TSA Nominee: Bad Nominee, Horrible Timing

Talk about bad timing. The Obama administration's nominee for head of the Transportation Safety Administration is coming under fire. The TSA has jurisdiction over airports and air travel so the bad timing should be obvious to all. Errol Southers is that nominee and he's facing three separate bits of controversy. First, the nomination was held up by Jim DeMint of South Carolina because he felt that Southers would unionize the TSA.

As Republicans step up criticism of the Obama administration's handling of the Christmas Day bombing attempt, Democrats are seizing on the hold Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) has placed on President Obama's nomination of Erroll G. Southers to head the Transportation Security Administration.

DeMint on Wednesday defended his move to block Southers as an assistant secretary in the Department of Homeland Security, where he would run the TSA, the agency created after the 9/11 attacks and charged with airport security. DeMint is concerned that Southers would be too union-friendly.

It's not exactly clear what DeMint based his assertion on. Also, he initially held it up before the attempted hijacking and so it wasn't really a big news story at the time.

Since then, however, we've also learned that Southers, once an FBI agent, not only used the FBI office to run background checks on a former girlfriend but has given inconsistent statements and explanations of this affair.

President Barack Obama's pick to lead the Transportation Security Administration has provided Congress inconsistent reports about – and regrets for – running background checks on his then-estranged wife's boyfriend two decades ago.

Erroll Southers, a former FBI agent whose nomination has been delayed by Republicans for unrelated concerns, wrote to senators in November to correct what he called a distortion of his record.

The new chic political buzz word these days is optics, how things look politically. This really can't look worse. The Obama administration just fumbled, badly, the hijacking. Now, their TSA nominee is embroiled in scandal. The only thing left is sex and money in a freezer.

The Obama administration is running dangerously close to the label of incompetent permanently being placed on it and that spells the end of the administration. This nominee was clearly not vetted properly, is there a theme there. The news comes out at the worst time. Now, playing defense on the hijacking they also have to play defense on this. Not good, not good.

ACORN, Wade Rathke, and the Media Culture

Everywhere you look in the conservative media, you'll find that a story missed by the MSM is the ACORN story. Specifically, conservatives mean the "pimp" and "prostitute" videos first published on Andrew Breitbart's Big Government. In general, conservatives mean all of the embarrassing things that have happened to ACORN in the last half of the year.

Let's face it. When the conservatives say that the MSM media is ignoring the ACORN story, they have a point, and you also have to read between the lines. The MSM has ignored the story. Charlie Gibson famously didn't know about the videos when asked on talk radio about it and then proclaimed that such a story was better left to "cable news". The MSM has needed to be dragged to this story kicking, scratching, and screaming. Even then, they've still done everything to ignore it.

It's been driven, carried, and broken entirely by the conservative media. Of course, the only reason that conservatives are fixated on the ACORN story is because of the symbolism it has toward President Obama and the Democrats in general. That's why only certain things about ACORN are fixated by the conservative media. For instance, ACORN's relationship with Bruce Ratner, owner of the Nets, is virtually ignored. ACORN Housing's relationship with the city of St. Louis is virtually ignored. Yet, their relationship with the SEIU is given primary coverage. The first two have virtually no relationship to Obama and the Democrats, while the third is intertwined with Obama and the Democrats.

That brings me to Wade Rathke. If ACORN is the story, then where is Wade Rathke? After all, he founded ACORN. He grew it from an organization of one to an organization of several hundred thousand. If ACORN is the scourge of the right, then what does the right make of Wade Rathke? Virtually nothing that's what.

That's because Wade Rathke is extricated from ACORN now. He's got his own organization going. That organization is trying to organize in the world. If Wade Rathke grew ACORN into a power domestically, what do you think he can do in the rest of the world? Yet, you're unlikely to see virtually anyone do a story on what Wade Rathke is up to now. If media asks anything of Rathke, it will be in relation to ACORN's current troubles.

The key here is that Rathke is organizing in the WORLD and not so much internally. His current story has nothing to do with President Obama or the Democrats. One would think that if ACORN is the scourge and a symbol of everything that's wrong in America, then the story of what its founder is doing now would be news. It isn't and that's because the ACORN story is all about symbolism. What Wade Rathke is doing now doesn't fit into that symbolism.

Obama on His Way to Infamy

Let me give my presidential grade for President Obama's first year. If the next three are as "good" as this one, he'll be challenging Hoover et al for the worst president of all time. He's got plenty of time to turn things around, but let's not kid ourselves. So far, he's been really close to an unmitigated disaster. My dad, who didn't vote for him but generally likes him, constantly harps on his extension of unemployment insurance as an accomplishment. Now, if a supporter makes that your accomplishment, you know you've got problems.

