Janet Napolitano Announces New Walmart Cameras For DHS
Janet Napolitano announced Monday an expansion of the Dpeartment of Homeland Security’s campaign “If You See Something, Say Something” to include hundreds of Walmart stores:
More than 230 Walmart stores nationwide launched the “If You See Something, Say Something” campaign today, with a total of 588 Walmart stores in 27 states joining in the coming weeks. A short video message, available here, will play at select checkout locations to remind shoppers to contact local law enforcement to report suspicious activity.
The program:
The “If You See Something, Say Something” campaign—originally implemented by New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority and funded, in part, by $ 13 million from DHS’ Transit Security Grant Program—is a simple and effective program to engage the public and key frontline employees to identify and report indicators of terrorism, crime and other threats to the proper transportation and law enforcement authorities.
So while standing in line with your inflatable lawn Santa, tampons, dog food, and waiting for your tires to be rotated, you’ll be treated to a freakish video of Napolitano doing anything but actually stopping terrorism, like securing the borders (9/11 began as an immigration issue with the hijackers here on expired visas), paying closer attention to the FBI watch list, and implementing effective security protocols at airports instead of get-lucky random searching.
If only the Department of Homeland Defense followed its own advice.
DHS Sec. Napolitano: ‘DREAM Act Will Help Us Improve Immigration Enforcement’
Today, the White House hosted a conference call with Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) Janet Napolitano to discuss the DREAM Act. Napolitano, a former border governor, declared that the DREAM Act will actually help DHS enforce the law. According to Napolitano, though the DREAM Act is “not a substitute for immigration reform,” it is a positive first step that will have a significant impact on immigration enforcement and national security:
I think the DREAM Act will actually help us improve immigration enforcement. [...] It would actually complement the Department of Homeland Security’s efforts [to prioritize criminal aliens]. [...] I urge congress to pass the DREAM Act. I urge the congress to set aside old labels that don’t mean anything.
Back during the Bush administration, the Department of Homeland Security blindly tried to deport as many undocumented immigrants as possible. Since DHS only has a finite set of resources, Bush’s strategy simply wasn’t an efficient use of money and manpower in terms of national security. Since Napolitano took over DHS, the agency has changed its priorities to focus on securing the border, punishing employers who hire undocumented labor, and capturing dangerous undocumented immigrants.
The DREAM Act “complements” DHS’ immigration enforcement activities precisely because it allows the agency to funnel even more of its resources towards pursuing threats and keeping the country safe rather than tracking down and removing promising college students. Napolitano explained that by granting young undocumented the opportunity to regularize their status, DHS will be able to “prioritize to an even greater extent the enforcement of our immigration laws” and go after drug smugglers and human traffickers. Napolitano described DREAM Act students “the least culpable” undocumented immigrants caught in the broken immigration system since they were brought to the U.S. through no fault of their own. “The DREAM ACT would allow us to further target our efforts against those who are culpable,” concluded Napolitano.
When asked if DHS is willing to declare a moratorium on deportations until immigration reform is passed, Napolitano flatly responded, “no.” “Our job is to enforce the law and we’re going to continue to do that,” affirmed Napolitano.
Judge Napolitano asks WikiLeaks’ employees, “What’s next?”
In an interview with Andrew Napolitano last night, two employees of WikiLeaks who declared that their endeavors are not going to be deterred even if their founder Julian Assange is arrested.
They even made an observation I couldn’t disagree with: the media also is complicit in the release of this information.
In Mexico, Homeland Secretary Napolitano Glosses Over Drug War
The “readout” from Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano’s November 30 visit to Mexico City constitutes a soothing tidbit of information—bureaucratic Muzak:
In the face of ever-evolving, multinational threats, the U.S. is committed to working with our international partners to enhance information-sharing and our mutual security. We look forward to our continued partnership with the Mexican government as we forge an unprecedented international security framework that facilitates legitimate trade and travel while protecting our citizens.
Not once does the Secretary mention the raging war against the drug cartels. Napolitano’s visit comes as Mexicans somberly recall that in December 2006, President Calderon ordered an offensive against Mexico’s drug cartels. This action he vigorously defends. “There are those who think that it would have been better not to combat the criminal actions. Those people are wrong.”
