Video: Now the system didn’t work

posted at 8:48 am on December 28, 2009 by Ed Morrissey

Matt Lauer gets to ask the question that he rightly says is on everyone’s mind: how could Janet Napolitano say that “the system worked” when the only things between the passengers of NW 253 and disaster were the passengers themselves and a faulty detonator? Napolitano says she was taken out of context, and by the way, Bush Bush Bush Bush Bush (via Charlie Foxtrot):

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The rules on the lists have been in place since 2006. The Obama administration has been in office since January. If the rules on transferring people from watch lists to no-fly lists are a problem, shouldn’t that have been a higher priority than, say, revamping the entire American health-care system or pushing cap-and-trade bills? It seems like a bigger priority than flying to Copenhagen twice and coming home empty-handed both times, once on climate change and once on the Olympics. Of course, Barack Obama doesn’t have to worry about flying with radical jihadis from Nigeria when he travels abroad.

As for being taken out of context, Power Line has the quote from yesterday:

NAPOLITANO: What we are focused on is making sure that the air environment remains safe, that people are confident when they travel. And one thing I’d like to point out is that the system worked. Everybody played an important role here. The passengers and crew of the flight took appropriate action.

When she said “the system worked,” Napolitano wasn’t talking just about the other flights, but also NW253. Do any of the passengers on that flight think they were supposed to be part of the system?

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I believe they also look at Behavioral clues, not just racial makeup, but to the National Socialist Democrats that’s still profiling.
Fake8 on December 28, 2009 at 12:05 PM

Absolutely! This is perhaps the most important part.
Let’s see, Abdulmutallab bought a one-way ticket, paid for it in cash, and did not have any baggage with him for a trans-Atlantic flight. If those signs don’t warrant a bit of questioning and a thorough strip search, I don’t know what does.
UltimateBob on December 28, 2009 at 12:17 PM

It should been a red flag for extra screening.

It does make one curious that the terrorists chose a person of a certain ethnicity for this mission – have they been watching us and noticing our extreme sensitivity to Racism lately?

Fake8 on December 28, 2009 at 12:25 PM

Duh! It just occurred to me, somebody had been ghost-posting:

Janet Napolitano >>>>> simplesimon

Yoop on December 28, 2009 at 12:38 PM

and by the way, Bush Bush Bush Bush Bush

Well that’s fair, they only had 11 months to do something about this; they’ve had other priorities.

Stimulus spending handouts to liberal causes, Olympics bid, Global warming speech, Nobel prize preparation… who has time for Homeland Security when you’re hip deep in speeches?

If Bush had stopped all terrorism everywhere forever this wouldn’t be a problem, but Bush failed to fix every possible problem that might crop up; so any future problems are his fault.

Like all good leaders this White House knows that responsibility, accountability, achievement and success are useless. What you need is someone to blame when your plans fail and your whining and sniveling won’t work without someone to pass the buck to.

gekkobear on December 28, 2009 at 12:45 PM

Remember folks, these are the same types of folks that want to run our Healthcare system.

Juno77 on December 28, 2009 at 12:49 PM

You folks are being VERY unfair to Napolitano.

To find a terrorist’s name on the “watch” list, the government would need this new technical device called: “a computer.” I happen to have one of these computers, but the government is cutting back.

Currently, the feds rely on a 71 year old man named “Willy” to leaf through 600,000 names on the “watch list.” Willy has never had the opportunity to alphabetize the watch list, so you see how difficult his job is. (Not to mention that every other name on the watch list is Mohammad or Abdul.)

Thank God that average people were able to stop this attack. The government failed.

However, the government will do a GREAT job with health care..!!

AR Babonie

angryrepublican on December 28, 2009 at 12:57 PM

Napolitano isn’t qualified to handle homeland security. Nothing in her background indicates that ability. She’s just an unaccountable bureaucrat who will react to the event by ordering up some reports and do little other than further inconvenience legit travelers while the terrorists stay a step ahead her lumbering ineptitude.

dedalus on December 28, 2009 at 1:06 PM

Brilliant!

