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January 31, 2010
House Democrats Scold No-Show Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano
This is a photo of her at the speech Obama gave for the State of the Union Address. But that was at night and she was MIA for the VERY important meeting earlier in the day. ~ Wild Thing
House Democrats Scold No-Show Homeland Security Secretary: ‘Where the Hell is Secretary Napolitano?’
Friday, January 29
By Terence P. Jeffrey, Editor-in-Chief
HERE is the video
http://www.eyeblast.tv/public/checker.aspx?v=XduzuzkU8z...MUST see video
Top Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee publicly scolded Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano for failing to show up at a Wednesday hearing where the committee examined the attempted Christmas Day suicide bombing of Northwest Flight 253. One Democrat on the committee said he wanted to know “where the hell” Napolitano was.
That evening, Napolitiano did prominently show up at the Capitol to attend President Barack Obama's State of the Union address. But earlier in the day, she dispatched Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Jane Holl Lute to testify on her behalf in the Homeland Security Committee on what went wrong in the homeland-security process that allowed would-be suicide-bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to board a plane bound from Amsterdam to the Detroit.
The committee has primary oversight over Napolitano’s department, and top Democrats on the panel made it clear they were angry that she failed to show up for such an important hearing.
Appearing on CNN two days after the attempted Christmas Day suicide bombing, Napolitano had said: “And one thing I’d like to point out is that the system worked.” Republican sources on the committee said they believe Napolitano did not show up today because she did not want to explain why she said those words.
Democrats openly expressed their dismay with Napolitano as the hearing proceeded. Rep. Chris Carney (D.-Pa.), chairman of the Subcommittee on Management, Investigations and Oversight, said during his question period: “I am very dismayed that the Secretary herself isn’t here. I mean it’s probably fair to ask: “Where the Hell is Secretary Napolitano?”
Rep. Jane Harman (D.-Calif.), chairman of the Subcommittee on Intelligence, said: "I would like to welcome our witnesses but comment on the absence of Secretary Napolitano. This is the committee with primary jurisdiction over the Department of Homeland Security. She is the secretary of Homeland Security. She is in Washington, D.C. She was invited to testify at this very important hearing, and she should have been here. … I am very personally disappointed that she isn’t here.”
Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson (D.-Miss.) rebuked Napolitano for a lack of courtesy in dealing with the committee. Thompson said during the hearing that he had spoken with Napolitano just two days before and that there had been no discussion of her not attending. He did not want his committee to be “misled,” he said, added that the committee had first been told that Napolitano could not attend because she would be out of the country, then discovered that she was in fact in Washington, D.C. but would not attend anyway.
“I don’t want the committee to be misled,” said Thompson. “Now, I talked with the secretary two days ago. We did not talk about her non-attendance or attendance at this hearing. Staff did communicate, based on a directive that we received that the secretary would not be here, and we worked on Assistant Secretary Lute’s presence. That changed, and, at a minimum, based on that change, somebody could have communicated back to the committee one way or the other that we told that you weren’t going to be here, we are here now, but we still can’t come because of some other things. That is the courtesy, I think, the committee still deserves. It does not require comment.”
Wild Thing's comment.....
I guess she had better things to do than her JOB.
So she’s supposed to protect the American people from terrorists, yet she’s afraid of a bunch of politicians? Gives one a warm, fuzzy feeling, doesn’t it!
Posted by Wild Thing at January 31, 2010 05:48 AM
Comments
Titular, literally.
Posted by: Jack at January 31, 2010 08:31 AM
ROFLMAO!!
Yeah, the system just keeps working there,huh janet?
Posted by: yankeemom at January 31, 2010 10:43 AM
I love it when Democrats anger Democrats. Napolitano had better things to screw up than a meeting with fellow Democrats.
Posted by: TomR at January 31, 2010 01:02 PM
Jack, haha yesss
Yankeemom, that photo of Janet sleeping had me laughing so hard. I wonder if Obama caught that. heh heh
Tom, I do too, it is delicious.
Posted by: Wild Thing at January 31, 2010 04:01 PM
I heard she was @ the Dingler Hotel with Janet Reno. heh heh!
Posted by: Eddie (Enemy of the State) at February 1, 2010 01:57 PM
