Will thsi be a more proactive administration? It seems to be shaping up that way. I enjoy your thoughts Matt. Marry Christmas
David | 12.02.04 - 10:20 pm | #

As an American who also came from Cuba in 1962, Let me stand on the soap box for just one second and mention Bush's nomination of Carlos Gutierrez for Commerce Secretary.

Mr. Gutierrez started his career at Kellogs' as a truck driver doing deliveries in Mexico City.

I like the fact that Bush is attracted to "Silver Spoonless" successes such as Rice, Kerik and Gutierrez and is giving them an opportunity to continue over-achieving in the pursuit of freedom as part of his administration.
Jose | 12.02.04 - 11:24 pm | #

Well said, Jose.
Froggy | Homepage | 12.02.04 - 11:34 pm | #

I agree with all you wrote about Kerik. He is more than qualified, which is sorely needed.
Kathianne | Homepage | 12.03.04 - 12:13 am | #

I am sure he is emminately qualified, but my main concern is his stance on the second amendment. A NYPD cop and private ownership of a firearm is not compatable.
All I have been hearing from Homeland Security for the last several years is set aside a cell phone, a few slices of beef jerky, a couple of granola bars and a bottle of designer water so that when things go south you can hide out in your house and wait to die.

Ok so if the terroists were to go house to house they get to kill us and eat our lunch.

Of course we need to stay in our homes as it will make identification easier when the authorities deem it is safe to clean up.

Since 9/11 I have not heard any serious suggestions from the government that would have any effect on personal security.

What about those not in their homes when something happens, are they expected to just lay down and wait to be executed.
Gunscribe | Homepage | 12.03.04 - 12:52 am | #

Well, anyone looking to do harm to Americans, better stay out of Texas because almost all of us carry guns and we won't stay in our homes, we will go out and kill them and feed their remains to our animals.

Don't mess with Texas

This is my post

Papa Ray
West Texas
USA
Papa Ray | 12.03.04 - 1:02 am | #

Gunscribe,
DHS has no enforcement authority with respect to firearms laws. The ATF is now part of the DOJ with the FBI, and believe me, those guys are the only people working those cases at the federal level. Some states have robust enforcement agencies focused on gun laws (California), but for the most part it is ATF.

They are prosecuting my friend's son for having a shotgun in his home even though he had a misdemeanor domestic violence conviction (Lautenberg Amendment). They were referred by the local PD, and they took the case even though the kid has no other LE contact or history. He even got his DV conviction reduced to simple assault without DV. Those guys have nothing better to do than stupid shit like that.
Froggy | Homepage | 12.03.04 - 1:05 am | #

Froggy I realize that they have no authority to enforce firearms laws, I am sorry I did not make that point clear.

I was refering to the PSA commercials they have been running, they are offering nothing in the way of real preparations for real security.

I guess that it is just too politically incorrect to tell the masses to arm themselves because the cops won't necessarily be there when it goes down (if it does)and even if they are they will probably be out gunned and need help anyway.

I don't think I am being paronoid when I say that it is just a matter of time before the U.S. is subjected to the types of attacks that have taken place in Isreal for way too many years.

I hope we never see anything like that, but as a self taught student of history, I wouldn't bet against it not happening.
Gunscribe | Homepage | 12.03.04 - 2:06 am | #

I hope you are wrong.
Froggy | Homepage | 12.03.04 - 2:46 am | #

I do too, Oh how I want to be so wrong on this one Froggy
Gunscribe | Homepage | 12.03.04 - 3:10 am | #

Amen Papa Ray. Im Rudy from Austin.
mercadorudy | 12.03.04 - 11:49 am | #

He looks like a very good man for the job. Can Asa *YESTERDAY*!
Rod Stanton
Cerritos
Rod Stanton | 12.03.04 - 12:48 pm | #

Was Ridge just lucky, then, that we went these recent years without a repeat of 9/11-scale attacks?
Ciggy | Homepage | 12.03.04 - 6:14 pm | #

I'm in NY and Kerik is very highly thought of. Matt, I took your criticisms of DHS very seriously and I sure hope Kerik will do what's needed (as I'm hoping Goss does at the CIA). These guys may only have 4 years but a ton can be accomplished in that time -- enough improvement and institutional change such that the next admin. can't totally screw them up. That's my hope, anyway. Change these agencies now and permanently.

My other comment is that a couple of years ago the cops came (very quickly; most reassuring) when our alarm went off during the night. They went through the whole house with us and nothing was found (I feared someone hiding in the basement). The senior cop recommended we get a 10 gauge shotgun for protection. In NY, I admit this shocked me. We haven't done it yet (nothing like inertia) but the more I ponder the next attack(s), the more I think I want to get one and take lessons at a local gun club.

Words cannot describe how anti-gun I was all the years I lived in SoCal.

