Lee Dunn's List: US GOVT

• Pre-massacre concerns about Hasan may have been off limits to FBI
• Wednesday, December 16, 2009
• By DAVE MICHAELS / The Dallas Morning News
  dmichaels@dallasnews.com
• WASHINGTON – FBI agents who discovered Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan's extremist ties before the Fort Hood massacre may not have had access to key Army records on the psychiatrist, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins said Tuesday.
• The Maine Republican said some information that terrorism investigators need stays in military education or training files "and does not make its way to the personnel files" – the records that intelligence agencies would see when deciding whether to investigate someone.
• Collins is the top Republican on the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, which is investigating how pre-massacre intelligence was handled.
• She spoke after a closed-door hearing with Defense Department officials.

  • Why is something like this discussed behind closed doors and in secret? Is it to keep from embarassing some government officials/politicians?
  Add Sticky Note
• Hasan's colleagues and superiors repeatedly raised concerns about him during his psychiatric training.
• Issues included his fundamentalist Islamic leanings, religious proselytizing, work performance and mental stability.
• "It doesn't appear that the military has updated its personnel policies to reflect the threat of Islamic extremism," Collins said.
• "There appears to be a real gap in the protocols in the personnel procedures."
• Army spokesman George Wright said that in general, soldiers' supervisors decide whether to put letters of counseling or reprimand in personnel files.

  • Pass the buck down to the lower ranks..as usual and let some low echelon take the blame. US Govt/US Military SOP.
  Add Sticky Note
• He declined to discuss Hasan's records.
• An FBI-led terrorism task force began intercepting e-mails last December between Hasan and a radical imam in Yemen, Anwar al-Awlaki.
• FBI officials have said they didn't investigate further because the correspondence seemed consistent with Hasan's psychiatric research.

  • Pass the buck again..DHS and all the other Washington controlled Wonks seem too busy investigating "Christians, U.S. Veterans and legal gun owners" to be concerned with real threats.
  Add Sticky Note
• The FBI has investigated al-Awlaki's ties to terrorists since the late 1990s.
• Any contact with him should have set off an investigation, experts have told The Dallas Morning News.
• William Webster, who formerly headed the FBI and the CIA, is now reviewing the bureau's pre-massacre work on Hasan.

  • Oh that's real comforting. Sleep well, Kiddies
  Add Sticky Note
• FBI spokesman Paul Bresson declined to comment Tuesday.
• Sen. Joe Lieberman, the homeland security committee's chairman, said the panel may get a classified briefing this week about the task force that intercepted the e-mails.
• He said he was still trying to obtain Hasan's Army records.
• The military is doing its own study of whether the Nov. 5 slaughter could have been prevented and whether there are better ways to identify potentially dangerous service members.
• Hasan faces military charges of premeditated murder and attempted murder.
• Lieberman said that the White House would not allow Tuesday's briefing to be held in public and that it had taken too long to give lawmakers information.
• Information-sharing problems still seem to be compromising American security more than eight years after the 9/11 attacks, Collins said.

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• States get more time to comply with Real ID
• By Spencer S. Hsu

   Washington Post Staff Writer 
   Saturday, December 19, 2009
• The Obama administration will abandon a Dec. 31 deadline for states to tighten security requirements for driver's licenses, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced Friday.

  • Isn't this a carry over from the Bush,Jr administration?
  Add Sticky Note
• Delaying the requirement, which faces opposition from governors and Senate Republicans over how it should be implemented, jeopardizes an immigration and security measure adopted after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
• But it also removes concerns that tens of thousands of holiday travelers could have been subjected to heightened airport security checks if they lacked the new licenses.
• Under a controversial 2005 domestic security program passed by Congress and known as Real ID, states were required to issue more secure licenses by the end of 2009.
• Those would be the only licenses accepted by federal officials for such purposes as boarding commercial aircraft.
• Instead, states now have until May 11, 2011, to comply with Real ID, Napolitano said.
• "In order to ensure that the millions of Americans traveling this holiday season are not disrupted, DHS is extending the Dec. 31 REAL ID material compliance deadline," Napolitano said in a written statement.
• States have balked at what governors called an unfunded, $4 billion federal mandate by Congress, and what civil liberties groups criticized as a de facto national ID.
• After opponents fought the Bush administration to a standstill, Obama security officials and governors jointly asked Congress last spring to replace Real ID with a new program called Pass ID, which would cost half as much, be less stringent and come with federal grants.
• That plan would give states five years to include in their IDs a digital photograph and machine-readable features such as a bar code.
• It would also require states to verify applicants' identities and legal status by checking federal immigration, Social Security and State Department databases and original birth certificate records.
• It would add stronger privacy controls than contained in the Real ID program and drop a demand for new databases.
• Supporters hoped the year-end deadline would push Congress to approve Pass ID.
• But opponents refused to yield, with some Republicans accusing the administration of gutting the earlier plan and backsliding on security.
• Privacy groups continue to fight what they have called a "Real ID-lite."
• "Any attempt to implement PASS ID will harm national security," Reps. Lamar Smith (R-Tex.), Peter T. King (R-N.Y.), Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.) wrote in a Dec. 14 letter to several colleagues.
• "Key senators have called DHS's bluff, and the agency has once again blinked," American Civil Liberties Union officials wrote in a blog recently,
• noting that under Bush, DHS extended a previous deadline of May 2008 in the face of similar opposition.
• Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) said that until heath-care legislation is passed, he could not spare the time to overcome procedural blocks that several Senate Republicans had anonymously placed on the ID measure.
• With Congress set to leave soon for its winter break, Napolitano and governors retreated, leaving the future of the changes in doubt.
• On Thursday, Republican Gov. Jim Douglas of Vermont, chairman of the National Governors Association, and Democratic Gov. Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, vice chairman, asked Napolitano to waive the deadline.
• DHS said 46 states are not in compliance with the requirements, and 13 have passed laws refusing to participate.
• "Our citizens should not be punished for the failings of Real ID and the inability of Congress to act," the governors wrote.
• Roger Dow, head of the U.S. Travel Association, an industry trade group, said its members were pleased that the government did not allow the battle to tie up "the way the economy moves or how Americans travel," by potentially forcing residents of the 46 states to go through added airport screening.
• Napolitano urged Congress "to address systemic problems with the REAL ID Act to advance our security interests over the long term."
• She said her agency was "committed to moving forward to implement this key 9/11 Commission recommendation."
• The commission recommended tougher federal standards for driver's licenses and birth certificates.
• Eighteen of the 19 Sept. 11 hijackers obtained state IDs, some of them fraudulently, easing their movements inside the country.

  • Nevertheless, the Feds knew where these guys were and did not move to intervene before 9-11. Afterward and to date, the U.S. Government pulls another sleight of hand by putting the responsibility (a pretext) on the shoulders of the States and American citizens..law abiding ones.
  Add Sticky Note
• Lobbyists said that some GOP lawmakers may be delaying action on the ID security measure because they oppose the Obama administration's upcoming push for an immigration overhaul, and want to combine the issues.
• Analysts said that combining the two measures could complicate prospects for both.
• That was the case in 2007, the last time the Senate tried and failed to approve an immigration overhaul.

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• Health bill money for hospital sought by Dodd
• The Associated Press 
   Sunday, December 20, 2009; 11:32 PM
• A $100 million item for construction of a university hospital was inserted in the Senate health care bill at the request of Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., who faces a difficult re-election campaign, his office said Sunday night.
• The legislation leaves it up to the Health and Human Services Department to decide where the money should be spent, although spokesman Bryan DeAngelis said Dodd hopes to claim it for the University of Connecticut.
• The provision is included in a 383-page series of changes to the health care bill that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., outlined Saturday.
• Scattered throughout are numerous items sought by individual lawmakers, many of them directing money explicitly to programs or projects in their home states.
• The one sought by Dodd provides $100 million for "a health care facility that provides research, inpatient tertiary care, or outpatient clinical services."
• It must be affiliated with an academic health center at a public research university in the United States "that contains a State's sole public academic medical and dental school."
• The money can cover a maximum of 40 percent of the facility's construction costs.
• Based on the criteria set out on the bill, it appeared that state-affiliated hospitals in about a dozen states could compete for the funds.
• Dodd has played a key role in development of the health care bill in the Senate.
• He wielded the gavel earlier in the year when the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee spent weeks drafting its version of the measure.
• The late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., was chairman at the time, but unable to preside.
• Dodd, who is chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, is seeking a new term in 2010, but polls so far show him in a tight race.

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• Seedy Chicago Politics Passed Health Care Bill: Graham
• Seedy Chicago Politics Passed Health Care Bill: Graham

• By   ANDREW GREINER 

   

  Updated 10:43 AM CST, Mon, Dec 21, 2009
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  The United States Senate reached an agreement on health care reform legislation this weekend, and they couldn’t have done it without a bit of Chicago grit.

• At least, that’s what South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham thinks.

             

  But it’s no compliment.
• Graham, a long-time friend and adviser to President Obama’s election opponent John McCain,
• said the bill, which passed the Senate late Saturday night was only reached because of “seedy Chicago politics” which have been established by the new president from Chicago.
• “This is far from over. The House and Senate bills are in many ways irreconcilable,” Graham, a Republican who voted against the bill said on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Sunday morning. “ …
• You know, change you can believe in, after this health care bill debacle is now becoming an empty slogan.
• And it's really been replaced by seedy Chicago politics, when you think about it, backroom deals that amount to bribes.”
• Graham is upset over what he calls Enron-accounting tactics that were used to make the bill look solvent.
• “It is a sham. You collect taxes for 10 years and you pay out benefits for six years,
• and the Class Act, which no one's talking about, is a completely new government entitlement.”
• Seedy or not, now that the Senate has passed a version of its health care bill, both houses of Congress will attempt to reconcile the differences between their bills.
• That process should take just as much Chicago moxie to pull off.
• CitizenCane SEEDY politics, Chicago? ABSOLUTELY! You've only to look and see a Daley reminder of it.8:23 AM, 12.21.09
• DavidReich We won't forget this, Chicago and D.C. It's no wonder your cities have the highest crime rates in the Country. And now you bring your crime to Congress and the rest of the Nation.8:54 AM, 12.21.09
• bc123 Let's see ... this was supposed to be an open administration, honest, transparent, bi-partisan and doing business differently ... oh yeah, how's that hope and change going for you? It didn't take long for the Obama crowd to show their true colors ... and they're not red, white and blue.8:59 AM, 12.21.09
• Facebook User The know the main difference between our government and the one in Iran? Hmmm...thinking...oh, I guess there isn't any difference anymore!9:37 AM, 12.21.09
• jmbreland One year. If we can just survive one year

