Election 2006: An “F” for National Security?
Karl Rove has made a career of bashing Democrats for being ‘soft’ on national security. He has been so successful that while the President and his party are in free-fall on every other issue, they poll higher than Democrats on keeping our nation safe.
I have to ask: how can that be? These guys have turned national security into a national joke.
One of the most peculiar poll results gave the GOP higher marks than Democrats over who can best get us out of Iraq. I suppose what the poll reflects is that people stupid enough to get us into this mess should be smart enough to get us out.
One major threat to national security is the financial health of our nation. President Bush and a spendthrift Congress continue to plunge our nation deeper and deeper into debt. Tax cuts for the rich have bled our treasury dry, now House Republicans want to add to the carnage with a multi-million dollar cut in estate taxes for 8,000 of America’s richest families.
Meanwhile Iraq is costing more than $1 billion a day, much of it lost through fraud and waste. In an effort to stop companies like Halliburton from cheating our troops and stealing from taxpayers, Democrats in the Senate proposed a panel to investigate abuses in military spending. Republicans would have none of it. They cast all 52 votes against it; all 43 Democrats favored it. Contractors can continue to lie and rip off taxpayers; there will be no investigation.
How do they poll higher on security given highly publicized stories of their shoddy care of highly classified materials? Last year an unknown intruder got into a computer at the National Nuclear Security Administration and stole information on more than 1,500 agency workers and outside contractors. The security breach wasn’t reported to senior officials but buried with nearly one thousand other “incidents”. Both Defense and Homeland Security have received a grade of “F” on a Computer Security Report Card issued by Congress.
How do they poll higher in security when the continue to allow Michael Chertoff to run Homeland Security? Recently he reviewed likely terrorist targets in America, then cut anti-terror funding to major metropolitan areas like NYC and DC. In his judgment, far greater risks lie elsewhere. Such as the Mule Day Parade in Columbia, Tennessee. An Old MacDonald’s Petting Zoo in Woodville, Alabama. An Amish popcorn factory in Berne, Ind. A bean festival in Mountain View, Ark, and—horrors -- the Kangaroo Conservation Center in Dawsonville, Ga. You can imagine the surprise terrorists are in for if they launch attacks on any of those locations. Chertoff will be ready for them.
How do they poll higher in security when our nation’s most sensitive data and computer systems are left open to hackers, thieves and terrorists? The VA lost more than 26 million veterans’ records, including names, addresses and Social Security numbers. The data was stored un-coded on a computer taken home by a government official whose last security background check took place 32 years ago.
Cyberspace security is an even bigger mess. Secretary Chertoff promised a year ago to do something about it but got so caught up in defending the Mule Day Parade in Tennessee it just slipped his mind.
I have to ask: how can that be? These guys have turned national security into a national joke.
One of the most peculiar poll results gave the GOP higher marks than Democrats over who can best get us out of Iraq. I suppose what the poll reflects is that people stupid enough to get us into this mess should be smart enough to get us out.
One major threat to national security is the financial health of our nation. President Bush and a spendthrift Congress continue to plunge our nation deeper and deeper into debt. Tax cuts for the rich have bled our treasury dry, now House Republicans want to add to the carnage with a multi-million dollar cut in estate taxes for 8,000 of America’s richest families.
Meanwhile Iraq is costing more than $1 billion a day, much of it lost through fraud and waste. In an effort to stop companies like Halliburton from cheating our troops and stealing from taxpayers, Democrats in the Senate proposed a panel to investigate abuses in military spending. Republicans would have none of it. They cast all 52 votes against it; all 43 Democrats favored it. Contractors can continue to lie and rip off taxpayers; there will be no investigation.
How do they poll higher on security given highly publicized stories of their shoddy care of highly classified materials? Last year an unknown intruder got into a computer at the National Nuclear Security Administration and stole information on more than 1,500 agency workers and outside contractors. The security breach wasn’t reported to senior officials but buried with nearly one thousand other “incidents”. Both Defense and Homeland Security have received a grade of “F” on a Computer Security Report Card issued by Congress.
How do they poll higher in security when the continue to allow Michael Chertoff to run Homeland Security? Recently he reviewed likely terrorist targets in America, then cut anti-terror funding to major metropolitan areas like NYC and DC. In his judgment, far greater risks lie elsewhere. Such as the Mule Day Parade in Columbia, Tennessee. An Old MacDonald’s Petting Zoo in Woodville, Alabama. An Amish popcorn factory in Berne, Ind. A bean festival in Mountain View, Ark, and—horrors -- the Kangaroo Conservation Center in Dawsonville, Ga. You can imagine the surprise terrorists are in for if they launch attacks on any of those locations. Chertoff will be ready for them.
How do they poll higher in security when our nation’s most sensitive data and computer systems are left open to hackers, thieves and terrorists? The VA lost more than 26 million veterans’ records, including names, addresses and Social Security numbers. The data was stored un-coded on a computer taken home by a government official whose last security background check took place 32 years ago.
Cyberspace security is an even bigger mess. Secretary Chertoff promised a year ago to do something about it but got so caught up in defending the Mule Day Parade in Tennessee it just slipped his mind.
posted by Victor Kamber | 4:17 PM
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