She sure looks like a potential Supreme Court nominee to me…..

olesparkie on December 28, 2009 at 1:24 PM

Un-effing-believable that someone paying cash for a one-way ticket and no luggage would not trigger a few warnings. Especially if he is on any kind of list.

I can’t wait until the grown-ups return to run our country.

Mallard T. Drake on December 28, 2009 at 1:31 PM

Out of context my ass. She’s just like he worthless POS boss, when her lips are moving, she’s lying!

TrickyDick on December 28, 2009 at 1:32 PM

Obviously the true inspiration for Obama’s lipstick on a pig quote.

TexAz on December 28, 2009 at 1:38 PM

I agree with previous posters that we should demand the same security checks as El Al. The time for political correctness is way past. Also, the question that should be asked is why did we not have these incidents under Bush? You cannot effectively fight a war on terror if you believe there is not one. Remember, these are the same people who cannot control who gets into the White House!

silvernana on December 28, 2009 at 1:49 PM

Mark Steyn is calling her “Janet Incompentano”…LOL

ladyingray on December 28, 2009 at 1:51 PM

I want to hear from Hillary. Unlike you, I think she’d talk straight and own whatever problems are evident in the State department.

She’d also tell us what the darn solution will be.

Obama orders a probe. Janet waffles, complaining that everyone took it out of context.

Stuff and nonsense. Taking away blankets is NOT a solution.

AnninCA on December 28, 2009 at 1:55 PM

Obama has no intent on attacking fellow muslims. As he has told us they are not terroist. Any association to AQ is just coincedence. If they kill Americans, it was a personal problem they had. As his actions say, he believes that once he has been accepted a the worlds most powerful muslim leader of his largest muslim nation of the world, his nation will be safe from attack, or at least any that were not deserved because of what BUSH did.

Franklyn on December 28, 2009 at 1:57 PM

It has been, in the words of Queen Elizabeth II, an “annus horribilis” for DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano.

Beginning with her embrace of the impotent euphemism “man-caused disasters” to the hit job on conservatives and veterans that she was forced to apologize for, to her assertion that crossing the border illegally “isn’t a crime per se”, to her boneheaded claim that 9/11 terrorists came in through the Canadian border, Ja-No has confirmed time and again that she’s not ready for prime time.

Michelle Malkin Lead Story

Geochelone on December 28, 2009 at 1:57 PM

I want to hear from Hillary. Unlike you, I think she’d talk straight and own whatever problems are evident in the State department.

She’d also tell us what the darn solution will be.

Obama orders a probe. Janet waffles, complaining that everyone took it out of context.

Stuff and nonsense. Taking away blankets is NOT a solution.

AnninCA on December 28, 2009 at 1:55 PM
————–
You’d be wrong. Hillary is filled with the same doubletalk as Teh Won. She’s no different than the puppet Janet Incompetano.

fossten on December 28, 2009 at 2:02 PM

Out of context my ass!

TrickyDick on December 28, 2009 at 2:04 PM

Steyn has coined another classic: Ms. Incompitano

phreshone on December 28, 2009 at 2:10 PM

It was Hillary’s idea to appoint Janet Reno. How did that work out?

JaNap is a lefty Reno clone who, like the Clintons, think that militias are the real threat to America. Bill Clinton chased Monica Lewinksi, Bill Gates and Branch Dividians while Radical Muslim Sleeper cells proliferated right under their noses.

They did nothing about the 93 Twin Tower bombing. Clinton didn’t even meet George Tenet over the incident.

The democrats, especially the Clintons, have not a clue about of the concept of Homeland security. They are against profiling which includes investigating people on one way international flights with no luggage who are on watch lists.

Jamie Gorelick, another Clinton administration appointee, put up a wall between the CIA and the FBI.