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• CONGRESS:   ARE THEY STUPID OR CONSPIRING TO ENSLAVE US ALL
• By   Michael LeMieux
    December 23, 2009
    NewsWithViews.com
• There   have been many commentaries on the constitutional oaths taken by our political   leaders.
• There have even been organizations created around constitutional   oaths of which I am a proud member (Oath Keepers).
• To me, and to every   other person sworn to protect and defend the Constitution, it is and should   be a solemn duty to ensure that our actions live up to that oath.
• But   is that what is actually happening or has the oath and by extension the   Constitution been relegated to mere politics.
• I would   say that for the vast majority of the rank and file in the military it   is a solemn vow.
• I have come to the conclusion that for the vast majority   of politicians, regardless of party, it has become a mere ceremony of   attaining office and nothing more.
• I have drawn this conclusion from the   actions of those in political positions and not from their words.
• So where   in the Constitution does Congress derive its power to interject itself   into every facet of our lives?
• Article   1, Section 8 of the Constitution enumerates the powers given to Congress   upon which they may act.
• Within this section you will not find any mention   of the power to regulate education, energy, parks and recreation, how   much water your toilet can consume per flush, healthcare, or even firearm   laws.
• So where do they get this power?
• They   extract, falsely, from section 8 which states: “…provide for   the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States…”   and “…regulate commerce with foreign Nations, and among the   several States…”
• From   this they have derived the “interstate commerce” and welfare   powers terminology upon which every infringement, by the federal government,   has been made against the citizens of this land.
• But is the federal government,   Congress in particular, following the true intent of the founders and   are they maintaining the balance of powers that was so crucial in maintaining   our freedom and liberty?
• What   did the founders mean when they coined the term “general welfare?”
• On March 3, 1817, President James Madison, one of our founding fathers,   vetoed a bill for the appropriation of funds on a federal public works   initiative, which deals with the general welfare clause. Excerpts from   this letter are as follows:
• "   I am constrained by the insuperable difficulty I feel in reconciling   the bill with the Constitution of the United States… The legislative   powers vested in Congress are specified and enumerated… and …   To refer the power in question to the clause "to provide for common   defense and general welfare" would be contrary to the established   and consistent rules of interpretation…
• Such a view of the Constitution   would have the effect of giving to Congress a general power of legislation   instead of the defined and limited one hitherto understood to belong   to them.
• But seeing that such a power is not expressly given by the   Constitution, and believing that it can not be deduced from any part   of it without an inadmissible latitude of construction and reliance   on insufficient precedents; believing also that the permanent success   of the Constitution depends on a definite partition of powers between   the General and the State Governments, and that no adequate landmarks   would be left by the constructive extension of the powers of Congress   as proposed in the bill, I have no option but to withhold my signature   from it…”
• President   Madison, throughout this admonition to the House, refers to specified   and enumerated powers of Congress.
• He went on to state that this was the   established and consistent rule of interpretation for the powers of congress,   and to give a broad interpretation would give Congress a general power   of legislation, which it did not have.
• Within the context   of “general welfare” the congress must stay   within the enumerated boundaries set by the Constitution.
• He concluded   by stating that if the Congress did not have these defined and limited   powers they would be able to legislate anything using the common defense   and general welfare clauses, and this was wrong.
• If it was wrong then,   then it is wrong now.
• Thomas   Jefferson also showed allegiance with Madison when he wrote:
• I   consider the foundation of the Constitution as laid on this ground:   That ‘all powers not delegated to the United States, by the Constitution,   nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States or to   the people.’ To take a single step beyond the boundaries   thus specially drawn around the powers of Congress is to take possession   of a boundless field of power, no longer susceptible of any definition.”   [Bold added]
• Thomas   Jefferson agreed with James Madison that Congress must be held within   the bounds outlined.
• To allow the General Welfare clause to be used in   a broad sense would allow Congress to assume a “boundless   field of power.”
• The founders knew that the government   was to be of limited scope, power, and means. By design, it was not to   be used to benefit any special interest groups, privileged class of persons,   or groups in society.
• Rather, the Constitution was to be the guarantor   of equality, where all people had a free society that allowed for the   unrestrained pursuit of happiness.
• If we   look at the massive expansion of the federal government since the first   New Deal until today with what I call the New Raw Deal we have seen a   massive explosion in the use of the General Welfare clause to expand the   size and scope of the federal government far beyond its constitutional   scope to approach upon totalitarian levels.
• The   other hook used by our federal government to expand its powers beyond   constitutional boundaries is the “interstate commerce” clause   mentioned above.
• Again; if we read what those who wrote the Constitution   said it meant something quite different and was not to be taken in an   expansive role but a limiting one.
• Today   we here the term “interstate commerce” being bandied about,   but that phrase does not even appear in the Constitution.
• The governments’   position is that if two or more states are involved, or if a foreign entity   is involved, then the federal government has jurisdiction over all aspects   of the venture regardless of what it is.
• Let’s see if this position   is constitutionally correct.
• The Constitution states in Article 1, Section   8: “To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the   several States, and with the Indian Tribes.”
• What did the founders   mean by regulating commerce? Madison wrote in Federalist 42 that the primary   reason to regulate commerce was to ensure equitable treatment between   all the states.
• He states specifically:
• “A   very material object of this power was the relief of the States   which import and export through other States, from the improper   contributions levied on them by the latter. Were these at liberty to   regulate the trade between State and State, it must be foreseen that   ways would be found out to load the articles of import and export, during   the passage through their jurisdiction, with duties which would fall   on the makers of the latter and the consumers of the former. We   may be assured by past experience, that such a practice would be introduced   by future contrivances; and both by that and a common knowledge   of human affairs, that it would nourish unceasing animosities, and not   improbably terminate in serious interruptions of the public tranquility.”
• The   idea was that the federal government would ensure a level playing among   ALL the states and ensure free and equitable movement of goods and services   between and among the many states.
• It did not confer power for the federal   government to enact legislation on how business was to be run or the manner   in which private enterprise conducted that business even if it did cross   state lines.
• But   our congress today would have us believe that there are no bounds by which   the federal government cannot cross as long as they can find a nexus that   touches upon interstate commerce or general welfare.
• When Speaker Nancy   Pelosi was asked where Congress had the constitutional authority to enact   an individual health insurance mandate she replied “Are you serious?   Are you serious?”
• Yes profound and thought provoking! But in a CNSNews.com   email inquiry on the “Constitutionality of Health Insurance Reform”   they claimed that the congressional authority was derived from congress’   power to regulate interstate commerce.
• There   logic is similar to that of another example of governmental overreaching   in United States v. Lopez, 514 U.S. 549 (1995)
• in which Lopez was walking near a school in San Antonio, Texas. Lopez   had in his position a concealed .38 caliber handgun and 5 cartridges.
• He was charged with violating the federal Gun Free School Zone Act of   1990, 18 U.S.C. 922(q).
• He argued that the federal government had no legal   authority to act, and no jurisdiction, within the boundaries of the state.
• The   governments’ argument was that carrying a gun near schools leads   to violent acts and has an adverse affect on the area, and it thereby   negatively affects commerce.
• They also stated that having crimes in the   vicinity of schools leads to poorer learning, due to fear of the guns,   which leads to a weaker economy, and thereby, negatively affects commerce.
• With this kind of circular logic, any area in the United States could   be placed under the jurisdiction of the Federal regime.
• In the   current healthcare legislation they impart a similar logic in that the   individual will be required (read forced) to purchase insurance or be   fined/taxed.
• Because the individual, though acting wholly within his state   would have a negative impact on health and insurance commerce and therefore   impacts on interstate commerce and therefore falls under the authority   of the federal government.
• With   that logic there is absolutely nothing that you or I may do that cannot   be found to impact commerce or welfare.
• In fact by you not doing something   you are negatively impacting commerce, like not purchasing insurance,   and therefore you can be forced to do so.
• So,   if Madison, Jefferson, and the rest of the founders felt so strongly against   a powerful central government and felt compelled to enumerate the specific   powers they could operate under and added the tenth amendment to ensure   that the federal government understood that all other powers were to remain   with the states and the people, why do we have so many federal laws and   agencies that are blatantly unconstitutional?
• I cannot   believe that those in Congress, the majority being lawyers with advanced   degrees and years of study, have risen to such a station in life based   on stupidity or ignorance.
• That would lead us to the inescapable conclusion   that they know exactly what they are doing and they are hell bent on the   destruction of personal liberty and state sovereignty our nation was founded   upon.
• At a very minimum they have abdicated their oath to protect and   defend the Constitution for support of party and self interest and at   worst have conspired against the Constitution they swore an oath to defend.
• © 2009 Michael LeMieux - All Rights   Reserved
• Michael   LeMieux was born in Midwest City, Oklahoma in 1956 and graduated from   Weber State University in Utah with a degree in Computer Science. He served   in both the US Navy and US Army (Active duty and National Guard) and trained   in multiple intelligence disciplines and was a qualified paratrooper.   He served with the 19th Special Forces Group, while in the National Guard,   as a Special Forces tactical intelligence team member. He served tours   to Kuwait and Afghanistan where he received the Purple Heart for injuries   received in combat.
   
    Mr. LeMieux left military duty at the end of 2005 after being medically   discharged with over 19 years of combined military experience. He currently   works as an intelligence contractor to the US government.
• Michael   is a strict constitutionalist who believes in interpreting the constitution   by the original intent of the founding fathers. His research has led him   to the conclusion that the republic founded by the Constitution is no   longer honored by our government. That those who rule America today are   doing so with the interest of the federal government in mind and not the   Citizens.
• Michael believes that all three branches of government have   strayed far from the checks and balances built into the Constitution and   they have failed the American people. A clear example is the Second Amendment,   which the Supreme Court and the founders have all said was an individual   right and could not be "infringed" upon, now has more than 20,000   state and federal laws regulating every aspect of the individuals right,   a definite infringement.

• He has traveled around the world living in 14   States of the Union including Hawaii, and visited (for various lengths   of time) in Spain, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Korea, Scotland, Pakistan, Mauritius,   Somalia, Diego Garcia, Australia, Philippines, England, Italy, Germany,   and Puerto Rico.

   

  Michael   now lives in Nebraska with his wife, two of his three children, Mother-in-Law   and grandchild. His hobbies include shooting, wood-working, writing, amateur   inventor and scuba diving when he can find the time.

   

  Contact   Michael through his Website: www.constitutiondenied.com

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• Dec 25, 2009
• US Consulate car nearly runs over guard
• A dispute is rumbling between Israel and the US Consulate in Jerusalem after a US diplomatic car allegedly tried running over a Defense Ministry security guard recently at an IDF checkpoint in the West Bank. The car had been stopped after the occupants refused to present identification papers.
• Israel is also furious that one of the consulate cars was found to have transported a Palestinian without permits between Jerusalem and the West Bank.
• The identification of American diplomats from the consulate at IDF checkpoints has been a major sticking point for several years.
• In January 2008, the Civil Administration of Judea and Samaria filed complaints with the Foreign Ministry after both US Security Coordinator Lt.-Gen. Keith Dayton and then-consul-general Jacob Walles refused to roll down their windows or open their car doors and show identification papers at a checkpoint.
• However, Israel's ire reached a new level after an incident on November 13 in which a five-car convoy of consulate vehicles with diplomatic plates arrived at the Gilboa crossing.
• According to a detailed official Israel Police description of the incident obtained exclusively by The Jerusalem Post, the drivers refused to identify themselves or open a window or door.
• The drivers, according to the report, purposely blocked the crossing, tried running over one of the Israeli security guards stationed there and made indecent gestures at female guards.
• The entire incident was documented by cameras at the crossing.
• Following the incident, the head of the police's Security Department, Lt.-Cmdr. Meir Ben-Yishai, convened a meeting on November 18 at police headquarters in Jerusalem with the regional security officer at the consulate, Tim Laas.
• Also present were officials from the Defense Ministry and the Foreign Ministry, and the regional security officer at the US Embassy in Tel Aviv, Dan Power.
• According to a protocol of the meeting, obtained by the Post, Ben-Yishai said he assumed the drivers of the consulate vehicles had received permission to act the way they had.
• He said that in the future, if a diplomatic car did not stop and identify its passengers "immediately," it would not be allowed to pass the checkpoint.
• Ben-Yishai described additional violations by consulate workers, and referred to at least one case in which a female Palestinian without appropriate documentation was found in a diplomatic car.
• Defense officials told the Post that there had been other similar cases in the past.
• "We view this as an attempt to illegally transfer someone," Ben-Yishai said, according to the official police protocol.
• Ben-Yishai also said the drivers of the cars, from east Jerusalem, hid their Israeli identity cards and put stickers over their names on their consulate-issued identity cards, since, as they claimed, "they are in a diplomatic vehicle and cannot be touched."
• He added that police had filed a complaint with the Foreign Ministry and were conducting their own investigation to identify the driver who had tried running over the Israeli security guard.
• While Power apologized for the incident and tried
  smoothing things over, Laas angered Ben-Yishai, according to the protocol, when he said it was unacceptable for "simple guards" to inspect senior diplomats.

• Laas said the communication needed to be between the guard and the driver, since "we can't know who the guard is." 

  This was understood by those present as
  indicating his lack of trust in Israeli guards. 
• "This situation is being misused, and as proof in the latest incident, they refused to identify themselves and even tried smuggling a Palestinian without permission," Ben-Yishai said, according to the protocol.
• "The security guards at the crossings are licensed and are authorized by me, and that is how they should be treated. They are not 'simple guards‚' as Tim Laas called them."
• Laas claimed that the Palestinian woman who had been in the car served as a translator for Dayton and the consul and that she had been returning with the team to Israel. He said it was possible that there had been a mishap with her papers.
• Concluding the meeting, Ben-Yishai set new procedures under which consulate cars would need to undergo complete inspections if only a driver were present. If diplomats are inside the vehicle, they must open the door and present their identification papers.
• A spokesperson from the consulate said that consulate policy was not to comment on internal meetings with Israeli officials.
• "In regards to the checkpoints, we enter and exit from the West Bank many times a day through checkpoints controlled by the government of Israel without incident, and consulate officials and drivers always carefully follow the procedures that have been established and agreed to by US and Israeli governments for entering and exiting the West Bank," the spokesperson said.
• "Any problems that have occurred with checkpoints have been a result of misunderstanding and miscommunication, and we are in regular contact with the government of Israel regarding those procedures to avoid miscommunications in the future."
• In response to the claim that the consulate cars had illegally transported Palestinians, the spokesperson said, "Any allegations that we are illegally transferring people are completely untrue, and as stated earlier, it is in our best interest that we follow the rules so that people who participate in US-funded programs can participate, and it would not be in our best interest to illegally transfer people."

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• Guilt by association? 1 in 3 fear punishment
• Americans say they see 'chilling' loss of rights
• Posted: December 26, 2009
  11:40 pm Eastern
  
   

  By Bob Unruh
   <!--- copywrite only show on NON commentary pages as per joseph meeting 8/23/06 ------>   <!-- copyright --> © 2009 WorldNetDaily
• Editor's note: This is another in a series of monthly "Freedom Index" polls conducted exclusively for WND by the public opinion research and media consulting company Wenzel Strategies.
• There's a new "chill" that has nothing to do with claims of global warming or climate change and
• everything to do with the failing confidence Americans feel in their own freedoms, according to a new poll.
• "More Americans this month felt that there was more of a climate of fear over their freedom of association – with more than one in three – 36 percent – saying that they believed Americans had reason to fear punishment or retribution based on who their friends were or who they met with. This is chilling stuff!" said Fritz Wenzel of Wenzel Strategies.
• The WND/Wenzel telephone survey was conducted Dec. 18-21 using an automated telephone technology calling a random sampling of listed telephone numbers.
• The survey included 26 questions and carries a 95 percent confidence interval. It included 823 likely voters. It carries a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points.
• His survey revealed that the WorldNetDaily Freedom Index took a huge plunge in December, dropping to its lowest ever mark of 46.4 on a 100-point scale.
• The assessment is based on respondents' answers to a series of monthly questions about how they feel about a basketful of liberties they enjoy as Americans.
• The survey's initial result in June was 57.6, which fell to 53.2 in July. There followed a slight uptick with 54.2 in August and 56.4 in September, but October fell again, to 52.2 followed by a weak rally at 53.6 in November.
• Wenzel described the issues undermining Americans' confidence in their liberties as linked to Washington's moves toward President Obama's agenda.

• "When it comes to health care reform, December has turned out to be a very good month for President Barack Obama," he said. "But when it comes to public approval of his work, it has been a very bad month."  

   
• "There has been a dramatic negative move in the WorldNetDaily.com Freedom Index this month, dropping for othe first time below the dead-level-even mark of 50 on its 100-point scale. It now stands at 46.4, down from 53.6 just a month ago

• "This coincides with the commencement of the serious votes on the health care bill, which apparently imposes some harsh restrictions on virtually every aspect of the American health care system," he said.  

  "Clearly, people are spooked."  

• Nearly half of all respondents – 47 percent, confirmed there has been a decrease in freedoms under Obama's reign. That was up from 40 percent a month earlier.  

  "That's a big move," Wenzel said.  
• "In this survey, his approval is just 41 percent positive, down from 44 percent last month.
• "And, in this and other polls, Obama has seen his job approval rating plummet," he continued.
• He is slipping dangerously close to a point from which it will be very hard to recover."
• Wenzel reported among Republicans, 73 percent confirmed "a decrease in freedoms under Obama, up from 61 percent just one month ago."
• "And among political independents, the percentage who said the same thing increased by 7 percent this month over last," he said.
• Along with increased worries about the loss of American freedoms, "more Americans this month felt that there was more of a climate of fear over their freedom of association," he said.
• Thirty-six percent said they thought Americans has reason to be concerned about punishment based on their friends and acquaintances, he said.
• "An increase in the fear that Republicans said they personally feel when expressing their thoughts using a bumper sticker or campaign button was offset by a growing sense of freedoms felt by Democrats to do the same thing.
• This is a continuing trend of political polarization that we have seen in the WND Freedom Index over the past few months which has coincided with the increasing bitterness over sweeping Capitol Hill legislation," he said.
• The result may not be good news for the president.
• this polling data paints a drab picture for the Democrats heading into what is shaping up to be a critical congressional election year," Wenzel suggested.
• "This is the bottom line – coming on the heels of the Democratic Party election losses last month
• "The Democrats have so far pinned their legislative hopes on landmark victories on two key issues – health care reform and the so-called Cap and Trade environmental bill that passed the House last summer,
• but public sentiment on both of those issues has tilted strongly against the Democratic Party.
• "Politics is a lot like the weather – just wait a little while and it will change.
• But right now, it is hard to imagine a scenario – or an issue – where they [Democrats] could regain enough political momentum to hold their majorities in both houses less than 11 months from now," Wenzel said.
• Nearly one voter in five said Americans are "not at all free" to speak their minds without fear of punishment and another one in six said the country is "not very free."
• One in seven even have "great fear" that punishment or investigation could result from their choice of worship.
• The means for the government to obtain such information also is an issue.
• More than three in 10 believe the government is using "scanners" and electronic records to create "great intrusion" into American lives.
• Nearly 10 percent express "great fear" at even expressing their own opinions.
• About one in six said they were not very free or not at all free to even put a bumper sticker expressing their political or religious beliefs on their vehicles.
• One in five expressed the same reservations about discussing their beliefs if the conversation was in a public area.
• And more than one in four said they were not very or not at all free to express their opinions without fear of government penalty.
• The result was that more than 25 percent of Americans censor their own expressions because of the perceived threat.

40 more annotations...

• Suspect Charged in Thwarted Terror Plot Aboard Detroit-Bound Jet
• Sunday, December 27, 2009
• A federal judge has told a Nigerian man that he is charged with trying to blow up a Northwest Airlines plane on Christmas Day.
• U.S. District Judge Paul Borman read 23-year-old Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab his charges in a conference room on Saturday at the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor, where he is being treated for burns.
• Agents brought Abdulmutallab into the room in a wheelchair. He had a blanket over his lap and wore a green hospital robe.
• The judge asked Abdulmutallab if he understood the charges against him. He responded in English: "Yes, I do."
• The judge told Abdulmutallab that he will be held until his next court appearance on January 8.
• Abdulmutallab is accused of setting off a device aboard a Northwest flight upon landing in Detroit, which resulted in a fire and what appears to have been an explosion.
• He was reportedly subdued and restrained by the passengers and flight crew. The airplane landed shortly thereafter, and he was taken into custody by Customs and Border Patrol officers.
• Preliminary FBI analysis found that the device contained PETN, also known as pentaerythritol, a highly explosive device.
• Abdulmutallab required medical treatment, and was transported to the University of Michigan Medical Center after the plane landed.
• A source tells Fox News that the suspect was granted a "multi-entry" visa to the U.S. last year, meaning that he could essentially come and go as he pleases.
• The source also says that Abdulmutallab has traveled to many European countries in the past year, possibly even Yemen.
• Abdulmutallab's father reportedly told a Nigerian news outlet that six months ago he alerted the U.S. Embassy to his son's fanatical religious views, according to the New York Post.
• The father, Alhaji Umaru Mutallab, allegedly told Nigerian newspaper This Day that he had informed both the U.S. Embassy and the Nigerian security services of his son's activities six months ago, the Post reported.
• "This alleged attack on a U.S. airplane on Christmas Day shows that we must remain vigilant in the fight against terrorism at all times," Attorney General Eric Holder said.

  • Yeah.."you all" were real vigilant...Too busy focusing on American Christians; American gun owners; U.S. Military Veterans and those loyal, faithful Americans who believe in the Constitution and the real Rule of Law.
  Add Sticky Note
• We will continue to investigate this matter vigorously, and we will use all measures available to our government to ensure that anyone responsible for this attempted attack is brought to justice."

