Under Napolitano, Expect Department of No-Land Security

Naming his national security team, President-elect Obama acknowledged that the attacks in Mumbai once again emphasized the threat of terrorism and the importance of these picks for “a new dawn of American leadership.”

But Obama’s choice for Secretary of Homeland Security, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, has a record of opposing border control to stop the flow of illegal immigrants (and therefore the criminals, gangs, drug smugglers and terrorists that inevitably accompany it). She also opposes any internal controls to detect and prevent illegals from unlawfully exploiting the benefits and privileges of our society. Under Napolitano, “change” for DHS may mean dismantling the agency’s most important functions.

Although Napolitano likes to cite her declaration of a border emergency as evidence of her supposed tough stand on border control, her declaration was mostly a phony publicity stunt. It didn’t lead to any real or sustained actions to stop the flow of illegal immigrants and to catch and deport those already here. She has always opposed the kind of border controls, enforcement policies and legal measures necessary to

Her appointment is probably a reward for her unwavering and devout support during the election.

No doubt. But there are a lot of sycophants Obama could have "rewarded" with this responsibility. So why Janet? IMHO, she's too stupid to understand that the position is a career suicide mission. So it's win-win for both of them. She's tickled to have such an important cabinet position and Obama doesn't burn anyone actually competent or useful. Unforunately, it's lose-lose for the US of A.

The only appropriate person to appoint is someone with serious security experience and smarts whose motivation is solely to protect this nation, not ambition. (That's clearly not Napolitano.) Such a person knows going in that it will be the end of his/her public career, but chooses to do it anyway because it's so important. It's a no-win job, even for the most competent individual--which she's not.

The DHS director does not get credit for every day this nation is safe. Instead, the absence of a major terror event provides the press and public the luxury of focusing on seven hundred different petty and banal "priorities" the DHS Director isn't handling and should be, according to whomever's britches are in a bunch at the moment over some nonsense having nothing to do with actual security. It could be anything from bottled water availability in a hurricane to cultural sensitivity at security checkpoints. And if, God forbid, there is an attack, the DHS Director will be the singular face of the security failure.

Either way, this is not a job with a future. That's the only good news about Napolitano's appointment. Unfortunately, the nation is at extreme peril until she runs her course. You're right--she will be a disaster. Her politics are antithetical to national security, and she's plainly not intellectually equipped for the job. Hopefully, she'll reveal herself early and often on things that don't leave craters.

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