FACT: The “Gorelick Wall” barred anti-terror investigators from accessing the computer of Zacarias Moussaoui, the 20th hijacker, already in custody on an immigration violation.

So don’t tell me that Hillary has any solutions or would talk straight about ANYTHING, let alone our national security.

Sheeesh.

Geochelone on December 28, 2009 at 2:24 PM

DUH! No sh%t Sherlock!

MCGIRV on December 28, 2009 at 2:27 PM

Haven’t heard the interview because I’m busy working, but I’m sure it’s all Bush’s fault! (/sarcasm)

Lady Heather on December 28, 2009 at 2:31 PM

Janet Incompetano* thought she’d try Obama’s B+ approach herself. She lacked the gift to at least appear as if she believed what she said, though.

*Mark Steyn’s tag on the boob running the DHS.

maverick muse on December 28, 2009 at 2:40 PM

Pete Hoekstra reported on the Fred Thompson Show today that Obama has erected his own Iron Curtain around national defense assuming ALL authority within his own administration while ostracizing appropriate members of Congress from attending any security briefings from the Intelligence. As Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, it isn’t simply Hoekstra’s right to attend briefings, but it is his obligation and duty that Obama is thwarting him to perform.

Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-MI, was originally sworn in to the 103rd Congress in 1993. In 2004, Pete was named Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Now serving as the top Republican, he works to lead Congressional oversight on issues relating to the U.S. Intelligence Community as the United States defends itself against all threats. Pete is also a senior member of the House Committee on Education and Labor, where he is working to return control of education policy back to parents, educators and administrators as opposed to Washington bureaucrats.

maverick muse on December 28, 2009 at 2:51 PM

AnninCA on December 28, 2009 at 1:55 PM

Why aren’t you promoting your sacred cow Hillary over at one of the State Department threads?

ladyingray on December 28, 2009 at 3:02 PM

Anyone wanna know the true identity of Kilgore Trout (Mad King Charles’ minion?)

Your intrepid BlueStateBilly has stumbled onto his identity.

Here’s a somewhat surprising clue: it is not Chuckles.

BlueStateBilly on December 28, 2009 at 3:05 PM

want to hear from Hillary. Unlike you, I think she’d talk straight and own whatever problems are evident in the State department.

AnninCA on December 28, 2009 at 1:55 PM

Yeah. She nailed that Vast Right Wing Conspiracy at the same time Bill was nailing everything in the White House.

Own the problem. Not in the DNA of liberals.

BobMbx on December 28, 2009 at 3:43 PM

Look, Homeland Security has a LOT on its plate. do you have any idea how many veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan they have to keep under scrutiny for potential right-wing tendencies?

Gotta have priorities.

malclave on December 28, 2009 at 3:53 PM

This lady can’t even do a competent job of spinning. How many times can you repeat the same mantra and then claim to be taken out of context? On Sunday, she never said the system did not work prior to the plane landing in Detroit. All she said was that they were reviewing everything that had happened prior. She was spinning then, and she is spinning now.

As Lauer pointed out, how does anyone, let alone a Nigerian, show up for a one-way trans-Atlantic flight, pay cash for the ticket and check no luggage? Forget about terror. In such a scenario, every Customs and drug agent from Lagos to Amsterdam to Detroit should have been all over this guy. Talk about fitting profiles!!

Can we please get somebody into this job who is competent-before it is too late?

gary fouse on December 28, 2009 at 4:07 PM

She can’t even take responsibility for her own comments. How can she take responsibility for our security? Essentially, she is demanding answers from the Bush Administration. Impeach Bush!

ronsfi on December 28, 2009 at 4:08 PM

Would showing her mug on projection TV to an arrested terrorist amount to torture worse than waterboarding?

bayview on December 28, 2009 at 4:54 PM

Appears to me any major terrorist attack on US soil is going to have to be renamed “woman caused disaster”.

chickasaw42 on December 28, 2009 at 4:57 PM

Every time “J No” speaks, I hear clown music…

Khun Joe on December 28, 2009 at 4:59 PM

J-Nap should be required to wear a cone of shame until she gets fired.