  • Yeah...we all know the fault for Islamic violence are Jews and Christians. What you going to do, Mr Holder? Produce that recent U.S. Army study written by an Army Major and clamp down on Christians..because the murderous Islamic bastards want to kill? We will all sleep comfortably tonight, Mr Holder, knowing you and President Obama are "keeping us safe."
  Add Sticky Note
• Passengers reported that Abdulmutallab was calm and lucid throughout.
• One flight attendant asked him what he had had in his pocket, and he replied "explosive device."
• Earlier Saturday, it was revealed the U.S. reportedly had known for at least two years that the suspect could have terrorist ties.
• The official said that the suspect has been on a list that includes people with known or suspected contact or ties to a terrorist or terrorist organization.
• The intelligence database that Abdulmutallab is part of is described as containing people who have "loose ties or links to extremists," Fox News has learned. Any person in this database is someone who as of yet rises to threat level of no-fly lists or other more serious screenings.
• Multiple law enforcement officials identified Abdulmutallab as a Nigerian national who was reportedly an engineering student at London's University College.
• On Saturday, police in the U.K. were searching a number of locations in connection to the suspect, while authorities met with a Nigerian banker that may be the father of the suspect.
• Former bank official Alhaji Umaru Mutallab says he traveled from his home in the Nigeria's Muslim-dominated north to meet officials in Abuja, the capital. The elder Mutallab says his son left London to travel, though he did not know where to.
• "I believe he might have been to Yemen, but we are investigating to determine that," Alhaji Umaru Mutallab said.
• Abdulmutallab's family is reportedly wealthy and his apartment is in an upscale building.
• U.S. Intelligence is looking into the claims of a connection to Yemen but so far there is no information of a direct connection.
• Officials claim the suspect has links to Al Qaeda and are working with London Metropolitan police to search addresses with possible connections to the suspected terror attack.
• and that searches are being carried out at addresses in central London. She refused to confirm the number and location of the searches.
• A spokeswoman for Scotland Yard said that U.K. police are in contact with U.S. authorities
• The hospital said one passenger from the flight was taken to the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor, but referred all inquiries to the FBI.
• he was taken off the plane handcuffed to a stretcher.
• Abdulmutallab's alleged U.K. links have also led to heightened security at airports and on all flights to the U.S. from Britain, the London Times reports.
• A Department for Transport spokeswoman said, "In response to events in Detroit the US authorities have requested additional measures for U.S.-bound flights.

  • Yeah..make sure to shake down any identified as Christians to make sure they're carrying Bibles or Crosses.
  Add Sticky Note
• “We are monitoring the situation and will make any assessments as necessary as this develops.”
• Although general airport security remains the same, with no change to luggage and liquid restrictions, passengers travelling to the US can expect increased searches at the gate before boarding.

35 more annotations...

• Anti-Semitism czar's first target is Israel
• Obama envoy hails group accused of working against Jewish state
• Posted: December 25, 2009
  10:55 pm Eastern
  
   

  By Aaron Klein
   <!--- copywrite only show on NON commentary pages as per joseph meeting 8/23/06 ------>   <!-- copyright --> © 2009 WorldNetDaily 
• JERUSALEM – In her first major interview since becoming President Obama's newly appointed anti-Semitism czar last month, Hannah Rosenthal yesterday blasted the Israeli government for its criticism of a lobby group accused of anti-Israel activity.
• Rosenthal characterized as "most unfortunate" a decision by Michael Oren, Israel's ambassador to the United States, to not attend the annual dinner in September of J Street, a lobby group that is mostly led by left-leaning Israelis and that receives funds from Arab and Muslim Americans.
• In an interview yesterday from Jerusalem with Israel's Haaretz newspaper, Rosenthal said Oren "would have learned a lot" if he had participated in J Street's conference
• Rosenthal was in Israel as the Obama administration's envoy to the Foreign Ministry's Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism.
• "I came away realizing what a generational divide there is and I don't know how it is in Israel. Young people want to be part of the discussion, they feel they have fresh ideas and they feel that we have to end the stalemate," she said, speaking of the J Street dinner.
• 
  Hannah Rosenthal
• Rosenthal stated it was important that new and different voices need be heard regarding Israel in the American Jewish community.
• "It is not 1939," she said. "We have the state of Israel. We have laws in countries that are holding people accountable."
• Regarding a recent U.N. report accusing Israel of war crimes during the Jewish state's defensive war in Gaza last year, Rosenthal told Haaretz, "it is not anti-Semitic to look at a certain policy of Israel and say – I disagree with it. Half of the population in Israel isn't anti-Semitic by not agreeing with policies."
• That U.N. report has been blasted as one-sided and as relying largely on Hamas information and Palestinian witnesses.
• And I think that healthy democracies – and Israel is one – ha[ve] to do self reflection and the world looks at the light unto the nations and says I agree to this policy or I don't agree – that is not anti-Semitism."
• Continued Rosenthal: "I do believe that some of the criticism against Israel is anti-Semitism but not all of it is.
• Rosenthal serves on the board of J Street, which states on its website it seeks to "promote meaningful American leadership to end the Arab-Israeli and Israeli-Palestinian conflicts peacefully and diplomatically."
• J Street supports talks with Hamas, a terrorist group whose charter seeks the destruction of Israel.
• The group opposes sanctions against Iran and is harshly critical of Israeli offensive anti-terror military actions.
• Reacting to Rosenthal's remarks yesterday, Jeffrey Goldberg at The Atlantic commented, "the Obama administration official charged with monitoring worldwide anti-Semitism makes her first target... the Israeli ambassador to the United States? I'll be taking bets now on how long Hannah Rosenthal lasts in the job."
• When its ambassador, Oren, refused to attend the annual J Street dinner, Israeli embassy spokesman Yoni Peled told the Jerusalem Post his government has some "concern over certain [J Street] policies that could impair Israel's interests."
• The Israeli government, meanwhile, has been distancing itself from J Street.
• The Powerline blog previously documented how far-leftist Israelis are influential in the J Street leadership, including former Knesset Speaker Avrum Burg, who generated controversy when he stated, "To define the state of Israel as a Jewish state is the key to its end."
• Another key J Street member, Mideast expert Henry Siegman, has compared Israel to apartheid South Africa.
• Rosenthal was anti-war activist
• WND recently reported Rosenthal was a 1960s anti-war activist and community organizer whose husband worked with the founder of a socialist party, of which, according to documentary evidence, Obama was a member.

  • Another Communist Bitch in the Obama administration
  Add Sticky Note
• Hannah Rosenthal, a former Health Department regional director under the Clinton administration, started her position last month as the State Department's special envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism.
• She previously headed the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, an umbrella U.S. Jewish organization.
• Rosenthal was a community organizer who became involved in the anti-war and civil-rights movements in the 1960s.
• In Madison, with 1.5 percent unemployment, Phelps worked with University of Wisconsin professor and socialist activist Joel Rogers to create a pilot program through the blue-ribbon Economic Summit Council to train workers and match skills with jobs.
• Her husband, Richard Phelps, is an executive from Wisconsin.
• That same year, while running for a seat in the Illinois Senate as a Democrat, Obama actively sought and received the endorsement of the socialist New Party, according to confirmed reports during last year's presidential campaign. Rogers was founder of the New Party.
• The New Party's aim was to help elect politicians who espoused its policies.
• The New Party worked alongside the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN.
• Among New Party members was linguist and radical activist Noam Chomsky.
• Obama's campaign last year denied the then-presidential candidate was ever an actual member of the New Party.
• But the New Zeal blog dug up print copies of the New Party News, the party's official newspaper, which show Obama posing with New Party leaders, listing him as a New Party member and printing quotes from him as a member.
• The party's spring 1996 newspaper boasted: "New Party members won three other primaries this Spring in Chicago: Barack Obama (State Senate), Michael Chandler (Democratic Party Committee) and Patricia Martin (Cook County Judiciary)."
• The paper quoted Obama saying, "These victories prove that small-'d' democracy can work."
• The newspaper lists other politicians it endorsed who were not members but specifies Obama as a New Party member.
• New Ground, the newsletter of Chicago's Democratic Socialists of America, reported in its July/August 1996 edition that Obama attended a New Party membership meeting April 11, 1996, in which he expressed his gratitude for the group's support and "encouraged (New Party members) to join in his task forces on voter education and voter registration."

• A former top member of the New Party recounted in a WND e-mail interview Obama's participation with his organization.   

  "A subcommittee met with (Obama) to interview him to see if his stand on the living wage and similar reforms was the same as ours," recalled Marxist activist Carl Davidson.  

  "We determined that our views on these overlapped, and we could endorse his campaign in the Democratic Party," Davidson said.  
• Davidson was a Chicago member and activist within the New Party. He told WND he handled some of the New Party member databases and attended most of the party's meetings.
• Davidson is also a notorious far-left activist and former radical national leader in the anti-Vietnam movement. He served as national secretary for the infamous Students for a Democratic Society anti-war group, from which the Weatherman domestic terrorist organization later splintered.
• Davidson remembers Obama attending one New Party meeting to thank attendees for voting for him.
• Davidson said that to his knowledge Obama was not a member of the New Party "in any practical way" – using qualifying language.
• Candidates must be approved by the party's political committee and, once approved, must sign a contract mandating they will have a "visible and active relationship" with the party.
• Becoming a New Party member required some effort on behalf of the politician.
• Asked whether Obama signed the New Party contract, Davidson replied there was "no need for him to do so."
• "At the end of our session with him, we simply affirmed there was no need to do so, because on all the key points, the stand of his campaign and the New Party reform planks were practically the same," Davidson told WND.
• Among the New Party's stated objectives were "full employment, a shorter work week and a guaranteed minimum income for all adults; a universal 'social wage' to include such basic benefits as health care, child care, vacation time and lifelong access to education and training; a systematic phase-in of comparable worth and like programs to ensure gender equity."
• The socialist-oriented goals of the New Party were enumerated on its old website.
• The New Party stated it also sought "the democratization of our banking and financial system – including popular election of those charged with public stewardship of our banking system, worker-owner control over their pension assets [and] community-controlled alternative financial institutions."
• Many of the New Party's founding members were Democratic Socialists of America leaders and members of Committees of Correspondence, a breakaway of the Communist Party USA.
• The New Party, established in 1992, took advantage of what was known as electoral "fusion," which enabled candidates to run on two tickets simultaneously, attracting voters from both parties.
• But the New Party went defunct in 1998, one year after fusion was halted by the Supreme Court.
• ACORN, convicted in massive, nationwide voter-fraud cases, has been a point of controversy for Obama over the presidential candidate's ties to the group.
• According to DSA documents, the New Party worked with ACORN to promote its candidates.
• In 1995, the DSA's New Ground newsletter stated, "In Chicago, the New Party's biggest asset and biggest liability is ACORN.
• "On one hand, in Chicago, ACORN is a group that attempts to organize some of the most depressed communities in the city. Chicago organizers for ACORN and organizers for SEIU Local 880 have been given modest monthly recruitment quotas for new New Party members.
• "Like most organizations, ACORN is a mixed bag," the newsletter said.
• On the other hand, like most groups that depend on canvassing for fundraising, it's easy enough to find burned out and disgruntled former employees. And ACORN has not had the reputation for being interested in coalition politics – until recently and, happily, not just within the New Party."
• Aside from founding the New Party, Rogers also was co-founder of the Apollo Alliance, a group of U.S. business, labor, environmental, and community leaders which reportedly aided in the drafting of Obama's stimulus and cap and trade bills.

60 more annotations...