Since then, citizens of Mexico have ridden a violent rollercoaster of fear and death. While Mexican law enforcement scores important arrests—such as that of Arturo Gallegos Castrellón, leader of the Aztecas, and Antonio Ezequiel Cárdenas Guillén, leader of the Gulf Cartel—there are dangerous signs of deep-seated weakness and growing uncertainty about Mexico’s future.
Reuters reports, “as the bodies pile up—more than 31,000 across Mexico since December 2006—49 percent of Mexicans say Calderon’s drug war is a failure.” More disturbing news comes with the exposure of the resurgent role of Mexican cartels in the production and export of methamphetamines to the U.S. Drug traffickers are playing dirty politics. Some see Mexico chin-deep in danger.
The choices for policymakers in Mexico and the U.S. are difficult. U.S. counterdrug strategy must constantly be reshaped and strengthened. New ideas such as Mexico’s membership in NORAD should be put on the table. Defeating the cartels requires cross-cutting fusion of law enforcement, intelligence, and military capabilities. And while force is required against organized crime, there must also be clear pathways out of drug abuse and addiction. A U.S. commander-in-chief for the drug fight would also be helpful.
What Secretary of State Hillary Clinton saw as a Category 5 threat in September now appears downgraded to a tropical storm warning by Napolitano. Despite Napolitano’s upbeat “readout” from her latest Mexico visit, most Americans are still shocked by disturbing headlines out of Mexico, worried about our porous southern border and spillover violence, and anxious to see solid results from two years of Obama assistance to beleaguered Mexico.
The Foundry: Conservative Policy News.
Open Thread: Judge Napolitano and Amb. Bolton Debate WikiLeaks
The libertarian truther vs. the hawkish former Bush official. Who gets the best of this debate?
Also, where do you stand on the central disagreement of this exchange? Does the physical defense of the nation take primacy over strict adherence to its laws given the chaotic nature of the international community?
NewsBusters.org - Exposing Liberal Media Bias
Judge Napolitano: It’s hard for me to believe that WTC7 came down by itself
“Truth.”
Via the Right Scoop, it’s a few days old but shouldn’t pass unmentioned. Skip ahead to 3:44 for the key bit. In lieu of repeating the points about WTC7 that I made the last time a Fox News/Business host started Just Askin’ Questions about 9/11, let me ask: Precisely how many of these people does [...]
Fox News Legal Analyst Andrew Napolitano A 9/11 Truther?
Fox News/Fox Business legal analyst Andrew Napolitano, a former state court Judge in New Jersey, made comments recently that seem to indicate he doesn’t buy the “official story” of the September 11th attacks.
First of all, anyone who appears on Alex Jones’s radio show is suspect to begin with. Jones is a well-known 9/11 truther.
Second, well, just listen for yourself starting around the 4:00 mark:
Napolitano was a guy I actually had some respect for, at least before these idiotic comments.
This is the kind of people Fox is hiring these days.
H/T: The Pajama Pundit
UPDATE (James Joyner): Here’s a transcript of the relevant portion of the conversation, courtesy Media Matters:
JONES: OK finally, man because I’ve never raised this with you, because it’s a subject I just leave alone with folks because I don’t want to cause people problems. But you brought it up with Geraldo Rivera, who says he is concerned about building 7, and I want to put the question you put to him to you. I mean, what do you think of Geraldo Rivera coming out — what do you think of 7?
NAPOLITANO: It’s hard for me to believe that it came down by itself. I was gratified to see Geraldo Rivera investigating it. I am gratified to see that people across the board are interested.
I think twenty years from now, people will look at 9-11 the way we look at the assassination of JFK today. It couldn’t possibly have been done the way the government told us.
JONES: Well, I want to tell you this. You’ve got a lot of courage, Judge, and so does Geraldo Rivera. I don’t agree with him on some of his more liberal political views, but I do resonate with his courage, and I resonate with yours, and I already had the highest respect for you, but now the thermometer just broke. And the mercury — geysering out of it right now. Judge, you are a great American, and I just can’t wait till your show is number one on Fox Business, when you’re on regular Fox full time, because no army can stop an idea whose time has come.