Where’s the photoshop?

BuckeyeSam on December 28, 2009 at 5:08 PM

Even when a govt system fails, it’s working the way we figure it would. Right? The system worked.

Paul-Cincy on December 28, 2009 at 5:14 PM

The system did work. The detonator fizzled because the spell that TSA cast on the flight caused it to fizzle. All the other actions that TSA appears to be taking are diversions so that the terrorists will not realize what they are really doing.

If the terrorists realize how we are causing the detonators to fail, they may take countermeasures so that they work.

The TSA has to hide the fact that there are magicians in all the airports casting spells to protect the planes.

sabbahillel on December 28, 2009 at 5:23 PM

Hey Janet…You are giving “epic failure” a whole new meaning. And, I hope you got a bowl of soup with that haircut…

Nozzle on December 28, 2009 at 5:24 PM

J-Nap’s “man caused disaster” deaths will now be known as the
D Ceased!

chickasaw42 on December 28, 2009 at 5:31 PM

Why does every Dem administration have to have a “Hair Helmutt” secretary? J-Nap should get the J-Reno medal for the homeliest and most incompetent first term secretary.
Or did Bill C clue The Precedent into the convenience of having a fall guy similar to Reno should a big terrorist attack occur so Hopey/Changey can throw her under the bus when Bush/Bash no longer works?

chickasaw42 on December 28, 2009 at 5:47 PM

She WAS taken out of context. Here’s the quote:

Number two, I think the important thing to recognize here is that once this incident occurred, everything happened that should have. The passengers reacted correctly, the crew reacted correctly, within an hour to 90 minutes, all 128 flights in the air had been notified. And those flights already had taken mitigation measures on the off-chance that there was somebody else also flying with some sort of destructive intent.

So the system has worked really very, very smoothly over the course of the past several days.

She’s CLEARLY speaking about the system AFTER the failed attempt took place.

She says a review of the case was underway to presumably see if they had enough information to put him on the no fly list.

But, her emphasis about the system working was clearly in reference to after the “incident” taking place.

And, just for fun, here’s an old quote from Ashcroft claiming their “system” worked when Richard Reid was stopped:

“Throughout the war on terrorism, our military and intelligence officials have made a concerted effort to share appropriate information with the public in order to enlist their assistance,” Ashcroft said. “We’ve asked citizens to be vigilant, to be alert to any possible threat. The success of this strategy was made clear by yesterday’s indictment of Richard Reid, who may very well have succeeded in destroying American Airlines Flight Number 63, as the indictment charges, had it not been for the courage and attentiveness of the citizen passengers and crew.”‬

Tom_Shipley on December 28, 2009 at 5:58 PM

The Obama Doctrine: weaken and undermine America daily.

By hiring clear incompetents like Napolidoofus, Van Jones, et al.

And basing a presidency on social promotion.

In peacetime, this would be imbecilic.

But during a Global Jihad it’s lunatic.

Thanks airhead image voters.

Pushing a boy king into office during a World War with an ideology more deadly than Communism, Fascism, Nazism and Japanese Imperialism combined.

profitsbeard on December 28, 2009 at 5:59 PM

It’s not ‘fun’ you troll POS, and your pathetic attempts to blame Bush for Barack incompetence are typical dishonesty

Janos Hunyadi on December 28, 2009 at 6:23 PM

Tom_Shipley on December 28, 2009 at 5:58 PM

So the system under Obama is all good ….Gotcha.

Damn you are a tool. How do you look at yourself in the mirror. My guess -you don’t.

Obama failed us .