• Sunday, December 27, 2009
• Homeland security head: The security system worked
• Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says investigators did not have enough information to keep a terror suspect from boarding a flight bound for Detroit and that the system worked as it should have.
• The father of the man accused of attempting to blow up the jetliner told U.S. officials in Nigeria he was concerned about his son's extreme religious views.
• However, Napolitano says there was no specific information to place Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab on a no-fly list.
• Napolitano says that within 60 to 90 minutes of the incident all 120 flights that were in the air at time were contacted to make sure the attempted bombing did not extend beyond the flight to Detroit.
• Napolitano appeared Sunday on ABC's "This Week."
• C.H.  Location: WI 

   

    Reply #  1 
      Date: Dec 27, 2009 - 10:37 AM EST 

   

   

   

   

   

      not have enough information?   

   

    An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
  
  It would help if this administration to clarify if they inserted these word into their vocabulary...'terror, terrorism, terrorist, evil, bad, Islamic Jihadist.'
  
  If you've been watching this guy for two years, you have enough information.
• tibby  Location: OH 

   

    Reply #  3 
      Date: Dec 27, 2009 - 10:40 AM EST 

   

   

   

   

   

      The whirling dervish of spin city   

   

    I was not aware that the passenger that subdued the terrorist worked for homeland security! Apparently, this passenger was a Air Marshall placed there by Homeland Security.
• JAG CA  Location: CA 

   

    Reply #  4 
      Date: Dec 27, 2009 - 10:41 AM EST 

   

   

   

   

   

      It worked????? Janet from planet   

   

    stupid claims letting some @hole who bought a ticket in Nigeria for cash and was reported by his father (head of some big bank) as a religious nut is a great example of security system working.
  
  Just making a ticket purchase for cash, having no luggage to check, and being a young male from a Muslim nation should get your sorry behind pulled out of line with more than a few additional questions being asked! Searching every grandma might be PC but the Israelis do a far better job by using a little common sense as to who should get an extra rectal exam.
  
  Janet Napolitano, isn't this the lame brain behind calling most conservatives potential suicide bombers?
• DanNV  Location: NV 

   

    Reply #  5 
      Date: Dec 27, 2009 - 10:42 AM EST 

   

   

   

   

   

      Pay No Attention   

   

    I am becoming so aggravated with the Obama administration's insistence on denying the facts, refusal to admit responsibility and heaven forbid acknowledge am actual failure, I am at the point of exploding.
  
  The system did not work Ms. Napolitano; it adhered to your stinking politically correct dictates and failed to either "profile" a probable terror threat or at a minimum, because of the information available, subject him to greater screening and scrutiny.
  
  The jokes in the immediate aftermath of this averted disaster, thanks to real people, not rules and regulations were predictable. Did the passengers read the suspect his Miranda rights before they subdued him, will the passengers be "court martialed" because they subjected the suspect to harsh measures?
  
  The real joke however, is you, Ms. Napolitano, the president, his cabinet, and the whole of the uber liberal lot now leading Congress. We are laughing at you, not with you, in between fearing for our very lives as a result of gross negligence, incompetence and incredible stupidity
• Dock0  Location: WV 

   

    Reply #  7 
      Date: Dec 27, 2009 - 10:47 AM EST 

   

   

   

   

   

      Napolitano's Head On A Stake Would...   

   

    ..."Homeland security head: The security system worked"
  
  These bureaucrats are shameless, ain't they?
  
  Now, we have liberal Democrat Napolitano bragging about how her security system leaped to bag that Nigerian islamic terrorist and take him out of the dangerous hands of the regular folks who had him, but lacked a hank of rope or a nice hook in the roof of the plane to hang him.
  
  Homeland Security will delay and ravage the innocent American traveler the day after the islamic nut-job tried to take out a plane load of air travelers, but Homeland Security will never profile any travelers in fear of pissing off the moslems, who, once again, seem to be the only group of potential travelers who have this fascination with sneaking explosives and box cutters abord American airliners.
  
  The only solution to this problem is one that requires American government bureaucrats to travel in the same style, and through the same invasion of privacy as other American citzens so that they can experience the great thrill of Homeland Security in action.
• Florida Jim  Location: FL 

   

    Reply #  9 
      Date: Dec 27, 2009 - 10:50 AM EST 

   

   

   

   

   

      Napolitano couldn't control Mexicans   

   

    flooding our country from the south. She refuses to support a fence or deporting illegals or support sheriff Joe or enforcing employer check system while we have 10-18% unemployment.Napolitano is another of Obama's choices who wants a Soros' one0world government where people roam freely from country to country as it pleases them, anarchist heaven.
  Who do you want Sheriff Joe or Napolitano?
  We desperately need a Congressional Contract to stop the lifetime employment of those in power beginning with Term Limits and obeying the Constitution-which Pelosi has never read.
• JD's Most Handsome Son  Location: OH 

   

    Reply #  10 
      Date: Dec 27, 2009 - 10:53 AM EST 

   

   

   

   

   

      God in Heaven, Hear Our Prayers!   

   

    So the head of the nation's Homeland Security Agency goes out in public and proudly says that after a suspect on her watch list successfully boarded a commercial airline with a high explosive bomb so that he had to be taken down by common, ordinary American citizens, that her system worked!?!?!?!?
  
  And not a swinging dik in our entire political ruling class will likely even challenge her. They'll fix their bow ties, comb their hair like their mommies did and bemoan the spread between long and short term interest rates before they retire to the club for their gin and tonics.
  
  God, why have you deserted us? Was it because of the ho moes and the fact we allow them to marry? Was it because we abort and kill our kids? What was it? Give us a sign.
  
  We are truly being led by the deaf and the blind.
• ropati  Location: CA 

   

    Reply #  11 
      Date: Dec 27, 2009 - 10:55 AM EST 

   

   

   

   

   

      So, Janet   

   

   
  you say the system worked when ordinary citizens jump in and do for free what your guys are getting paid to do and don't?
  
  Typical Obama administration response.
• Charles  Location: CA 

   

    Reply #  12 
      Date: Dec 27, 2009 - 11:05 AM EST 

   

   

   

   

   

      DHS' JOB IS TO PROTECT TERRORISTS?   

   

    UNDER OBAMA, THE JOB OF DHS IS TO PROTECT THE RIGHTS OF TERRORISTS AT THE EXPENSE OF THE LIBERTIES OF AMERICAN CITIZENS. WHAT WE ASK FOR FROM DHS IS TO BE PROTECTED, WHAT WE GET FROM OBAMA'S MORON NAPOLITANO IS LOSS OF FREEDOM, AND LIES. WHO ACTUALLY GETS PROTECTED? THE TERRORISTS. BECAUSE IT IS EASIER TO TAKE FROM THE INNOCENT THAN TO FIND THE GUILTY. BESIDES, IT IS OUR FAULT THAT THEY ATTACK US, RIGHT?
• DAVID  Location: ME 

   

    Reply #  13 
      Date: Dec 27, 2009 - 11:05 AM EST 

   

   

   

   

   

      In all Fairness...   

   

    I can understand why they may not have had enough information to prevent him from boarding, but they certainly had enough information to pull him out of line and give him a thorough interrogation. If they can pull my friend's 86 year old mother (in a wheelchair) out of line for questioning - in the name of political correctness - then they could have done the same for this guy. Not accepting any responsibility isn't going to work, Janet. The American people deserve better.
• prpl  Location: TX 

   

    Reply #  14 
      Date: Dec 27, 2009 - 11:05 AM EST 

   

   

   

   

   

      Some Irony   

   

    This "bomber" came from a privileged background and only has in common with the other bombers his religion. He is not downtrodden or living in poverty or mad at America because we were
  "invaders" of his country. He wanted to kill Americans over American soil because of his RELIGION. Islam, the religion of peace.
  
  When will the powers that be wake up, lose the PC mindset and do their jobs? Janet Napolitano is not good enough at the spin to make this remotely believable.
• Keep the change  Location: NC 

   

    Reply #  15 
      Date: Dec 27, 2009 - 11:09 AM EST 

   

   

   

   

   

      Of course it worked   

   

    Mixing the ingredients and lighting them in sufficient amounts to have the towel head hospitalized, is the only way to find out if the guy you have watched for 2 years is really a Jihaddi.
  
  If not on no fly, why not give these guys a colostomy bag and strap them into their seats for the entire flight.
  
  A good solid B+ for the Muslim administration.
  
  I have not heard of this act being renounced by the American Muslim community and I won't hold my breath
• Aposematic  Location: VA 

   

    Reply #  16 
      Date: Dec 27, 2009 - 11:16 AM EST 

   

   

   

   

   

      Fire them all immediately!   

   

    Janet is obviously insane and all in charge of our security in all departments should be fired ASAP for not doing their jobs (by Janet's own words) before they get us all killed
• Glenn  Location: KY 

   

    Reply #  18 
      Date: Dec 27, 2009 - 11:19 AM EST 

   

   

   

   

   

      The Bush/Neocon Decade   

   

   
  War, Debt and Economic Depression. Thanks for giving us POTUS Barack Obama. Liberals could not have done it alone
• BillK9  Location: NY 

   

    Reply #  19 
      Date: Dec 27, 2009 - 11:22 AM EST 

   

   

   

   

   

      it worked?   

   

    Napolitano says the system worked? Excactly what worked? If the plane would have gone down in flames- she still would be saying the system worked. This woman is a moron. Why wasn't he put on no fly list when his own father reported him to the US Embassy? This administration is riddled with incompetence.
• Jerry  Location: CA 

   

    Reply #  20 
      Date: Dec 27, 2009 - 11:23 AM EST 

   

   

   

   

   

      The answer.   

   

    Here is the answer that is obvious but no one in leadership understands: Send all muslims back to Arabia until they get their people straightened out. If they ever learn to live in peace, let them visit. (Fat chance of that.)
• Grateful Dad  Location: PA 

   

    Reply #  21 
      Date: Dec 27, 2009 - 12:11 PM EST 

   

   

   

   

   

      Let's Have Compassion   

   

   
  This young and troubled man obviously needs the type of rehabilitation only progressive liberals can provide.
  
  He is young and his life can be turned around.
  
  Let's appeal to President Obama and Attorney General Holder for lieniency and a second chance for this wayward youth.
  
  And if that does not work lets put his head in a vice and squish it like a grape!
• Sandy  Location: FL 

   

    Reply #  23 
      Date: Dec 27, 2009 - 12:23 PM EST 

   

   

   

   

   

      Who is SHE kidding...???   

   

    For security to have worked PROPERLY, the muslim pig would have been stopped BEFORE he got on the plane.
  We are being led by a bunch of liberal weenies who have no idea what an enemy looks like.
  And why should they? Their families are all safe and flying on private jets and living in luxury on the taxpayers dime.
  Napolitano is a liar....she needs to be impeached and then hung for treason.
• Sandy  Location: FL 

   

    Reply #  24 
      Date: Dec 27, 2009 - 12:25 PM EST 

   

   

   

   

   

      ...AND....additionally....   

   

    It was not an American citizern who took the pig down...it was one brave Dutchman.....cudos to him....we need to give HIM THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE....peel it away from the pig in the WH and give it to him!
• Tony  Location: AL 

   

    Reply #  25 
      Date: Dec 27, 2009 - 12:27 PM EST 

   

   

   

   

   

      Sleep easy, IDIOTS are on the job!   

