these days. …
Last week, someone tried to detonate a roadside car bomb in Times Square. And while investigators were searching for the guilty terrorist, some liberals in this country had already found a culprit – you. That’s right. We’ve entered an era where some on the left expressly hope that when terrorist attacks occur, the guilty parties are their fellow Americans, not Islamic jihadists. It’s crazy, but true. After Times Square attack, a narrative quickly emerged that the bomber was a lone wolf and may be a conservative, probably a tea partier. …
Secretary Napolitano just announced that she would be halting SBInet until she could complete her review of the program. SBInet- inaccurately nicknamed the ‘virtual fence’ is actually a system of cameras and sensors at the border to help border patrol agents catch illegal border-crossers. Thus far, the program has been initially deployed at two areas along the border, but Napolitano’s decision would halt future funding until the completion of her program assessment. Undoubtedly- taxpayers demand that dollars are spent wisely—and Congress as well as DHS have every responsibility to make …
Earlier this weekend, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin told Chris Wallace in a Fox News interview that the Obama administration’s position on dissent is that detractors should “sit down and shut up.” The Huffington Post crowd immediately jumped on the statement, saying it couldn’t be supported. Well, 24 hours later, White House homeland-security adviser John Brennan put this argument to rest by publishing a blog in USA Today that not only tells Americans to sit down and shut up but also accuses them of “serv[ing] the goals of al-Qaeda” if …