CWforFreedom on December 28, 2009 at 6:24 PM

I say put a picture of Janet on every plane…Muslims can’t stand pork…

right2bright on December 28, 2009 at 6:26 PM

She WAS taken out of context. Here’s the quote:
Tom_Shipley on December 28, 2009 at 5:58 PM

How pathetic, that was her response after she was nailed for what she actually said…that the “system” worked including the response by the passengers, in other words, the passangers are now Homeland Security…
Just for for others, you won’t care because it refutes your lie, here is the actual clip from the interview.

Here

But, her emphasis about the system working was clearly in reference to after the “incident” taking place.

You should learn to be more honest…but you won’t.
Janet is a complete failure, but not much different from other positions selected by Obama…he doesn’t have much of a track record in picking “leaders”…

right2bright on December 28, 2009 at 6:34 PM

Lying cun’t change the truth of your earlier statement ;-)

jgdp on December 28, 2009 at 6:40 PM

And, just for fun, here’s an old quote from Ashcroft claiming their “system” worked when Richard Reid was stopped:

Tom_Shipley on December 28, 2009 at 5:58 PM

So your point is that Obama is just like Bush?

malclave on December 28, 2009 at 6:41 PM

NAPOLITANO: What we are focused on is making sure that the air environment remains safe, that people are confident when they travel. And one thing I’d like to point out is that the system worked. Everybody played an important role here. The passengers and crew of the flight took appropriate action.

From the Homeland Security for Dummies:

Step 1: Wait for terrorist attack
Step 2: Obtain confirmation of attack
Step 3: Let everyone else know to “look out!”, there’s terrorists out there!
Step 4: Congratulate civilian populace for their heroism!
Step 5: Proceed to Step 1

el hombre on December 28, 2009 at 6:42 PM

Look, Homeland Security has a LOT on its plate. do you have any idea how many veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan they have to keep under scrutiny for potential right-wing tendencies?

Gotta have priorities.

malclave on December 28, 2009 at 3:53 PM

FIFY

chemman on December 28, 2009 at 6:49 PM

Tom_Shipley on December 28, 2009 at 5:58 PM

You post a quote that is:
1. Inaccurate
2. Untruthful
3. Dumb

Within minutes, posters call you out.

And yet, you do this constantly.
You’re not very good at this, and should either try harder, get better, or give up.

You’ll never make the big leagues, the way you’re playing.

massrighty on December 28, 2009 at 7:36 PM

243 comments

pathetic

father on December 28, 2009 at 9:09 PM

“Janet Napolitano, could not lead Tiger Woods to a free weekend at the Mustang Ranch” Former TSA worker on Hannity tonight

bluemarlin on December 28, 2009 at 9:10 PM

243 comments

pathetic

father on December 28, 2009 at 9:09 PM

Your point?

CWforFreedom on December 28, 2009 at 10:20 PM

The “System” worked as well as the “terrorists” detonator.

nabruski on December 28, 2009 at 10:39 PM

You people are being to hard on Janet. Look at all she has done for conservatives. Never before have we had the opportunity to use the words Frumpy, Feckless and Fool all in one sentence.

sclemens on December 28, 2009 at 10:45 PM

Bush, being a real president, didn’t utter one syllable blaming Clinton for 9/11, despite obvious justification.

Obama is a child in a man’s job and it is totally depressing.

Pythagoras on December 28, 2009 at 11:15 PM

So “the system worked” really means “the system failed miserably.” Who knew?

Fred 2 on December 28, 2009 at 11:54 PM

You post a quote that is:
1. Inaccurate
2. Untruthful
3. Dumb

Within minutes, posters call you out.

And yet, you do this constantly.
You’re not very good at this, and should either try harder, get better, or give up.