   

    WHAT AN IDIOT!!!! This woman needs to be replaced IMMEDIATELY, with someone who has an inkling of what is going on. This is typical of the "superstars" in Obama's cabinet, so we can all rest easy. Am I the only one who is worried about this country?? How about a competency hearing for our wonderful TSA administrator, she obliviously has trouble with reality
• Michael  Location: AL 

   

    Reply #  26 
      Date: Dec 27, 2009 - 12:41 PM EST 

   

   

   

   

   

      Screening Worked?   

   

    Reports are that he was flying on a one-way ticket that was purchased for cash and had no baggage. I am sure this would have triggered a search except for the obsession with "political correctness". I guess it's better to risk a couple of hundred lives than to be accused of profiling!
• 
     

   

   

      Tommy  Location: CA 

   

    Reply #  28 
      Date: Dec 27, 2009 - 12:46 PM EST 

   

   

   

   

   

      She's right, you know   

   

    The American government, having long ago abandonned any sense of muscularity and now preferring to operate primarily like a larger version of a Euroweenie milquetoast parliament, cannot in fact fight terrorism.
  
  However the "system," which is not what the government does, but what we do in spite of the government worked fine. Dolts like Napolitano and eunuchs like Obama can prattle on about "fairness" and "cultural sensitivity" and all that other shït all they like, but in the meantime, any Muslims slime who comes over here to mess with us should know that we will fvck them up bad.
  
  That's the system folks. Relying on a liberal government to protect you is the action of a suicidal fool. We'll take care of business oursevles.
  
  Screw Homeland Security - you want security? Provide it yourself
• Alan  Location: WV 

   

    Reply #  32 
      Date: Dec 27, 2009 - 1:04 PM EST 

   

   

   

   

   

      Terrorists   

   

    Whaddaya mean "The system worked" Ms. Napolitano? What the h * * * have you been smoking? If the system had worked, this guy would never boarded the plane in Nigeria. If the system had worked, he would have been caught in Amsterdam. The fact is that THE SYSTEM DIDN'T WORK. As homeland security secretary it was your responsibility to stop this sort of thing from happening, and you failed
• m  Location: NC 

   

    Reply #  33 
      Date: Dec 27, 2009 - 1:06 PM EST 

   

   

   

   

   

      The system worked?   

   

    Apparently I didn't get the memo officially drafting the American flying public as the last line of defense...
• William  Location: TX 

   

    Reply #  34 
      Date: Dec 27, 2009 - 1:21 PM EST 

   

   

   

   

   

      Yes the system worked   

   

    Of course, from a Dimocrat (sic)view point, the system worked perfectly. No one's civil rights were violated, no one was profiled and as an added bonus no firearms were involved. The fact that no one was killed is not the point. The issue is not the defense of citizens. If that were the case we would not see KSM coming to New York for a trial in Civilian Court
• Brickhouse  Location: NM 

   

    Reply #  35 
      Date: Dec 27, 2009 - 1:23 PM EST 

   

   

   

   

   

      Ordinary Passenger Foiled Plot, Not DHS   

   

    The article states Napolitano said they "did not have enough information to keep a terror suspect from boarding a flight bound for Detroit and that the system worked as it should have."
  
  Was Department of Homeland Security counting on an ordinary citizen to take the terrorist-wannabe down? No mention of an air marshall traveling with the "suspect." Supposedly, they knew the terrorist was dangerous but they didn't have enough proof to arrest him before hand.
  
  Sounds like a bunch of lies. They probably should have worked on a better story before releasing any comments.
  
  No confidence in ANY members of this administration!
• marcmat  Location: MI 

   

    Reply #  36 
      Date: Dec 27, 2009 - 1:58 PM EST 

   

   

   

   

   

      How predictable   

   

    Ah yes, the Obama administration view of success: so what he was on the plane with explosives; at least the device didn't go off!
  
  These people are absolutely stunning in their hubris!
• jack  Location: IN 

   

    Reply #  37 
      Date: Dec 27, 2009 - 1:59 PM EST 

   

   

   

   

   

      The system worked???????   

   

    The only thing working in the Obama administration is their spin on all their failures. How's that Hope and Change working? How's that unemployment working? How is that cutting the deficit working?
  
  Let's keep score. Terrorist acts on US soil after 9/11? During Bush administration: 0 During Obama administration: 2 Oh, but wait! We have 3 more years to get more.
• rick  Location: OR 

   

    Reply #  39 
      Date: Dec 27, 2009 - 2:00 PM EST 

   

   

   

   

   

      Naploltano????   

   

    The system worked as it should have??!! A known terrorist boards a flight in Amsterdam and comes this close to incinerating 300 people. Without quick work by passengers his filty scheme would have worked. Flights from overseas have to deliver their boarding manifest to Homeland Security so that Islamic dog was known to be on board. Obama and his cohorts have placed our country and our lives in mortal danger

34 more annotations...

• NWA: NBC Plays D For O
• By Mark Finkelstein (Bio | Archive)
  December 27, 2009
• Pres. Obama should find time in his busy vacation schedule to drop a palm-trees-and-sandy-beaches thank you postcard to NBC. 
• On this morning's Today, successive network staffers defended the administration's [mis]handling of the Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab matter.
• First, terrorism expert Roger Cressey [who usually plays it straight], claimed there wasn't enough information to "connect the dots" and move young Umar from the "watch list" to the "no-fly" list. 
• Really? The guy's father, a respected international banker, was so concerned about his son's extremist Islamist views that he took the unusual measure of personally contacting the US embassy with a warning. 
• Dots?  How about a huge, flashing, neon exclamation point!?
• Next, John Harwood backhands GOP criticism of the Obama admin's national security policy as "partisan." 
• ROGER CRESSEY: It's important to understand that there are multiple lists.  The lowest level list, with over a half-a-million names, you can get on that list by one person saying "I believe you Peter have terrorist ties or extremist views." That's what happened with Abdul Mutallab in this case.  His father went to the embassy.  To get to the more sensitive and significant list, there has to be more information, there has to be corrobating information.  So it looks like right now, the intelligence community didn't have those additional pieces of information. We talk often about how there's a need to connect the dots.  Right now it appears there weren't enough dots to connect.
• And a bit later . . .
  

  JENNA WOLFE: Could the fact that he allegedly got as far as he did mean that the administration's whole reputation on how they handle terrorism matters be hurt in some way?
  
  JOHN HARWOOD: Well certainly you're going to hear Republicans--and we already have--complaining that the administration doesn't take terrorism seriously enough. And so that partisan debate will be reignited.
• Let's summarize:
  
  1.dot dearth.
  2.Republicans bunch of partisan complainers.
  
• Say, here's an idea: rather than putting the burden on our intelligence and law enforcement authorities to prove that the people on the watch list are a threat, how about putting the onus on the people on that list to prove that they're not?
• —Mark Finkelstein is a NewsBusters contributing editor and host of Right Angle. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net.
• Comments

• Let's start a new

    December 27, 2009 - 10:22 ET by creekrat 

   

   Let's start a new conspiricy theory. Since W is still thought to have been behind 9 / 11 by almost a third of the people, why not suppose B H O was behind this attempt ?? 

   

   Would surely be a great diversion from the atrocity in D C !

• NBC........

    December 27, 2009 - 10:23 ET by sbourg 

   

  "News" for Brain-dead Citizens!~

• Republicans again?

    December 27, 2009 - 10:50 ET by ant 

   

  I had no idea saving innocent lives from terrorist madmen was such a partisan belief. Thank you NBC for clarifying that.

• Shut up!

    December 27, 2009 - 12:05 ET by iveseenitall 

   

   I wish those Republicans would stop "complaining".What do you think America is, a country where all points of view are encouraged? As Barry would say, "We won. Shut up!" 

   

     

   

   Never,Never trust a "liberal"

• Let's see, 2000 and Bush

    December 27, 2009 - 12:07 ET by DontFeedTheTrolls 

   

   Let's see, 2000 and Bush gets a memo saying 'Someone, somewhere, at some time may try to use a plane(s) in a terror attack.' 9-11 happens and it's all Bush's fault. 2009 Obama is told 'My son, Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab is a terrorist and is planning on flying to America soon and I fear the worst.' 12-25 happens and it's all Bush's fault. 

   

   Yes, I see the logic there.

• Obama's Failure

    December 27, 2009 - 12:17 ET by PeterD 

   

   Obama received a warning ahead of time, from the terrorist's own father no less, and did nothing. 

   

   Obama didn't connect the dots. 

   

   Obama let the attack happen on purpose so George Soros can make another fortune. 

   

   Where was Joe Biden? 

   

   Did the white passengers who stopped the attack violate the Muslim suspect's civil rights? 

   

   Was the terrorist provoked by global warming caused solely by the United States? 

   

   Did the terrorist provide us with a teachable moment?

• Obama did nothing

    December 27, 2009 - 12:31 ET by Cool Arrow 

   

   And if we ever hear another lefty complain about the seven minutes President Bush lingered with some kindergarteners on 9-11, let us remember the days of silence during Barack Hussein Obama's Hawaiian vacation. 

   

   I'm not sure Obama could hide his dismay that the crisis isn't big enough for political capitalization.

• JOHN HARWOOD: Well

    December 27, 2009 - 12:49 ET by Jack Bauer 

   

   

    JOHN HARWOOD: Well certainly you're going to hear Republicans--and we already have--complaining that the administration doesn't take terrorism seriously enough. 

   

   

   Ha Ha Harwood. 

   

   If you stopped trying to crawl up Obama's rectum for a second, you may recall that it was the nutcases in his administration who REFUSED to call these acts what they are and made the ludicrous change to "man made disaster" -- or some such utterly unserious, childish crap, I believe. 

   

   That in itself is proof they don't take terrorism seriously. 

   

   How can Obama and his amateur hour posse take terrorism seriously when they when they can't even call it terrorism. 

   

   

    NBC, CBS, ABC, MSNBC, CNN, NPR, PBS, New York Times, Washington Post...
    You Distort. We Deride. 

• We've been upgraded!

    December 27, 2009 - 13:05 ET by Rusty Shackleford 

   

   We should be honored!  The MSM has upgraded our complaints of The Holy One from "racist" to "partsan"! 

   

   It's a Holiday Day miracle!

• More On Obama

    December 27, 2009 - 14:32 ET by PeterD 

   

  Obama lies while Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab flies..

22 more annotations...

