Insecurity

Many of the security initiatives put in place by George Bush have been flops.

A high-tech "virtual fence" to catch illegal border crossers. Next-generation nuclear detectors at ports. Tamper-proof driver's licenses in every state. These were signature Bush administration initiatives to protect the country against terrorism and secure its borders. All have been proven to be flops, according to government and outside experts, and expensive ones at that.

The Department of Homeland Security paid defense contractor Boeing Co. $1.1 billion to build what is sometimes called the virtual border fence. But the system of radars and cameras can't consistently tell terrorists from tumbleweed, according to the Government Accountability Office. In March, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano froze funding on the project.

[...]

Napolitano aides say they don't blame their predecessors, who were under intense pressure to prevent another terrorist attack, for attempting fixes that ultimately didn't pan out. But outside analysts say the failures were the predictable result of an agency with too little experience at making major purchases and of contractors peddling untested products.

I come here to praise George Bush, not to bury him. That is, I agree with the above that he was under pressure and had to do whatever he thought might help; it isn't necessarily his fault these initiatives were failures. Could be. Might be. Probably is. But not necessarily. Yet there is an important lesson: in saying George Bush "kept us safe" after 9/11, and, in pointing to Times Square and saying Barack Obama hasn't, the lunatic mainstream is ignoring reality.

Clearly, it's NOT that George Bush "kept us safe." Dumb luck outweighed the short-term effects of useless systems and counterproductive acts, such as invading Iraq, Abu Ghraib, leaving Afghanistan... all that stuff. Not to mention that the trillions spent fruitlessly in Iraq and Afghanistan (and, yes, Obama has continued it), combined with the deficits that began with the Bush tax cuts and unfunded wars, along with the catastrophic economic ruin he oversaw, have left us unable to spend the sort of money required to secure our ports, and our industries.

I went to bed last night and the sun didn't come up until morning. Pressed with truth, I'll have to admit: the one isn't responsible for the other. But I'd still like to think so, and you should, too. Similarly, Republican legislators, the RWS™, Fox "news," and teabaggers would have us believe cause and effect with respect to Bush/safe/fighting them over there so we don't have to fight them here.

Ain't buying it.