You’ll never make the big leagues, the way you’re playing.

massrighty on December 28, 2009 at 7:36 PM

AS I recall his MO was the same when posting on Captain’s Quarters.

a capella on December 29, 2009 at 1:03 AM

Tom_Shipley on December 28, 2009 at 5:58 PM

You should have spent more time at the RIF-Mobile.

jdkchem on December 29, 2009 at 1:33 AM

As Vodkapundit would say “Being DHS Secretary is hard!”

jdkchem on December 29, 2009 at 1:34 AM

Leave New York while you can. If it is still there after 2012, I’ll be happily surprised.

Gads, listening to J-Nap makes my brain hurt.

itzWicks on December 29, 2009 at 2:01 AM

And does THIS make you feel any better??

Note: when MSM says “immigrant” it means illegal alien, and of course illegal aliens come from Nigeria, Yemen, etc.

…smugglers had turned to sending immigrants by air through McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas because air travel had become less risky than long overland trips, and there were fewer immigration agents patrolling in Las Vegas than at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. Smugglers sent their immigrant clients in vans and trucks to Las Vegas, officials said.

The prosecution was brought under an antismuggling law adopted in Arizona in August 2005. Law enforcement officials charged that the six agencies had arranged 6,800 one-way air tickets worth $2 million for illegal immigrants since the law took effect…

fred5678 on December 29, 2009 at 2:52 AM

Not even close Tom

Ashcroft Jan 17 02
http://www.fas.org/irp/news/2002/01/ag011702.html

We have declassified excerpts of these videotapes, and today we are releasing the excerpts of these tapes worldwide. From what we can ascertain about the tapes at this time, they do not reveal any information about specific planned acts or targets or time frames for any potential planned or other terrorist acts.

http://www.fas.org/irp/news/2002/01/ag011702.html

     

The tapes we are releasing today are another example of the potentially critical role that the public can play.

We certainly know that the public has played a very important role to date, but this is another opportunity for the public around the world to join the campaign against terrorism.

Throughout the war on terrorism, our military and intelligence officials have made a concerted effort to share appropriate information with the public in order to enlist their assistance.
We’ve asked citizens to be vigilant, to be alert to any possible threat.

     

The success of this strategy was made clear by yesterday’s indictment of Richard Reid, who may very well have succeeded in destroying American Airlines Flight Number 63, as the indictment charges, had it not been for the courage and attentiveness of the citizen passengers and crew.

     

Once again today we put our trust in the public to exercise vigilance and common sense in the face of the terrorist threat. Anyone who believes that he or she knows the identity or the whereabouts of any of these men is encouraged, is urged to contact the nearest FBI office or the FBI’s website, http://www.ifccfbi.gov — that’s http://www.ifcc. — pardon me — http://www.ifccfbi.gov — or to contact the U.S. embassy or consulate in a foreign setting if they don’t have an opportunity to contact the FBI.

Note: nowhere in this statement does he claim to have a system.

With respect to Richard Reid, Ashcroft states without any contention that it was the courage and attentiveness of the citizen passengers and crew that stopped that attack.

Nowhere in this statement does Ashcroft or the Bush Admin take credit for stopping the bomber.

DSchoen on December 29, 2009 at 4:16 AM

Tom, in “context” her statement is to say there is no problem with flying.

The public should not be afraid of flying because, in this case “the system worked!

CROWLEY:

So, just to finish up on the question– I do want to talk to you about security measures — but do you think — has there been any evidence of the Al Qaida ties that this suspect has been claiming?

NAPOLITANO:

Right now, that is part of the criminal justice investigation that is ongoing, and I think it would be inappropriate to speculate as to whether or not he has such ties.

What we are focused on is making sure that the air environment remains safe, that people are confident when they travel.
And one thing I’d like to point out is that the system worked.

Everybody played an important role here. The passengers and crew of the flight took appropriate action. Within literally an hour to 90 minutes of the incident occurring, all 128 flights in the air had been notified to take some special measures in light of what had occurred on the Northwest Airlines flight. We instituted new measures on the ground and at screening areas, both here in the United States and in Europe, where this flight originated.