• Sunday, December 27, 2009
• Fire Napolitano    [Jonah Goldberg]
• Understandbly, the White House is trying very hard to get out in front of the would-be Christmas bomber story.
• The head of the Department of Homeland Security isn't helping.
• I watched her on three shows and each time she was more annoying, maddening and absurd than the pevious appearance.
• It is her basic position that the "system worked" because the bureaucrats responded properly after the attack.
• That the attack was "foiled" by a bad detonator and some civilian passengers is proof, she claims, that her agency is doing everything right.
• That is just about the dumbest thing she could say, on the merits and politically.
• I would wager that not one percent of Americans think the system is "working" when terrorists successfully get bombs onto planes (and succeed in activating them).
• Probably even fewer think it's fair that they have to take off their shoes, endure delays and madness while a known Islamic radical — turned in by his own father — can waltz onto a plane (and into the country).
• DHS had no role whatsoever in assuring that this bomb didn't go off.
• By her logic if the bomb had gone off, the system would have "worked" since it has done everything right.
• Napolitano has a habit of arguing that DHS is a first responder outfit. Its mission is to deal with "man-caused-disasters" afer they occur.
• If the White House wants to assure people that it takes the war on terror seriously (a term Robert Gibbs used this morning by the way), they could start by firing this patenly unqualified hack.
• It appears she really believes it.
• Here she is her own words, over at RealClearPolitics.

14 more annotations...

• Senator Max Baucus Drunk / Intoxicated on Senate Floor - Shouts Down Wicker
• SocialistsSteal
    December 23, 2009
• Senator Max Baucus, Democrat from Montana Drunk on the US Senate Floor debating National health Care
•   

    Savagette1979  (8 seconds ago)    Show  Hide 

   

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     Right semperfi- he needs an excuse for acting like a buffoon- sleep deprivation or drunk the man is a clown and shouldn't be allowed on the senate floor 
•   

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     They are drunk with power now, but in 2010 it will be a very bad hangover what they will have. We don't want ObamaCare and will show it loud and clear in the next elections. 
•   

    Cyfun  (22 seconds ago)    Show  Hide 

   

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     Enough of this jibber jabber. Damnit, Max, you makin us Montucky folks look like drunken hicks. 
•   

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     Yea, only a drunk can read it. 
•   

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     I haven't read all 2550 comments at this point, so maybe someone else made this observation. I find it interesting that Max Baucus, the drunk senator from Montana who gave his girlfriend a top job, is living up to his namesake, Bacchus, the Roman god of wine, fertility, and revelry. I'm sure worse things could happen, but remember what happened to Rome: the empire crumbled under the weight of wholesale self-indulgence and debauchery. America, look in the mirror. 

7 more annotations...

• AMERICANS TO BE ROUNDED UP 1 0F 2 DEVY KIDD
• ibmforce
    April 14, 2009
• AMERICANS TO BE ROUNDED UP 1 0F 2 DEVY KIDD
  {I didn't make the vid and didn't buy one either!!!}

2 more annotations...

• Lou Dobbs Covers The Disturbing DHS Document Regarding "Right Wing Extremists"
• SaveOurSovereignty3
    April 14, 2009
• Airing Date April.14, 2009
  
  Lou Dobbs Covers The Disturbing DHS Document Regarding "Right Wing Extremists"
  
  Here is a PDF to the Home Land Security document in question
  http://wnd.com/images/dhs-rightwing-e...

2 more annotations...

• Michael Savage - DHS Monitoring "Right-Wing Extremism"
• martysoffice
    April 15, 2009
• YOU might just be a terrorist!! - The Department of Homeland Security is warning law enforcement officials about a rise in "rightwing extremist activity," saying the economic recession, the election of America's first black president and the return of a few disgruntled war veterans could swell the ranks of white-power militias.
  
  A footnote attached to the report by the Homeland Security Office of Intelligence and Analysis defines "rightwing extremism in the United States" as including not just racist or hate groups, but also groups that reject federal authority in favor of state or local authority.
  
  "It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single-issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration," the warning says.
  
  http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2...
  
  POLL: Should DHS chief step down
  for targeting patriots as terrorists?
  
  Weigh in on Savage online poll ...
  http://michaelsavage.wnd.com/

2 more annotations...

• Michael Savage - Chairman Maobama, Left-Wing Extremists, Threatened by Patriots and Veterans
• martysoffice
    April 15, 2009
• April 15th 2009 - Savage Nation Opening Monologue...
  
  http://michaelsavage.wnd.com/
•   

    joejohnson043  (3 months ago)    Show  Hide 

   

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     I am a black American and I listen to Michael Savage everyday! The only thing I disagree with him on is evolution and religion. Every political opinion Savage has uttered on the radio is 100% correct!!! 
•   

    gopc32  (2 months ago)    Show  Hide 

   

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     Yes, I am a multiracial (half asian half jewish) and while i don't support everything he says, he makes great points and everything he says is very intellectual. I am a libertarian and my mom is an affirmative action worker o.O... lol but i've heard all of the shit from her job and i know about the reverse racism that occurs. 

4 more annotations...

• 25 British-born Muslims are Plotting to Bomb Western Airliners
• December 28, 2009
    UK Sun
• FAILED plane bomber Umar Abdulmutallab has bragged to FBI agents that there are more young men plotting to launch attacks on the West.
• The 23-year-old Nigerian has told security chiefs of a sinister network in Yemen who are ready and waiting to
• strike.
   
    The reports come after The Sun revealed that cops fear that 25 British-born Muslims are plotting to bomb Western airliners.
• The fanatics, in five groups, are now training at secret terror camps in Yemen.
• It was there London-educated Abdulmutallab prepared for his Christmas Day bid to blow up a US jet.
• The British extremists in Yemen are in their early 20s and from Bradford, Luton and Leytonstone, East London.
• They are due to return to the UK early in 2010 and will then await internet instructions from al-Qaeda on when to strike.
• A Scotland Yard source said: "The great fear is Abdulmutallab is the first of many ready to attack planes and kill tens of thousands.
• "We know there are four or five radicalised British Muslim cells in the Yemen.
• "They are due back within months when they will be under constant surveillance."

  • UK authorities know this..Surveillance? Arrest their sorry asses since it's known they are in Yemen for terrorist training!
  Add Sticky Note
• The 25 suspects, of Pakistani and Somali descent, were radicalised in UK mosques.
• Some had been to university and studied engineering or computer sciences.
   
    Others were former street gang members.
• Monitored
• Special Branch monitored them as they flew to Yemen, in the Middle East, from British airports in the spring and summer.
• In almost every case, their tickets were paid for in cash and bought less than a week before travel.
• The source added: "Imams would have promised them rewards in heaven for becoming suicide bombers prepared to kill Westerners."
• PM Gordon Brown and Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson were being briefed.
• Today Alan Johnson confirmed Abdulmutallab had been refused a new visa and placed on a watch list last May after applying for a bogus course.
• Mr Johnson said: "If you are on our watch list then you do not come into this country.

  • But you do get to enter the USA with no Visa or Passport..Nice, Napolitano; keep watching them Christians, Veterans and lawful gun owners..Okay?
  Add Sticky Note
• "You can come through this country if you are in transit to another country but you cannot come into this country."
• The Home Secretary said US authorities should theoretically have been informed, and he doubted there had been a "hiccup" in procedures.
• American officials have said Abdulmutallab was on one of their "long" watch lists, but was not banned from travelling.
• Mr Johnson also said he did not believe Abdulmutallab was acting alone.
• He added: "We don't know yet whether it was a single-handed plot or (there were) other people behind it - I suspect it's the latter rather than the former."
• Dutch cops are investigating claims that an accomplice helped Abdulmutallab board a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit.
• A US couple on the flight, Kurt and Lori Haskell, said they saw a tall, well-dressed man aged about 50 with Abdulmutallab on Friday morning at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport.
   
    The Haskells have claimed the man spoke for Abdulmutallab and attempted to get him aboard Northwest flight 253 without a passport.
• Disappearance
• Abdulmutallab's family released a statement today saying they alerted security agencies two months ago after losing contact with him.
• The Nigerian's parents described his disappearance as "completely out of character" and a "very recent development".
• Abdulmutallab's family said they had lost contact with him while he was studying abroad.
• The statement said: "His father, having become concerned about his disappearance and stoppage of communication while schooling abroad, reported the matter to Nigerian security agencies about two months ago and to some foreign security agencies about a month and a half ago".
   
    The warnings came as another Nigerian was last night held in Detroit on the same flight attacked on Christmas Day. It later emerged the man had fallen ill.
• Al-Qaeda in Yemen warned the West four days before Friday's attack that a bombing was imminent.
• President Barack Obama's administration is to review all airport security.

  • I'm feeling better already..
  Add Sticky Note
• http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2785733.ece

34 more annotations...

• Clueless Napolitano Now Concedes System 'Failed Miserably'
• By Mark Finkelstein (Bio | Archive)
  December 28, 2009
• It took a tough question from Matt Lauer, but after having laughably claimed that "the system worked," DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano has now conceded the obvious:
• that the security system that permitted Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to board NWA 253 with explosives "failed miserably."
• On Today and in other interviews this morning, Napolitano attempted to use her own ignorance as a shield. 
• Each time she was hit with a hard question, her response was to the effect "yeah, we're wondering about that ourselves." 
• She also continued to point the finger back at George Bush, repeatedly mentioning that the security procedures in place were formulated under the Bush administration.
• Whatever happened to "change you can believe in"?
• But back to Today, where Lauer laudably asked Napolitano the necessary question: how could she possibly have claimed, as she did yesterday, that the "system worked"?
• MATT LAUER:
• You made a comment over the weekend and I want to call attention to that because a lot of people are disagreeing with it this morning.  You talked about this incident aboard this Northwest flight and you said "when it came right down to it, the system worked."  A lot of people don't think the system worked at all, that the only thing that prevented outright disaster was luck.  Can you respond to that?
• Sure, I think the comment is being taken out of context. What I'm saying is that once the incident occurred, moving forward, we were immediately able to notify the 128 flights in the air of protective measures to take, immediately able to notify law enforcement on the ground, airports both domestically, internationally, all carriers, all of that happening within 60 to 90 minutes, so
• JANET NAPOLITANO:
• LAUER:
• So you're only talking about what happened after this man tried to ignite this explosive device on the plane.
• Indeed.
• NAPOLITANO:
• You would then concede that the system prior to that, the system that's supposed to prevent something like this from happening, failed miserably?
• LAUER:
• It did.  And that's why we are asking a lot of the same questions I heard you asking before this interview.  How did this individual get on the plane? Why wasn't the explosive material detected?  What do we need to do to change perhaps the rules that have been in place since 2006 for moving somebody from the generic database to more elevated status.  All of that under review right now.
• NAPOLITANO:
• LAUER:
• So many man-hours, so much money, Madam Secretary, has gone into securing fliers in this country and around the world, and so let's talk about it: how does a guy who's on this general terror list, who then buys a one-way, trans-Atlantic ticket with cash, checks no luggage, a man whose own father has written a letter to authorities both in his own country and U.S. embassy authorities, saying he's worried that his son has become more radicalized and might attempt some kind of a suicide mission. How is this guy not the perfect candidate for a strip search or a full-body scan?
• NAPOLITANO:
• I've asked the same questions.
• We've got another question: what is Janet Napolitano, head of a department that she now admits "failed miserably," still doing in office? 
• Note: As part of her "it's Bush's fault" defense, on Morning Joe Napolitano mentioned that young Umar had been issued his US visa "in June, 2008," i.e., during the Bush administration.  OK, but that would have been before his father was frantically trying to alert the Obama admin that his son had apparently turned into a terrorist.
• —Mark Finkelstein is a NewsBusters contributing editor and host of Right Angle. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net.
• Comments

• This From The...

