CONGRESSMAN: JANET NAPOLITANO DISGRACEFUL
By
NWV News writer Jim Kouri
Posted 1:00 AM Eastern
May 17, 2009
© 2009 NewsWithViews.com
When
the World Health Organization raised its global alert level regarding
swine flu, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano held a press
conference to address the crisis within the United States.
Secretary Napolitano told reporters that the Obama Administration is
reacting as if the swine flu outbreak is a full pandemic and that the
President said the threat of spreading infections is cause for concern
but "not a cause for alarm." But Napolitano disappointed many
Americans when she took no action to seal the US-Mexican border during
the pandemic.
But not everyone is comfortable with having Secretary Napolitano designated
as the leader in a health crisis. Her past statements and actions give
pause when she takes charge of any crisis, real or imagined, according
to Mike Baker, a political strategist.
"President Obama has filled his cabinet with left-wing ideologues
who are unqualified for the positions they hold. You have a former smear-master
[Leon Panetta] as CIA Director, a Clinton retread [Eric Holder] heading
the Justice Department, and others who are Internationalist and worry
more about the United Nations than their own nation," warns Baker.
To many Americans, even more disturbing is Napolitano's -- and President
Barack Obama's -- refusal
to address the growing problem of illegal aliens entering the US
from Mexico.
"Napolitano mirrors the feelings of Obama and [Speaker of the House]
Nancy Pelosi -- that border security is 'Un-American," said veteran
cop Lieutenant Stephan Rodgers from New Jersey.
"In fact, one of Napolitano's first orders was for ICE (Immigration
& Customs Enforcement) agents to stop workplace inspections to arrest
illegal workers and identity thieves," said Lt. Rodgers.
More than one conservative congressman is concerned over the Homeland
Security Secretary's brief track record. She has been involved in what
must be characterized as controversy on more than one occasion.
First, during her testimony on Capitol Hill, Napolitano noticeably failed
to use the words terrorist or radical Islam even once while testifying,
in spite of the fact her very job was created as a result of terrorist
attacks perpetrated by radical Islamic terrorists on September 11, 2001.
The former Arizona governor has been slow
to respond to the violence and chaos that exists at the US-Mexican border
and continues to hesitate in dealing with an out-of-control immigration
problem. Instead, Napolitano pointed to the US-Canadian border as cause
for concern, going so far as to say the 9-11 terrorists entered the
United States from Canada.
Napolitano subsequently was forced to apologize to the Canadian government
and had to correct her erroneous statement. The fact that the nation's
top terrorism fighter didn't know from where the men -- who committed
the worst terrorist attack in US history -- entered this nation did
not instill must confidence in her knowledge and ability.
Then Secretary Napolitano's department released a report characterizing
war
veterans from the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan as possible right-wing
extremists. That same report also cast suspicion on American citizens
who oppose abortion and gun control, or those who oppose the federal
government's intrusion into the business of individual states or citizens.
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Congressman Trent Franks (R-AZ) gave the following statement in response to ongoing controversy over the Department of Homeland Security's recent report on right-wing extremists and potential domestic terrorism, as well as Secretary Napolitano's failure to appropriately apologize for the offensive assertions made in the report:
"The outrageous, unsubstantiated, politically-loaded DHS report on 'Right-Wing Extremism,' shows a stunning lack of understanding of the real and imminent threats America is truly facing," said Congressman Trent Franks (R-AZ), who is a member of the Committee on Armed Services, Strategic Forces Subcommittee, Oversight & Investigations Subcommittee, Military Readiness Subcommittee, Committee on the Judiciary, Constitution Subcommittee, and is ranking member on the Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law.
"It is also a disgraceful insult to the true heroes of our country. If veterans, pro-life and states' rights advocates and those who seek to protect the Constitutional rights of themselves and their fellow Americans are at higher risk for becoming domestic terrorists, then over 80% of the people in my District can be categorized as a potential national security threat," said Rep. Franks.
Franks also noted that it would be very interesting to see what taxpayer-funded resources went into producing "this disgraceful report and what documents and evidence they are using to justify it."
Franks and other conservatives believe that using the vast and powerful resources of the Department of Homeland Security to target and ostracize political opposition, as it would appear is being done, sets an incredibly dangerous precedent and it's something America's federal government should have no part of.
Franks said, "The report claims the election of an “African American president” and the downturn in the economy has caused 'right-wing extremism' and could possibly even radicalize our veterans."
"To say that the noble and patriotic men and women who wear this nation's uniform and have laid their lives on the line to protect their country are now one of the greatest potential domestic security dangers to our country is so staggeringly irrational and insulting that I am unable to find the words to express it," he said.
Franks went on to say that both President Obama and Secretary Napolitano "owe it to our veterans and the rest of the American people to immediately and unequivocally disavow and repudiate the preposterous conclusions in this report, and they should also seriously consider firing those who wrote it."
Franks an other Americans believe that the President and Homeland Security Secretary have already waited far too long and the explanations and platitudes the American people have received thus far are understandably being perceived as half-hearted and insincere.
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"Every day they continue to delay brings increasing encouragement and amusement to the real terrorist enemies of this nation," Franks concluded.
Napolitano's job performance caused Fox News Channel and syndicated radio talk show Glenn Beck to quip that so far Janet Napolitano hasn't characterized the Swine Flu as a "right-wing virus."
