Homeland Security?
After spending hundreds of billlions of dollars on Homeland Security, it's enough to a taxpayer cry...
But not to worry...
The Department of Homeland Security allowed a man to enter its headquarters last week using a fake Matricula Consular card as identification, despite federal rules that say the Mexican-issued card is not valid ID at government buildings.And it gets worse...
Bruce DeCell, a retired New York City police officer, used his phony card -- which lists his place of birth as "Tijuana, B.C." and his address as "123 Fraud Blvd." on an incorrectly spelled "Staton Island, N.Y." -- to enter the building Wednesday for a meeting with DHS officials.
Mr. DeCell said he has had the card for four years and has used it again and again to board airliners and enter government buildings, without being turned down once. But he said he was surprised that DHS, the agency in charge of determining secure IDs, accepted it.
"Obviously, it's not working," Mr. DeCell said.
In addition to being a forgery obtained for him from a street vendor in California, Mr. DeCell's card was modeled on an older version, which the Mexican government publicly acknowledges is not a secure document. The Mexican government says the old-style cards "are no longer valid."Is anyone really surprised? A president who can't properly identify the source of the terrorism that plagues the world (Islam), refuses to defend American borders, and who apparently has constructed his domestic policies to benefit the Mexican government (as opposed to the American people), could produce nothing less asinine.
But not to worry...
Jarrod Agen, a spokesman for DHS, said the department shouldn't have allowed the ID to be used for entry to its headquarters.Now, doesn't that make you feel better?
"DHS is following up on these allegations and will take necessary actions to ensure there is not another occurrence of this type," he said.
posted by Pytheas @ 3:15 PM
1 Comments
1 Comments:
Remember: No one, not one single intelligence or security official, lost their job or was demoted because of their failure to anticipate 9/11.
The Bush administration has blown a lot of hot air in connection with homeland security, but from all the signs, the only change has been the addition of yet another layer of bureaucracy on top of all the old ones.
The nation's security apparatus is run, top to bottom, by careerists whose mentality is no different from those in the Department of Agriculture or Department of Transportation. Their modus operandi is to keep their heads down, echo what their bosses say, keep the paperwork flowing.
Anything proactive — even as basic as clocking a fake ID card — places the functionary at risk. It calls attention to him. It may run counter to some unwritten rule of political correctness. A Mexican immigrant organization might call up the newspapers and protest. In the risk-avoidance culture of the federal paper-processing agencies, that means blood on the moon.
Some of the things Bush has said during his watch haven't been bad. But there seems to be almost a total disconnect between his rhetoric, sincere or not, and his indifference to the details of day-to-day tactical reality that are necessary in realizing any grand strategy.
Besides, in anything touching on immigration, GWB will always make sure that administrators understand that immigrants are not to be challenged if it can be at all avoided.
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