    December 28, 2009 - 08:24 ET by GeneralAl 

   

  This from the woman that put out the letter accusing veterans, Conservatives, and gun owners of being the biggest terror threat to America and refusing to apologize for her comments!

• Yup, can hunting those

    December 28, 2009 - 08:58 ET by optimist 

   

  Yup, can hunting those patriots Janet!  You're doing a Brownie of a job!

• Give napolitano a break please.......

    December 28, 2009 - 10:51 ET by Patriot II 

   

  She is up to her butt in alligators and forgot her main objective was to drain the swamp!! This dimwit muslims dad called and warned them 2 YEARS ago about him.....humm guess it slipped their empty little minds......actually it didn't................they were too busy profiling, American Patriots, Veterans, Christians, Pro lifers.......oops....."another one bites the dust bump bump"!   Get rid of oblahma and the whole nest of vermin he has put in the white house before its too late!

• New Acorn videos...?

    December 28, 2009 - 10:14 ET by shannon76 

   

  Haha...can you imagine the new bighollywood videos from Breitbart, Hannah Giles, and...James (forgot his last name)...

   

  "My girlfriend, Hannah, is posing as a Nigerian suicide bomber. I play the role of her "handler" trying to procure a flight on board a European airline flying into the U.S. I will say Hannah has no passport and that she's been having trouble getting on to a flight because she's on an FBI terror watch-list...Will I be able to get her on the flight?"

   

  *gimme the drums..*

• They'll probably stop Hannah

    December 28, 2009 - 11:08 ET by Rover 

   

  She is, after all, a light-skinned, brown-haired, (beardless) female who speaks un-accented American english.  They can strip-search her without fearing an accusation of profiling.  That's their OBJECTIVE, after all, that nobody should be profiled.

• What surprises me

    December 28, 2009 - 10:03 ET by MadRat 

   

  What surprises me about this video is that Matt Lauer actually asked some tough questions of a Obama administration official.

• Even a leftwing hack like Lauer...

    December 28, 2009 - 10:29 ET by supercon 

   

   was appalled that Ja-No would try and tell us that everything was fine. He obviously has to fly commercial from time to time and now that his own safety is on the line he wants some answers. The woman is a boob.   The question now is how long is Obama going to continue to support her after she made a fool of herself on national television...?      It isn't so much a political thing as it is a fact that other people in other countries probably pay more attention to her statement than the limousine liberals in the American media.    When they see such an incompetent fool in charge of homeland security it emboldens them to take a chance on a terror strike. I guarantee you that alot of people who don't speak english were paying attention to that interview and even they were shaking their heads.  "That's who the Americans put in charge of  security....?   Oh praise Allah"

• Still tried to blame Bush?

    December 28, 2009 - 08:30 ET by jon_torlin 

   

   Must be some fuzzy math going on here, his father tried to contact US officials about it 6 months ago.  Obeyme's usurped power in Jan 2009.  That was 11 months ago. 

   

   Ugh.  She sure is a useful punching bag though, I wonder if she was kinda thrown under the bus? 

   

   -Jon

• BDS

    December 28, 2009 - 08:32 ET by txradioguy 

   

  It's a lot easier to blame Bush than it is to actually take responsibility for things that happen on your watch

• Reno (oops, Napolitano) beclowns herself

    December 28, 2009 - 10:29 ET by motherbelt 

   

   Terrorists around the world are smiling today knowing that the head of the agency charged with keeping them from killing us is "scratching her head" 

   

   And I'm sure they can't believe their good luck that this woman is in charge!  

   

   The head of homeland security is asking herself the same questions we all are....is that supposed to make us feel better?

• I just call her...

    December 28, 2009 - 11:19 ET by Blonde 

   

   Reno Redux or Reno v.2.0

• "Heckuva job, Janny"

    December 28, 2009 - 08:36 ET by jazbo 

   

   Just when I think Obama and his clowns can't do any worse, they prove me wrong again.

• Janet the Clueless has just

    December 28, 2009 - 10:29 ET by celator 

   

   Janet the Clueless has just implemented the new safety alert code (or whatever they call that thing these days). Instead of orange, red etc., it now depends on the day of the week: 

   

   Monday-The system is failing  

   

   Tuesday-The system is working  

   

   Wednesday-The system is failing 

   

   Thursday-The system is working 

   

   Friday-The system is failing 

   

   Saturday-It's up to Raum 

   

   Sunday-Depends on results of "spin the wheel"

• You can bet this is one crisis they wont let go to waste

    December 28, 2009 - 11:02 ET by general company 

   

   More inconvenience for westerners and ease for islamo fascist. Apparently our tactics are not pc enough, but that will soon be corrected

• Who cares, Napolitano, about Bush?

    December 28, 2009 - 08:38 ET by TheHistorian 

   

   You guys have owned this department for 11 months now.  Where are YOUR changes?  Quit blaming Bush.  Just shows that this whole administration has neither gonads nor enough integrity to stand up for their own mistakes.  Rush is right when he calls him the "little boy President".

• A COUPLE OF THINGS...

    December 28, 2009 - 08:48 ET by danybhoy 

   

    I would rather have Steve Wilkos in charge of DHS then Napolitano. Of course, Wilkos was Jerry Springer's security guy on his show. This woman(?) sucks at her job, & nothing will happen to her. Nobody is held to account in the Obama thug-ministration, they get tossed under the bus & then show up at The Center For American Progress.

44 more annotations...

• Obama stays low profile after terror attempt
• By CAROL E. LEE |                         12/27/09
• Americans haven't seen President Barack Obama since a Nigerian man tried to blow up a Northwest Airlines plane in Detroit on Christmas Day.
• But they have gotten a glimpse of their new president’s style in the face of a crisis.
• Obama, who is expected to publicly address the incident for the first time Monday, has kept mum over the past few days.
• That's his approach in this type of situation, aides say — to seek a fact-based assessment.
• So for the first few days Obama left the public comments to senior members of his administration.

  • Left to those who "might"..."might" know what the hell they're doing..
  Add Sticky Note
• 

   

  President Obama has kept mum in the days since the incident on a Northwest Airlines plane.    Photo: AP
• Behind the scenes, he has held secure teleconference briefings every day with his top national security advisers and officials at federal agencies.
• Based on the information he gleaned from those, he ordered a review of the procedures for screening airline passengers and placing individuals on the government's different terrorist watch lists.
• His press office has regularly released statements about how Obama has been monitoring the situation.
• n Sunday press secretary Robert Gibbs and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano hit the talk shows to announce the review Obama ordered and to be the first to publicly answer questions about the situation.
• “He’ll continue to ask the tough questions and respond appropriately as required,” a White House official said.
• Throughout it all, Obama continued his holiday vacation in Hawaii with a round of golf Saturday and a trip to the beach Sunday.
• Part of the reason for the president's low profile: There appears to be a feeling in the administration that putting him out there to address this type of incident immediately would give it added merit. Elevating the status of a man who attempts, unsuccessfully, an act of terrorism in that way also could set off copycat schemes.
• Readers' Comments (427)
•  

     

   

   

  skint

  Party: Independent

   

   

    Reply #1 

  Dec. 27, 2009 - 10:43 PM EST

   

   

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

  He's waiting for INSTRUCTION'S from>>>> Emanual and he has to get them from >>>>Podesta who gets them from >>>>Soros and company.

  Not hard to figure out.

  Napolitano is still trying to figure out how she's going to tell the American public why she's trying to drop the new...... REAL ID ACT.
•  

     

   

   

  bob7896

  Party: Independent

   

   

    Reply #2 

  Dec. 27, 2009 - 10:49 PM EST

   

   

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

  ""Behind the scenes, he has held secure teleconference briefings every day with his top national security advisers and officials at federal agencies""

  Secure, as opposed to "Insecure??"

  BO will Dither as long as he can before TOTUS makes a statement, like Afghan decision ,and before he addresses the fact that "The System did NOT work" as Janet misstated and Muslims are going to be Terrorists, regardless of who is in the WH and how many BOWS BO makes!
•  

     

   

   

  bob7896

  Party: Independent

   

   

    Reply #4 

  Dec. 27, 2009 - 10:53 PM EST

   

   

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

  WH is still working on how to blame this on Bush!
•  

     

   

   

  hadenuff55

  Party: Independent

   

   

    Reply #5 

  Dec. 27, 2009 - 10:53 PM EST

   

   

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

  They have to tear him away from the golf course first. That'll be a job. He's on vacation, for the third time this year, courtesy of the US taxpayer. I saw Bobby Gibbs on the tube today ............. he literally wants me to throw up in my mouth everytime I see that elongated forehead of his. He was the guy in high school that every jock beat a path to to beat up. Must've affected his brain.

  hussein obama = EPIC FAILURE

  Do you Americans feel safe yet with hussein and J.N. at the helm of Homeland Security?
•  

       

   

   

  ( REVOLVER )

  Party: Republican

   

   

    Reply #9 

  Dec. 27, 2009 - 11:06 PM EST

   

   

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

  Obama is the most politically incorrect POTUS since Carter .

  1 June 2009 , Little Rock , Arkansas ......... Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad

  5 November 2009 , Fort Hood , Texas ........ Nidal Malik Hasan

  25 December 2009 , Detroit , Michigan ...... Umal Farouk Abdulmitallab
  ______________________________________________________________

  Our blunderful Mr. Obama does not want you to think of these men as

  psycho radical Islamic Jihadist killers attacking America under his watch .

  What are you thinking about Obama ?
•  

       

   

   

  Janice Gammill

  Party: N/A

   

   

    Reply #10 

  Dec. 27, 2009 - 11:11 PM EST

   

   

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

  Americans are tired of the BS! This is not the first time potus has hid away until someone told him what o say! Where is the charge of terrorism and why is this a criminal matter? How many attacks have we had on his watch? Only by the grace of God and the passengers did this turn out well! He should be impeached.
•  

     

   

   

  SUE IN FLORIDA

  Party: N/A

   

   

    Reply #15 

  Dec. 27, 2009 - 11:32 PM EST

   

   

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

  Sorry America! The little boy man Obama is waiting for instruction about what he should say about a terror attack. I mean, gees, the Fort Hood terrorist attack that killed our soldiers was not a terrorist attack according to Napolitano and Obama. According to them - it was a man made something or other. What do you expect from these two failures? Obama runs around the world bowing to anyone who will laugh at the fool, and Napolitano is worried about Vets who fought for our Country that may not like the Obama administration. We're getting rid of all of you in 2010.
•  

     

   

   

  Frank in Midland

  Party: Conservative

   

   

    Reply #20 

  Dec. 27, 2009 - 11:46 PM EST

   

   

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

  Homeland Security Secretary janet napolitano is busy keeping us safe from people that wave American flags, read Bibles and served in the US Armed Forces. She and obama don't have time to worry about muslims whose fathers have tried to alert them about radicals!

  Impeach obama and fire the entire cabinet including the "czars"

22 more annotations...