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Does Glenn Beck Think Andrew Napolitano Should Be Fired For Being A 9/11 Truther?
Last year, White House green jobs adviser, and now Center for American Progress fellow Van Jones resigned after Fox News host Glenn Beck’s months-long oil industry fueled campaign to smear Jones. “I’ve been talking about Van Jones, a special adviser to the president, because he’s got the president’s ear and he’s an admitted communist; a radical who wants to fundamentally change America,” Beck said. As part of his anti-Jones smear campaign, Beck claimed Jones is a “9/11 Truther” conspiracy theorist who believes the government orchestrated the 9/11 attacks. (Jones said of the charge, “it certainly does not reflect my views now or ever.”)
Now perhaps Beck may have to start a campaign against one of his Fox News colleagues. Yesterday, Fox News analyst and part-time host Judge Andrew Napolitano appeared on the radio show of well-known 9/11 truther Alex Jones, whom Napolitano has had a “close relationship” with. While discussing Fox News host Geraldo Rivera’s recent conversion to being at least open to 9/11 conspiracy theories, Napolitano — who has guested hosted for Beck on Fox numerous times — said he thinks the government isn’t telling the American people the whole story on the terror attacks:
JONES: OK finally, man because I’ve never raised this with you, because it’s a subject I just leave alone with folks because I don’t want to cause people problems. But you brought it up with Geraldo Rivera, who says he is concerned about building 7, and I want to put the question you put to him to you. I mean, what do you think of Geraldo Rivera coming out — what do you think of 7?
NAPOLITANO: It’s hard for me to believe that it came down by itself. I was gratified to see Geraldo Rivera investigating it. I am gratified to see that people across the board are interested. I think twenty years from now, people will look at 9-11 the way we look at the assassination of JFK today. It couldn’t possibly have been done the way the government told us.
Listen here:
Media Matters’ Eric Hananoki, who notes that the conspiracy theories surrounding WTC 7 have been thoroughly debunked, adds that Napolitano has “dabbled in 9/11 trutherism before”:
In March, while still on FoxNews.com, Napolitano hosted truther Jesse Ventura, who was given an unchallenged platform to push 9-11 conspiracy theories. At the conclusion of that interview, Napolitano wondered if “someday we will look on 9-11 the way we look on the JFK assassination today, that is, where people who question the government’s involvement will be mainstreamed, rather than looked upon as an extremist fringe.” Napolitano also hosted Ventura in October on Fox Business; during the interview, Ventura said he was investigating the “alleged Pentagon plane” attack, to which Napolitano replied, “we’ll be watching.”
So what does Beck think about Napolitano’s 9/11 trutherism? “I have been warning about these people for years,” Beck has said, “these 9/11 Truthers are truly disturbed people.” When asked for comment by ThinkProgress, a press aide of Beck’s told us this afternoon that he is “not in a position to comment,” and asked ThinkProgress to “call back on Monday.”
Janet Napolitano - Eleanor Roosevelt as Farce
“When in trouble, when in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout”.
American Thinker Blog
Napolitano Praises DHS Thug Army For Raping, Beating, Humiliating And Arresting U.S. Population Into Degraded, Broken, Submissive Slaves
Larger agenda?
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano thanked TSA workers for their hard work on Tuesday afternoon.
Officials with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) have come under fire recently for implementing a series of controversial screening techniques, which include advanced body imaging systems and pat-downs.
In a letter to TSA employees on Tuesday, a day before one of the busiest travel days in the country, Napolitano acknowledged the hardships of their job and said that the country was counting on them to keep them safe.
“Time and again, the men and women of TSA have demonstrated poise and professionalism,” said Napolitano in the letter. “Travelers and the public realize that your job is difficult and demanding. This holiday season, I am confident you will again demonstrate your commitment to ensuring the safety of the traveling public to everyone who passes through an airport security checkpoint.”
