When we were kids we all learned that it is wrong to speak half truths you’re caught with your hand in the cookie jar, well, all of us that is except for the Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano.

On December 25, 2009 a Nigerian terrorist boarded a Northwest airlines flight from Amsterdam to Detroit. He paid cash, did not check in luggage, and apparently did not have a valid passport (a required document for travel on all US bound flights). As the plane approached Detroit, the terrorist tried to ignite a bomb hidden in his underwear. Thankfully his ignition source (a syringe full of acid) failed. The bomb simply smoldered. A quick thinking Dutch passenger subdued the terrorist and thwarted additional attempts to ignite the bomb. If the bomb had gone off, experts say it could have blown a hole in the fuselage or ignited the plane’s fuel tank, killing everyone on board. 

Letting a known Nigerian terrorist suspect onto a US bound flight without a passport is bad enough. Seeing our Homeland Security Secretary hum and haw about what happened makes everything worse. 

On CNN Napolitano claimed that disaster was averted because “the system worked.” In Napolitano’s mind the working system is a failed ignition source and a brave passenger. If the Homeland Security Secretary’s system is a failed ignition source and a brave passenger then we are all in trouble. I assume that when she stated that the system worked she was not referring to the failure to locate the bomb during screening, to allowing a suspected terrorist onto the plane, and to allowing someone without a passport onto the plane. 

Napolitano mislead the American people while a crisis was unfolding. In a way her actions are akin to a child telling her mom that she is not taking a cookie while her hand is in the cookie jar. 

Friends, psychological science has shown that people are surprisingly resilient during crises and catastrophes. During tragic moments like Pearl Harbor and 9-11, people pull together and try to make things better. Such behavior is a testament to the values of hope and prosperity underlying the American collective psyche.  

However, there is no greater threat to hope and prosperity in a time of crisis than poor leadership. During times of crisis we look to our leaders for guidance and inspiration, but when someone like Napolitano “reads” a crisis completely wrong, there is no guidance and inspiration; rather there is frustration and fear. 

The Secretary of Homeland Security should have publicly thanked the Dutchman, declared that something went wrong, and then reassured the American public that she is going to find out what went wrong and fix it! This is the kind of leadership the American public deserves in a time of crisis.

Continue reading at the original source →