Napolitano’s one-off was way off: She’ll say whatever her boss would like to hear

Barack Obama should fire his Homeland Security Chief at once

By James Corum World Last updated: May 14th, 2010

How many screw ups does it take for the Obama administration to fire a grossly incompetent cabinet member? Well, apparently more than two.

At Christmas, when a brave passenger prevented the underwear bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, from blowing up a US airliner, President Obama’s Homeland Security chief – Janet Napolitano – immediately reassured the public. She insisted that “the system worked”.

Nonsense. Unless you believe that the US airline protection system is dependent on quick-witted Dutch tourists, it failed entirely, a fact which was proved again when the event was fully evaluated by investigators.

Since the lives of the public are literally in Napolitano’s hands, a major mistake like this arguably merits a sacking. But perhaps even cabinet members ought to be allowed one big screw up.

But now Napolitano has done it again. After another attempt to set off a terrorist bomb, in Times Square, Napolitano was at it again with her “everything is just fine” theme. In an interview with ABC News the day of the attempted attack Napolitano asserted that “Times Square I think is now safe”.  She also insisted that there was no evidence that this was “anything other than a one-off” event. Finally, she tried to reassure the public by commenting that the bomb “doesn’t look like it is a very sophisticated one”.

Remember, these statements were all made when the person, or persons, who planted the bomb were still at large. No one could be sure whether it was part of a multiple bomb attack (a well -known al Qaeda practice), or whether it was part of a larger conspiracy. Declaring the situation “safe” with the bomber still at large and with little information available about the attacker can lead one to only two conclusions. Janet Napolitano has amazing psychic powers that can delve into the mind of an unknown terrorist perpetrator and assess the terrorist’s intentions, or she will say whatever her boss and the public would like to hear—no matter how inaccurate or stupid the statement. Your guess as to which conclusion best describes Napolitano.