Report: Napolitano considering Hamas-linked CAIR’s demands for Muslim women in airports, including the “self-pat-down”
The Department of Homeland Security needs to clarify its position here without delay. CAIR advised Muslim women in the press release quoted here that:
“Instead of the pat-down, you can always request to pat down your own scarf, including head and neck area”…
Two facts should be self-evident to demonstrate how outrageous this idea is. First, the whole point of being searched by someone else is to find concealed objects. A “self-pat-down” clearly defeats that purpose and is a completely unacceptable lapse in security. Let’s remember the stakes here: if something goes wrong in air security in the wrong place at the wrong time, people die. There is enough margin for error in the system already without adding this variable.
Secondly, the fact that Napolitano could even be considering such a measure highlights a double standard for special treatment that would not be considered for any other religious group, but is extended to Muslims without a second thought. What is going on here is a politically correct sort of anti-profiling: by all appearances, the air security apparatus bends over backwards to profile Muslims as not being a threat, in a way that it does not strive to reassure other demographic groups in the traveling public.
We are told time and again that Muslims in America just want to be treated like everyone else. Ergo, if you want equal treatment as a Muslim woman, participate in your social responsibilities equally even when it is awkward or inconvenient, rather than acting like some kind of demigoddess whose head and neck are untouchable by sullied human hands in the screening line. Your head and neck are as human as that of the next non-Muslim lady in line who is no more thrilled to be there than you are.
But let’s remember why we’re standing there waiting with our shoes in a plastic bin, and why so many security procedures have come into being in the first place: Islamic jihadists keep trying to bring down our planes, more and more with explosives concealed on their bodies.
“Napolitano considering allowing Muslim women to pat themselves down at Airports!” by Jack Minor for the Greeley Gazette, November 17 (thanks to C.):
With the holidays fast approaching, the Transportation Safety Agency has announced new security procedures requiring passengers selected for secondary screening to go through a machine that produces a full body scan producing a nude but grainy, black and white image. Passengers choosing to opt out of the scan will face a full body pat.
The problems these security measures pose should be discussed in the interest of the entire traveling public, pilots, and flight attendants, and not as the problem of one group.
The head of Homeland Security has indicated the government is considering the request of an Islamic organization that has suggested Muslim women be allowed to pat themselves down during a full body search that is part of new enhanced procedures at airports.
Since implementing the procedures, numerous complaints have arisen that the search is not a “pat-down” but rather feeling and grabbing along a person’s genitalia and other areas until they meet resistance. Critics have said the pat-downs would be considered sexual assault if performed elsewhere.
The TSA defends the procedures as necessary in light of last years “underwear bomber” and the recent issues involving printer cartridges being used in an attempt to blow up cargo planes.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, CAIR, has expressed concern with the TSA over the regulations and recommended special procedures for dealing with Muslim women. The organization issued a travel advisory for Muslims over the procedure.
In the advisory CAIR advises all Muslims to contact them and file a complaint with the TSA if they experience any “disturbing incidents” with the new procedures and they feel they have been unfairly singled out for screening.
It goes on to make special recommendations for Muslim women wearing a hijab covering their face. The advisory says women are to inform the officer they are only to pat down the head and neck and says “They should not subject you to a full-body or partial body pat-down.” They also recommend that women should be permitted to pat themselves down and “have the officers perform a chemical swipe of your hands.”
Barack Obama’s Homeland Security Czar, Janet Napolitano, is considering changes to the procedures to address the issues raised by CAIR….
Napolitano is Getting it Wrong on TSA
For two years now, President Barack Obama’s administration has been on a concentrated mission to expand the size and scope of the federal government. Of course, this passionate mission is derailed when the inefficiencies of certain government services are highlighted in the American conscience. And every time the general public decries a specific example of government ineffectiveness, the Obama team’s reaction is incredulous shock. How could anyone not blindly trust the federal bureaucracy?
Once again this is the case as a
Amid these stories, passengers began creating drama of their own, by either opting out of security measures or planning a mass protest around Thanksgiving.
So with a national rebellion against the men and women who are the last line of defense inside our airports being staged, what is the Obama team’s reaction? Get over it. Trust us. Cooperate.
In typical style, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and her colleagues are treating this story as a media-hyped bunch of nothing. But in fact, it’s been a story long in the making as the government downplayed threats, yet increased screening measures and did nothing to negate a growing impression that the airport security line is a bureaucratic nightmare akin to the dreaded U.S. Post Office.
