However, in his most recent issue (07-13-07) I have to fault Rich for one thing, he made a terrible mistake or assumption in the article when he asserted near the end, "He [Chertoff] is smart enough and experienced enough to understand that a phrase like "a kind of gut feeling" is not what America is looking for in a threat assessment."

Given Chertoff’s track record to date, I don’t believe he is either smart or experienced.

He is a bureaucrat who (a) has a definite self-interest in promoting fear as a form of job security and cover and (b) is way in over his head.

Not only does he have his own self-interest to look out for, he also has to cover Bush’s back to quickly deflect attention away from the failed immigration debacle (and the administration’s continued refusal to secure the border) and now change the subject with the Iraq debacle facing them straight on.

The Iraqi debate is a debacle because Bush is not exactly Patton on the issue. Oh we hear daily that he truly understands the problem, so what then is the problem? What is so hard to understand about being Commander-in-Chief?

If you are POTUS=CIC begin by telling the congress to shut their pie holes – the nation has had enough of your whining. Then bring in the ‘defectocrats’ (Republicans) who say they will vote against the strategy (the surge) and tell them in no uncertain terms that they will face strong conservative opposition, recruited by the POTUS=CIC (or local party) in the next election. But please no Karl Rover involvement in candidate selection or campaign.

AS POTUS=CIC - I’ll consult you [congress] on the operations as needed when you decide to grow up and face the realities of life. In a fight for our very survival, we don’t need spoiled brats and cowards running around the town square screaming and babbling about how to ‘fight’ a war (insure defeat).

General Patraeus is the man for the job and he is pursuing the correct strategy. If that strategy is not working we will adapt, improvise, over come! GenPatraeus and all the brave young men and women putting their lives on the line to protect you (the congress) and this nation can not operate on a policy of relativism in the field. Frankly, you [the congress] do not deserve the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard we have and I might just convene them for a meeting here in Washington to lobby you about their mission and the real danger facing this nation. Yes that is a threat.

As long as I am POTUS=CIC - This nation is going to pursue victory in Iraq and the war against terror. We will bring down the thunder and lightening on this criminal gang attempting to hold the world hostage to their cowardice ideology. We will pursue them wherever and whenever we find them, including Iran and Pakistan. If you vote against the surge, then I want each of you to know you are voting against the brave young men and women putting it all on the line – for you and this nation. The American people don’t like that. The American people did not vote for defeat when they unfortunately handed you the reigns of power in the congress. With your votes, you [the congress of the United States] are abandoning young men and women while they are still in the fields of fire, in their time of greatest need, and when this nation most needs its patriots to stand up.

What do we get instead? "I respect the other side, we can have honest debates and disagreements, I understand that." The Democrats and Republicans opposing the surge and the war are not being honest or respectful and, frankly, should be treated as such.

We are fed this garbled misspeak and platitudes. Bush is a lame duck, he has lost the war on the war just as he has lost his presidency.

He has lost because he is an accommodationist by nature, an expiator of the first order, unwilling to stand up to the thugs overrunning and, frankly, destroying what remaining credibility the congress might have had.

Which brings me back to Chertoff. It is a fact – related by reliable sources (friends of mine) in Washington – that the entire DHS [Department of Homeland Security] is in way over its head. The bureaucracy is massive and, well, too bureaucratic and cumbersome.

Many were calling for this man’s dismissal and resignation long before the immigration fight. He is an incompetent boob, but typical of the so-called ‘leadership’ in Washington.

Among classical extremists like myself, we have been calling for Chertoff’s head, not just because of the border debacle but his over all vision. The problem with his vision is, like his boss El Jorge, he lacks the ‘vision-thing,’ all together.

Chertoff does not inspire leadership – he is first and foremost a sycophant in pursuit of a career in ‘public service’ and to top it all off, just another petulant lawyer who sees too many sides to the issues of the day.

Chertoff lacks an internal, self-defining ideology other than that of a bureaucrat and that is the central problem. Like others who hold to Washington think, they lack any central core beliefs, except the ideology of the State.

This man should never have been handed the job (he had no prior executive experience) and he should now be fired.

If the congress really wants to help the nation, DHS should be dismantled and decentralized into workable components sharing a common database. Chertoff knows this as well as those within the bureaucracy, but he will not speak up on the issue because he cares more for his job and its power base and he does not want to offend its central architects the incompetent boobs in congress.

Anyone in Washington will tell you that DHS has too many responsibilities and it is quickly turning into a giant cluster (I’m sure you can fill in the blank).

Chertoff’s "gut" feelings speak more about his own intestinal fortitude, or lack thereof, than the threat to this nation. He is using his position and power to deflect rather than inform and this is a serious, but unfortunately just another in a long line of breaches in the credibility and integrity of this administration.

Peddling fear is not a political strategy given an administration that will NOT secure the border and stand up and fight the congress over the issues of the day.

Chertoff is under stress within the bureaucracy and from the public about his failed leadership as head of DHS, just as his boss. The use of one's position and power to purposely deflect attention and change the subject in a time of real and serious danger is shameful, especially when it is coming from an administration that will not stand up and fight the play ground bullies (congress) on the issues of the day. Calls for alerts and increased vigilance begin to ring hallow after a while; particularly, when the CIC will not fight for the American people or his beliefs anymore.

But hey job security is job one with people lacking any true vision or core beliefs.

There has been a concerted effort from the conservative side of the ledger to throw this guy over board - we have used the phone, fax and email campaign against him and he is no doubt, like his boss and congress - feeling the pressure.

It is time the bureaucrats and politicians in Washington feel the heat. We need to turn the tables on these people. Join the fight and start the restoration process – the process of restoring representative government through the power of your voice and written word, stand up, speak out, the times demand it!

THE END