Anyway, does anyone have advice re: the shotgun? Handguns are illegal in this state. (I'm to the point where I want to move to a red state with concealed carry laws even though I can't envision myself ever carrying. I'd be safer simply because so many others do.)
Peg C. | 12.03.04 - 8:33 pm | #

Matt,
Thank you for that very concise summary of why Kerik is the man and why Tom Ridge couldn't cut it. You've opened my eyes.
Impossible Scissors | Homepage | 12.03.04 - 9:25 pm | #

Froggy,
Rumor has it that he's a terrific cop, but not a very good manager. It's a big job for someone who can't manage.
Julie
Julie | 12.04.04 - 2:35 am | #

Has anyone considered that shoving a lot of different bureaucracies together and pretending that they are "Homeland Security" is a lousy idea to begin with???

Bigger, my friends, is just not better.
heatherc | 12.04.04 - 4:27 am | #

The following article written by Conor O’Clery (the paper’s America correspondent) and appeared in “THE IRISH TIMES” newspaper on Saturday (12/04/04) regarding the Kerik appointment as head of Homeland security.

Predictably, it shows Ireland is a solid member of “Old Europe” in its bias against American foreign policy.

TITLE: “SECURITY TOUGH GUY RUFFLES A FEW FEATHERS.”

“Bushes nomination yesterday of Bernard Kerik as the new head of Homeland security is causing some consternation at the department, which is responsible for securing the country’s boarders, coasts and airports and incorporates the immigration service, the Secret Service, and the Coast Guard. Compared to Tom Ridge, who got on with everyone, Kerik is known as a tough and sometimes coarse official who likes to shake things up. He is a protégé of former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who is said to have pleaded passionately with Bush to give him (Kerik) the job.

Kerik was police Chief (NYPD) at the time of the 9/11 attacks and has since thrown in his lot with the Republicans. He paid his political dues during the election campaign, telling “The New York Daily News” that if John Kerry got into the white house, another terrorist attack was likely. I (Conor O’Clery) also heard him say at a rally for Dick Cheney in New Jersey that if Kerry were elected, America would lose the war on terror.

In his biography “The Lost Son”, Kerik reveals that his mother was a prostitute who abandoned him when he was two, and died a violent death. He dropped out of high school to join the army, fathered a child in South Korea, worked as a security expert in Saudi Arabia and a prison guard in New York, and then became a New York cop. H cultivated a pony tail an diamond earrings to work undercover as a narcotics detective and during this time he was declared personally bankrupt.

Kerik became a sidekick of Giuliani during the mayor’s election campaign and was rewarded with a promotion to head of the NYPD. During his last year in office, crime dropped and relations with minority communities, abysmal during Giuliani’s early term, improved.

Kerik left the police to join Giuliani’s crisis-management consulting firm where he made millions of dollars giving speeches and advice, and has since cashed in six million dollars of stock in a tasar gun company that sponsored lucrative appearances around the country. Bush sent him to Iraq for six months to set up a police force and there he learned, he said, how much hatred there was for America.”
Toejam | 12.04.04 - 8:56 am | #

Anyone who stirs up outrage in Old Europe just has to be good.
Peg C. | 12.04.04 - 11:00 am | #

Peg C.,

Do yourself a favor and take responsibility for your own personal protection. Don't leave something that important to others or the gov't.

Most people don't know that the "police" have no legal duty to protect individual's, so therefore, it's your responsibility to protect yourself.

As far as your other question, feel free to email me and I would be more than happy to assist you with that.

Regards.
thebronze | 12.04.04 - 1:02 pm | #

Anyone who stirs up outrage in Old Europe just has to be good.

You are 110% correct Peg C!

As far as I'm concerned "Old Europe" could be nuked tomorrow and that would only IMPROVE the world situation!
Toejam | 12.04.04 - 2:32 pm | #

Peg C.:

Do it. Almost any short pump-action shotgun will do for your purpose, because...
(1) It's almost impossible to miss at short distances because of the long sight-radius and relatively wide pattern produced by buckshot
(2) Buckshot won't over-penetrate and accedentally hurt any neighbors
(3) Looking down the barrel of a shotgun is pretty f'n intimidating, and you may not actually need to pull the trigger

Knowledge is power: educate yourself regarding brands, models, ammunition, storage requirements, home-defense tacktics and law-enforcement issues following an incident.

These links are a good start to find more info on the web.
http://www.a-human-right.com/
http://www.kimdutoit.com/dr/weblog.php

To quote The Matrix: I have shown you the door, but only you can open it.
Dutch Expat | 12.05.04 - 1:37 am | #

What exactly does being a warden, narc or police dept. bureaucrat have to do with homeland security? Another sterling appointment by the TopGun who never fought.
JohnnyJackAss | 12.07.04 - 9:18 pm | #

Well, Kerik has withdrawn his name. Wonder who will be nominated next?
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Emanuel | Homepage | 02.02.07 - 11:14 am | #