Secretary Napolitano’s publicly casual approach to the war on terror has unfortunately led Americans to see TSA officers -many of whom decided to enlist after 9/11 for similar reasons as our fighting soldiers — as postal bureaucrats. When Napolitano and President Obama stopped using the term Global War on Terror, they intentionally lowered the perceived severity of the threat and thereby the perceived consequence of airport security.
When Napolitano dismissed the Times Square bomber as a “
When Napolitano said the “
Secretary Napolitano has often and publicly reinforced a misunderstanding of the threat and what level of vigilance is necessary, and then acts with shock and dismay when travelers aren’t trusting of why they need their crotch examined.
TSA officers are left negotiating a perilous public relations disaster with each and every screening. And legislators are rightly left debating the existing options to privatize certain screening services.
Secretary Napolitano has allowed politics and reactionary episodes to fog what is the necessary strategy for keeping terrorists off planes. And in her rush to do so, she has recklessly left TSA employees as the face of a bureaucracy gone awry, and without a legitimate defense or explanation for the agitated flying public.
When passengers spend thirty minutes in line watching children be patted down, and learning the new rules of the week for flying, tensions are surely going to rise. Passengers quickly have to learn if this is an airport that requires shoes on the belt, or in the bin and other inconsistencies. They see pilots get groped knowing full well that if a pilot wants to take down an airliner, they are in an undeniable position to succeed, sans liquid. And now they have to decide if they’ll allow a primary invasive screening designed for secondary use, or opt for an experience that some would argue requires dinner and a movie.
After September 11, 2001, Americans were prepared to spend twenty more minutes in the security line, take off their shoes, and pull out their laptops to assure they weren’t on the next flight headed for a target, rather than a destination. They then accepted, reluctantly, that they had to limit their carry-on shampoos and liquids for the cause of preventing an in-flight explosion. But as DHS continues to change the rules, add layers and push or pass the boundaries of expected privacy, passengers have a right to be sold on the measures, rather than scolded for questioning them, while leaders in Washington downplay the overall threat.
Secretary Napolitano has simply not made the case. Rather than strike a “trust us” tone — and we have learned over the past two years and last election that large masses of the public do not blindly trust Washington — she should strike a receptive tone. Rather than use secondary technology for primary screening, she needs to develop a consistent and publicly accepted screening policy that is transparent, systemic, logical and more closely resembles what Americans have come to expect.
To not listen to the public and address the concerns is going to make the security situation worse. With planned mass “opt-outs” around the holidays, the security line is surely to become a mess. Frustrated TSA employees and passengers will add to missed flights and weather delays causing families staying home to be the only ones thankful this holiday season. And this will all lead to legislators rightly examining if the bureaucracy has become too bloated and debate privatizing large pieces of the apparatus.
Americans need to trust the people that are empowered to keep us safe. Sadly, that public faith is eroding, and it endangers our security. Secretary Napolitano is doing a disservice to our national security if she continues to discount the public consciousness and not rebuild the lost confidence in our airport security.
President Obama often blames his administration’s policy failings on communications problems. In this case, he has both.
You can follow Rory Cooper on Twitter
The Foundry: Conservative Policy News.
Judge Napolitano to Arianna Huffington: ‘How Can Anyone Take You Seriously?’
Especially after this headline:
Irony Alert: Accused Plagiarist Arianna Huffington Accuses Bush of Plagiarizing… His Own Words
HuffPo’s Plagiarism Crier: Toking Soros Minion?
Still crickets from HuffPo on the issue.
Napolitano: We’re doing this for your own good
“We face a determined enemy.”
After a crescendo of criticism over new, more aggressive pat-downs at airport security stations for travelers, Janet Napolitano penned an essay for USA Today defending her new policies and pleading for patience. The Homeland Security Secretary insists that the pat-downs are not new and are necessary for travelers who refuse to use the metal detectors [...]
Senator-Elect Mike Lee and Andrew Napolitano Discuss Repealing the 17th Amendment
(Todd Zywicki)
Senator-elect Mike Lee discussed repeal of the 17th Amendment on Freedom Watch last week. Here’s the video.
