A real-life Clark Kent

Haven't we heard this song before? Another former Bush administration official is speaking out about this administration's ineptitude in dealing with terrorism, and most importantly, its lack of funding and preparedness for another attack against America. I wonder what Rove and company will do to discredit him.

First, it was Richard Clarke, and his 2004 explosive best selling book, Against All Enemies. In a highly partisan political year, Bush, Rove and Co. went after him just like they've gone after Osama bin Laden. Oops. Bad example. Okay, they went after Clarke like the GOP went after Clinton for having an affair. Yea, that's better.

The new man in Rove's crosshairs is Clark Kent Ervin, currently the head of Homeland Security Program at the Aspen Institute. He was the first Inspector General of the United States Department of Homeland Security, appointed by President Bush in December 2003 in a recess appointment. He served until December 2004, when his term expired. Subsequently, The White House did not submit his name to the Senate for confirmation.

Ervin has written a book , Open Target: How America is Vulnerable to Attack, which details how vulnerable America is to another terrorist attack and the reasons why. His biggest criticism is this administration's lack of funding for the DHS. Read this exchange, between Ervin and Jon Stewart, on a recent airing of The Daily Show:

JS: It feels as though [the Bush administration is] very good at the rhetoric of fighting this war [on terrorism], but don’t apparently have the wherewithal to competently govern it.

CKE: That’s exactly right. You know, it’s as if they think all it takes to secure the homeland is a department called Homeland Security. Creating this department really was the beginning of the job, not the end of it. And from the beginning, the department has been under funded. I say that, rightly as you say, as a conservative republican. I don’t typically call for greater government spending, but you can’t secure the homeland on the cheap.

JS: What are the changes being made? I know now they [Republicans] just came out and said we should get rid of FEMA.

CKE: That’s right, well you know it’s a typical Washington response. Rather than taking the government we have, giving it the money it needs, the leadership it needs, and the culture it needs to work, we are recreating the organizational chart. I had hoped and thought that Secretary [Michael] Chertoff would be a big improvement, but as you say, Katrina was his test, and he obviously failed it. The thing about terrorism is that we won’t have any warning, or if we do it will be very indirect, and if we’re not prepared for something that is not just foreseeable but foreseen, how prepared can we be for the next terror attack?

Just a few weeks ago, Congressional investigators were able to sneak bomb components through 21 airports undetected, even though investigators went out of their way to make it easy to spot them.

JS: You make a point in your book about a report that said that 40 percent of all weapons and bombs, etcetera, you guys were able to sneak into airports, and [Tom] Ridge [The first head of DHS] called you into his office and said, "Why didn’t you say we were successful 60 percent of the time?"

CKE: Rather than making bad results better, they were focused on making bad results sound better. And that in a nutshell is the problem; that accounts for why America remains an open target all these many years after 9-11.

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Still feel safe? I don't.

The only question now is what the Bush administration will do to Swiftboat Ervin. It's not a question of if, it's a question of how and when. Hey, it's an election year, and the War on Terrorism is arguably Bush's strength, if he even has one left. Do you honestly think that Karl Rove will let attacks on the president's credibility go unanswered? You can be confident that when Rove finishes his attack campaign, some right wing hacks will consider Ervin a real threat who "hates America" and "sides with the terrorists."

Hurricane Katrina was a perfect illustration of how poorly this government can execute any kind of significant federal response to any kind of disaster, be it natural or terrorist. Ervin is merely pointing it out. The DHS has been vastly under funded since its inception in November 2002. Our ports are more open than Paris Hilton and our border agents should have red sheets so they can yell olé! as illegals pour over the border. But hey, thank GOD the GOP controlled Congress just passed another fucking tax cut a few weeks ago, to the tune of $70 billion. Republicans are so out of touch, it's just turning into a comedy hour now. But, it will be no laughing matter when the hotly contested campaigns kick into high gear this summer.

Hurricane Katrina, before it blew off the Bush's administration's shroud of competency, to the tune of $115 billion. Must be time for another tax cut! Great idea - let's pay back all of this money we are borrowing [because of record-high deficits], with interest. What difference will it make? Bush will be long gone, with his two nightmare terms behind us, by the time the bill comes due.

Thanks George!