So the whole process of making sure that we respond properly, correctly and effectively went very smoothly.

DSchoen on December 29, 2009 at 4:32 AM

As Vodkapundit would say “Being DHS Secretary is hard!”

jdkchem on December 29, 2009 at 1:34 AM

Janet Napolitano thought the job of secretary would involve some light typing and filing, nobody ever told her about overseeing the TSA or having to use her brain.

highhopes on December 29, 2009 at 7:24 AM

“Heckuva job, Incompy!”

olesparkie on December 29, 2009 at 8:13 AM

Napolitano is a “Man-Caused” disaster! How long before she goes under the bus? The blame Bush mantra is not working very well with this one. Not even with liberal commie socialist Pulitzer prize winning whack jobs.

joedoe on December 29, 2009 at 9:53 AM

joedoe on December 29, 2009 at 9:53 AM

Right on sir, Secretary Napolitano needs to get herself a Red, Gas Guzzling, Pickem Up with a gun rack and go on the road in search of her idol former Secretary Reno.

MSGTAS on December 29, 2009 at 10:26 AM

If I’m part of the system, I want a Department of Homeland Security paycheck.

remywokeup on December 29, 2009 at 11:36 AM

I realize this is an old thread but I hae to respond to the below comments made by Shipley:

She WAS taken out of context. Here’s the quote:

Number two, I think the important thing to recognize here is that once this incident occurred, everything happened that should have. The passengers reacted correctly, the crew reacted correctly, within an hour to 90 minutes, all 128 flights in the air had been notified. And those flights already had taken mitigation measures on the off-chance that there was somebody else also flying with some sort of destructive intent.

So the system has worked really very, very smoothly over the course of the past several days.

She’s CLEARLY speaking about the system AFTER the failed attempt took place. But, her emphasis about the system working was clearly in reference to after the “incident” taking place.

Tom_Shipley on December 28, 2009 at 5:58 PM

Tom the fact of the matter is ANY type of system (especially a system involving security) is only as good as its weakest link, if ANY part of that system fails then the entire system is a FAILURE! What do you not understand about this simple concept? The point with these posts on HA is not to point fingers but to illustrate how laughable it is that the person in charge of DHS had the nerve to state THE SYSTEM WORKED when it is glaringly obvious THE SYSTEM FAILED!

As for your other comment regarding Ashcroft:

And, just for fun, here’s an old quote from Ashcroft claiming their “system” worked when Richard Reid was stopped

I believe several others posted a response to this but as far as I am concerned you throwing this out there is akin to a child sticking their tongue out and saying “nah…nah…ne..nah…nah…you did it too!”

It’s childish to say the least and as far as I am concerned when it comes to safety and security matters it’s not a time to be childish instead it’s a time to own up, admit your mistakes and fix the damn problem and not spin it to make it sound like what happened was ok and the system worked!

Bottom line is Obama is president now, not Bush and he needs to man up and take responsibility and taking responsibility is an important part of being a LEADER, the buck stops with him and so ar all I see him doing is passing that buck!

Liberty or Death on December 29, 2009 at 11:51 AM

They ARE part of the system. And… as officers of the federal government they are going to have to immediately stop thanking “God” and other violations of Church-state separation.

Axeman on December 29, 2009 at 2:52 PM

Three things:

1) The terrorists are already a step ahead: Back-scatter xray is often set to blur the crotch area, which of course that is out-of-bounds for the pat-down, which one can request in lieu of the back-scatter.

2) Even by Napolitano’s chosen context, the “system” didn’t work. How would 9/11 have turned out if we had notified all aircraft within an hour and a half? The second tower of the WTC was hit about 45 minutes after the first.

3) If the last hour regs are supposed to work, why have them end 12/30 instead of after New Year’s Day, with it and New Year’s Eve as potential dates for attacks that would provide a terrorist PR boon.

raybury on December 30, 2009 at 1:16 AM

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