Story of the Day

Classic Blitzer. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, on the heels of the House of Representatives report on Katrina, in which his glaring incompetence is cited, chats up Wolfie as if he should be doing something besides resigning.

First, here's the report's conclusion on Chertoff:

"The secretary of homeland security became the president's principal disaster adviser responsible for enabling the president to effectively utilize his authority. Secretary Chertoff executed these responsibilities late, ineffectively, or not at all."

Yet when Blitzer mentions that some people are calling for his resignation, Chertoff responds with the same rhetoric that Emperor Rumsfeld has used:

"As long as the president wants me to continue to do that work and thinks I can make a contribution, I'm going to stay at my post."

Though Blitzer doesn't follow up on this lame response, it seems to cry out for a question pertaining to the pattern of incompetence, and lack of accountability, that has become the hallmark of this administration. Something as simple as: If you don't think you should resign now, under what circumstance - barring the President's request - do you think someone should?

But the kicker is when Blitzer brings up the news that we're outsourcing operations of ports in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New Orleans and Miami to Dubai Ports World, a company based in the United Arab Emirates. When asked if he signed off on this brilliant deal, Chertoff powers up the doublespeak and declares it's a "classified process." Blitzer accepts the stonewalling like a child receiving a candied apple and a pat on the head, and then gives Chertoff the last word:

"You know, we have to balance the paramount urgency of security against the fact that we still want to have a robust global trading system."

Chilling. Baffling. Infuriating. Just another Sunday morning with Wolf Blitzer and company. A ten-year-old could figure out that any profits made through outsourcing the operation of our ports to a company owned by the United Arab Emirates government is just not worth the risk to our security.

Read it and weep:

Interview with Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff
Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer