I previously wrote about EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and how
the damage he has done to our environment was hiding behind his many ethical and
legal scandals. Now that he has resigned, I’m turning my attention to Kirstjen
Nielsen, Trump’s latest secretary of Homeland Security.
Time magazine reported last week that Nielsen – speaking to
a convention of state secretaries of state in Philadelphia – said there are “no
signs that Russia is targeting this year’s mid-term elections” with the same fervor
they used to manipulate voting in 2016. She did acknowledge “some level of Russian
interference” and told these state officials – who are in charge of elections
in their respective states – to “remain vigilant.”
She stopped short of saying, “I am passing the buck over to
you, state officials, so if something goes wrong in 2018, it’s going to be your
fault.”
I see two things wrong with Nielsen's statements:
(1) First, this is somewhat contrary to what her boss keeps
saying about his buddy Vladimir Putin. One year ago, Trump said Putin denied
any involvement in the election tampering and that he believed him. This week, after
12 Russians were indicted by a special grand jury for hacking into Democratic
email servers, Trump was asked if he would raise the issue in tomorrow’s
one-on-one meeting with Putin in Helsinki.
He said he would, but suggested that Putin would probably
deny it once again. “What am I going to do?” Trump asked. “All I can do is say,
‘Did you?’ and ‘Don’t do it again.’’’ That’s not much of a response from a narcissistic bully who claims to be so “strong” while pointing out how his adversaries (and
some of our allies) are so “weak.”
(2) But getting back to Nielsen, the second problem with her
speech to the election officials is the suggestion that “some level” of Russian
interference would be acceptable. No, Kirstjen,
it is not. That’s like saying a little bit of cancer is okay as long as it
doesn’t spread, or that it’s okay to steal a little bit of money from the bank as
long as you don’t take it all.
Russia is not a friend of the United States. It is well
documented that the Putin government has been working for years to weaken
American democracy, destroy NATO, separate us from our western allies,
transition Germany back to a Berlin Wall-era satellite, reattach the Baltic
countries it lost in the 1990s and manipulate elections in several countries to
support Russia’s effort to become a dominating world leader once again.
Allowing Russia to have any
level of interference in our elections is so far beyond acceptable that even
saying those words out loud should disqualify someone from holding a position of
authority in the government of the United States.
Moreover, this is far from the first time Nielsen has said
something so stupid that it raises a question about her suitability for her office.
Several such incidents have occurred in just the past few weeks:
* After the FBI, CIA, National Security Agency and Senate
Intelligence Committee all concluded that Russia injected itself in our 2016 election
to help Trump win, Nielsen testified in a May congressional hearing that she
was unaware of such a conclusion. When the media and others wondered how the
director of Homeland Security could be so “unaware,” Nielsen backtracked and
said she agreed with the assessment.
* She was present at a White House meeting in which Trump famously
referred to several African nations as “shitholes,” but was apparently the only
person in the room who didn’t hear him say it. During a Senate hearing, she
said, “I did not hear that word used.”
* During the same hearing, when she was asked whether Norway
was a predominantly white country, Nielsen hesitated before answering, "I
actually do not know that, sir…but I imagine that is the case.” Can you imagine
that? Someone named Nielsen doesn’t know anything about Norway? Give me a break.
* Last month, Nielsen denied that the Trump administration had
implemented a policy to separate migrant families at the Southern border, contradicting
statements by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Chief of Staff John Kelly and
senior adviser Stephen Miller. When she was asked the status of children who
had been taken from their parents, she said she didn’t know where they were,
but then added, curiously, that, “They are being well cared for.”
* On June 20, after repeatedly arguing that the administration
could not sign an executive order to end family separations, she appeared
beside Trump when he signed an executive order doing just that. Politico reported
that Nielsen had privately pushed for this executive order behind the scenes
while saying publicly that it could not be created.
* Finally, The New York
Times reported in May that Nielsen wanted to resign after Trump berated her
in front of his cabinet for “failing to secure the U.S. borders.” Nielsen
denied that she ever threatened to resign, and since then has been parroting
the Trump Administration talking points regardless of how ridiculous they may
sound.
I looked her up before starting this essay, expecting to
find out she had a background as a dog show judge, a trapeze artist or a Dallas
Cowboy cheerleader, and was almost saddened to learn she’s an attorney with considerable
experience in national security-related jobs. She was special assistant to President
George W. Bush and senior director for Prevention, Preparedness and Response on
the White House Homeland Security Council.
Nielsen also served as John F. Kelly's chief of staff at Homeland
Security before he became Trump’s chief of staff, and she followed him to the
White House as Kelly’s principal deputy chief.
I guess that means in politics, you can rack up all the
titles in the world and get appointed to lots of jobs without really learning
how to do any of them. Either Nielsen is just another clueless Trump appointee who
is over her head in her job, or she actually possesses the right qualifications
but has stored them away somewhere in order to serve Commander Bone Spur and his
runaway authoritarian regime.
I’m not sure which is worse.
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