Whether it's domestic policy, foreign policy or political acumen, Obama continues to show that he's simply not up to the job. Most of our worst fears about the president continue to be realized. His complete lack of experience is clearly showing. Clearly, he didn't have a proper vetting process in place. Furthermore, on multiple occasions, the Van Jones affair in particular, he showed a total political tone deafness that's simply stunning.

The biggest folly has to be health care reform. Such sweeping reform usually add to a legacy. Look at Social Security. That's nothing more than a Ponzi Scheme and yet that's a lasting legacy for FDR. This won't be anything like that. That's because even if it does pass it will be so roundly rejected that it will be repealed in no time.

Obama's inexperience has clearly shown on that one. Remember when he urged the legislature to send him a bill by August. What could have possibly put in his mind that such a complicated piece of legislation would be done that quickly. That misstep cost him credibility. Worse yet, he let the Congress craft the bill and didn't control them in the slightest. By the mid summer, the process was an unmitigated disaster and he couldn't contain it. Now, we're at a point where he'll attempt to shove a bill with 30%+ approval down everyone's throat in a totally partisan manner.

On the economy, the president has spent a lot of time talking about health care. The administration promised that unemployment wouldn't cross 8% and now it's 10%. They promised the stimulus would create jobs right away and we're still losing jobs. They promised that spending $787 billion would create jobs and now the Democrats want to spend $150 billion TO CREATE JOBS. He's locked himself into GM, AIG, and Fannie/Freddie and all are a black hole of money and the president has no idea how to extract himself from all of them.

Then, there's GITMO. He proclaimed boldly that it would be closed in a year and then didn't have a plan. Moving the terrorists anywhere in country is deeply unpopular not to mention just plain dumb. Yet, he's now so committed that he's going to do it no matter what. In fact, he's brushed off calls not to transfer the terrorists in light of the attempted attack since several of the planners are former occupants of GITMO. Even worse is his bone headed decision to try these terrorists in country in civilian courts. Whereas a Bush legacy is to once and for all treat terrorists as enemies in war, Obama's may very well be to send us back to treating them as criminals despite the historic failure of that approach.

He has a chance to secure his legacy by pulling out a victory in Afghanistan. I believe Bush went a long way to cementing his with the surge in Iraq. It remains to be seen just how things will go in Afghanistan. I believe he has the right strategy but it's yet unclear if he has the will to win. In his first year, the most troubling aspect of his presidency is his lack of will to fight the terrorists. Without that we won't win in Afghanistan or anywhere else.

His foreign policy is still evolving and it may evolve properly. His Nobel Prize speech was a breathe of fresh air. The president may be ready to get tough with Iran, and he certainly made the difficult choice in Afghanistan. Yet, he sided with the Socialist Zelaya in Honduras. He sat back and said nothing while Democratic forces erupted in protest in Iran and he was a way too buddy, buddy with the thug dictator Hugo Chavez. Embracing America's enemies, not supporting democratic forces, and a lack of will are the worst kinds of legacies.

Then, there's the events of the last seven days. It was nothing short of a disaster. The president said nothing for four days. He refused to leave Hawaii and his DHS Secretary claimed everything went just fine. He wanted to present an air of calm so that panic wouldn't ensue. Instead, he created the perception that he didn't care and chaos ensued. That happened after a failed attack.

So, what's Obama's legacy so far? It's the stimulus. The only effect we know it's had is adding a massive amount of money to our debt and deficit. That's it.

Now, the presidency is a wonderful, challenging, and awesome thing. So, we expect and even demand that the office itself change the occupant. We hope and assume that President Obama will grow into the office as he continues in it. So, the next three years he should evolve and he should improve. Let's not kid ourselves. If the next three are like the first one, he's right next to Herbert Hoover in infamy of the presidency.

Video, Quote and Word of the Day

enervate (verb)

to deprive another of energy

It does not take a majority to prevail... but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men.

Samuel Adams

Doug Ross' Blogging Awards

Let me give Doug Ross, of Director Blue, a plug. After all, he included the Watcher's Council, of which I'm a member, an award for best ensemble blog in his year end blogging awards. Long time readers will know which ones I think are good choices and which ones are nonsense. Of course, I'm not giving the awards. After my third interview with Wade Rathke, in which I concluded that he "wants to rule the world", I asked Mr. Rathke what he thought of my conclusion. Here's how he responded.

I'm not commenting on your thesis. Your opinions are your own. Some I might agree with and others I might think are blarney. that's the nature of the process.

So, too here, all awards are entirely in the opinion of Mr. Ross. I congratulate him on an inclusive list. That takes a great deal of thought and research.

Napolitano on the Brink

The calls for Janet Napolitano to resign are now bi partisan.

Now Democrats have joined the chorus.

New Jersey State Senate President Richard Codey, a Democrat, wrote a letter to Napolitano this week calling on her to step down. He said Napolitano, an attorney and former Arizona governor, does not have the experience for the post she is in.

"We should have someone who doesn't need to go in there and learn about terrorism, learn about security," Codey told Fox News. "How close were these 300 people on this plane from losing their lives because homeland security broke down? Boy, it was really close."

The Department of Homeland Security was created in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks and has grown into one of the largest Cabinet departments in the federal government. Charged with keeping the nation safe from terrorist attacks and responding to natural disasters, it covers the TSA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and a slew of other agencies.

Codey said a candidate "well-versed" in intelligence should step into the job.

We all watched as the administration stood by for a week and more while more and more embarrassing information came out about Van Jones. That situation was only embarrassing for the President. In fact, it was stunning to watch the White House so tone deaf to the obvious.



The dynamics in that story were different. Van Jones was a relatively unimportant staffer. That story was driven and carried by the conservative media. This is a matter of life and death and Napolitano is a cabinet member. Unlike the Jones story, there is a fever pitch of criticism coming from everywhere about Napolitano.



Dan Gerstein, a former aide to Joe Lieberman, gives Napolitano no more than two to three months. If she lasts that long, the President himself will see his own approvals drop even further. So far, he's given Napolitano the standard vote of confidence.



I can't imagine that lasting too long. Napolitano has been an absolute disaster. It was Napolitano that was responsible for chainging terrorism into man made disasters. Napolitano's DHS was also responsible for the report that made returning military that joined militias a threat. It is DHS that is responsible for the Transportation Safety Administration which has jurisdiction over the airports. In a situation like this, there is plenty of blame to go around. Yet, with her comments that everything worked fine, Janet Napolitano became the face of incompetence in this crisis. So, her days are numbered. I know it. Most of the media knows it and it's only a matter of time before the President figures it out as well.

Council Winners

The Council winners are up.



Council Submissions
First place with 4 1/3 points! – Wolf Howling - Ashura – A New Phase To The Revolution
Second place with 2 points – The Razor - Hard Choices Needed to Stop Terrorism
Third place with 1 point – (Tie*) – Bookworm Room - The Princess and the Frog — Disney’s Gift to American Blacks
Third place with 1 point – (Tie*) –Right Truth - 300 terrorists in Yemen planning terror attacks: Bare your body and pay them money!
Third place with 1 point – (Tie*) –Soccer Dad - What’s There to Debate
Fourth place with 2/3 point – (Tie*) – Joshuapundit - # The Christmas Crotch Bomber – How He Almost Succeeded And How To Stop Him In The Future
Fourth place with 2/3 point – (Tie*) – Rhymes With Right - A Global Warming Observation
Fifth place with 1/3 point –(Tie*) – American Digest - The Emperor’s new speech impediment
Fifth place with 1/3 point –(Tie*) – The Colossus of Rhodey - Liberal Trek
Fifth place with 1/3 point –(Tie*) – Mere Rhetoric - Obligatory Post About New Organ Harvesting Story That Provides “No Evidence” For Organ Harvesting Libel
Fifth place with 1/3 point –(Tie*) – The Provocateur - Sarah Palin: Crazy Like a Fox
Non-Council Submissions
First place with 3 points! – Seraphic Secret - Suicide in Slow Motion
Second place with 2 2/3 points – Rhymes with Cars & Girls - The Smart People Crowd
Third place with 1 1/3 points– The Volokh Conspiracy - The Unorganized Militia Once Again is Needed
Fourth place with 1 point – Serious Medicine Strategy - Surgery For Life: How Romanticism and Religion Are Working With Science To Improve Medicine
Fifth place with 2/3 point (Tie*) – Doug Ross @ Journal - Judicial Watch Announces Most Corrupt Politicians of 2009 Awards
Fifth place with 2/3 point (Tie*) – Dick Morris - Griffith’s Switch Illustrates Death of Moderate Dems
Fifth place with 2/3 point (Tie*) – The Volokh Conspiracy - Assessing Airport Security Measures
Fifth place with 2/3 point (Tie*) – Hudson New York - Shhh…Mubarak is building a wall
Fifth place with 2/3 point (Tie*) – Gates Of Vienna - The Death Bells of the Occident
Sixth place with 1/3 point(Tie*) – Commentary/Jonathan Tobin - Comic Book Hate: a New Chapter in Anti-Israel Bias at the New York Times
Sixth place with 1/3 point(Tie*) – Impeach Obama Campaign.com - Does The Left Want To Impeach Obama Too?