Saturday, January 02, 2010

Pollyanna MSM Quick to Defend Obama and Napolitano


Michael van der Galien

Although I should’ve expected it, I’m afraid I have to admit that the mainstream media’s passionate defense of Homeland Security Chief Janet Napolitano took me by surprise.

I especially expected better from New York Times columnist David Brooks – as much of a centrist as they come – and Washington Post columnist David S. Broder. The former wrote yesterday: There have been outraged calls for Secretary Janet Napolitano of the Department of Homeland Security to resign, as if changing the leader of the bureaucracy would fix the flaws inherent in the bureaucracy. There have been demands for systemic reform — for more protocols, more layers and more review systems.

Much of the criticism has been contemptuous and hysterical. Various experts have gathered bits of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab’s biography. Since they can string the facts together to accurately predict the past, they thunder, the intelligence services should have been able to connect the dots to predict the future.

“Contemptuous and hysterical?” Pardon me? Whether Brooks likes it or not, Napolitano is in charge of homeland security. If the intelligence community makes a mistake which (almost) results in a terrorist attack, she and no one else is responsible. It’s a vital part of the West’s democratic system: democracies can’t expect to thrive if government officials aren’t held accountable for everything that happens under their watch.

Brooks’ column may be bad enough, but Broder proves it can always be worse. The man who is considered to be the “Dean” of the Washington press corps doesn’t merely defend Napolitano in his latest column, as Broder does, but even has the audacity to praise her:

It came as no surprise to anyone who knows her that Napolitano handled the incident and its aftermath with aplomb. In the years I have known her, she has managed every challenge that has come her way with the same calm command that she showed in this instance. If there is anyone in the administration who embodies President Obama’s preference for quiet competence with “no drama,” it is Janet Napolitano.

If that quote isn’t definite proof that politicians aren’t the only ones in Washington who are out of touch with the rest of the country (and reality), I don’t know what is.

Brooks and Broder: the MSM’s Pollyanna-twins.
http://newsrealblog.com/2010/01/01/pollyanna-msm-quick-to-defend-obama-and-napolitano/

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