DHS official: America’s ‘No. 1 killer’ is bureaucrats — not al Qaeda.
DHS official: America’s ‘No. 1 killer’ is bureaucrats — not al Qaeda.
Yesterday, Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Robert Stephan claimed government bureaucrats are “more clever than al Qaeda in many respects” and are the “No. 1 killer in the United States” because they “focus more on themselves than they do the collective good.” CQ reports:
“Most of the time, every day, I spend most of the bullets in my single 30-round magazine that I bring to work every day shooting into the backs of our own bureaucracy trying to clear a field of fire,” said Robert Stephan, DHS assistant secretary for infrastructure protection.
“So, I have one bullet left to either pump at al Qaeda or save it for me because the bureaucracy is about to overwhelm me.” [...]
But besting the bureaucrats won’t be easy, he said. “In fact, they’re more clever than al Qaeda in many respects,” Stephan said. “And that’s a pretty far-out statement, but it’s true.”
Stephan “tempered his comments a bit” in a follow-up question and answer session, CQ adds.
Topic Cloud
ArchivesBlog Roll
America’s number one killer is Stephan’s boss, the one responsible for the deaths of thousands of American soldiers and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis.
September 10th, 2008 at 11:06 amAMEN. These bloodmerchants are a bigger danger than smelly guys in caves will ever be
September 10th, 2008 at 11:09 amHow’s that for leadership? The number 2 guy in a key Executive Department complains about bureaucrats?
Bush led the Executive branch for nearly eight years. Which leads me to:
Robert Stephan must want to do something illegal and is being blocked by government employees with consciences. I hope some are left after two terms of Bush bleedership.
September 10th, 2008 at 11:14 amSomebody needs a timeout. This infighting is a big reason why the Bush administration failed to protect this country on 9/11. Rather than working as a team to protect the United States the different agencies didn’t trust each other.
I think that using metaphors in which you kill your employees is way over the top. Honestly, I would hope it’s grounds for some psychiatric evaluation. It scares me that somebody this unstable is part of the agency charged with protecting this country.
September 10th, 2008 at 11:15 amDo us all a favor and turn it on yurself. We don’t need bureacrats like your self who squander their fight on imagination and fear.
September 10th, 2008 at 11:19 amIf I was one of Stephan’s employees, I would be very, very nervous. Does anybody else think his metaphors border on psychotic?
September 10th, 2008 at 11:21 amHe’s seen the enemy and they is us?
September 10th, 2008 at 11:26 amSuch hypocrisy. The Republicans always complain about how bad government is and how bureaucratic it is. BUT look at the jobs they seek out — government jobs.
Republicans are great at the campaign, but they stink at governing. The people don’t really care about how big government really is, those are buzz words. What they care about is how EFFECTIVE government is. THAT is the difference. Republicans will never make government effective because they don’t believe that it can be.
Republicans view government as a means of rewarding their business “friends” with favorable crony contracts. There is an inherent conflict of interest in this view in that it doesn’t serve the AMERICAN PUBLIC, it only serves the profit margin of some corporation and that corporation’s share holders.
Does the economy exist to serve the American Public or does the American Public exist to serve the economy of the multinational corporations?
September 10th, 2008 at 11:27 amoooohhh, what an awesome display of republican manly manhood to talks about targeting and shooting someone in their back.
September 10th, 2008 at 11:30 ammisshusseinmolly Says:
Does anybody else think his metaphors border on psychotic?
yes.
and worrisome… too many frightwingers would appreciate a shoot-m-up in washington…
September 10th, 2008 at 11:35 amYup, Humans are fallible which is why we need checks & balances. But outsourcing & privitization of our government is not a solution; it just puts the graft out of sight and out of oversight.
LibertyLover addresses the hypocrisy of Republican greed and the non trickle down theory very well in the preceding comment.
September 10th, 2008 at 11:36 amWell, yeah, and who, pray tell, created the Department of Homeland Security bureaucracy in the first place…?
Hmmmm.
September 10th, 2008 at 11:37 amThese guys really hate government. They’ve tried to kill it for eight years, drowning in bathtub, tossing in toasters, stabbing it with their steely knives, but they just don’t get it.
Government provides the services we can’t provide in the private sector.
Roads, infrastructure, defense.
Buncha goddamn morons.
Kick em to the curb in November.
September 10th, 2008 at 11:38 amSounds like he’s got a .38 caliber size mouth.
September 10th, 2008 at 11:39 amThe “Shoot them all: Let God sort them out” mentality is scary on a T-shirt… its downright disturbing coming from a government official.
September 10th, 2008 at 11:39 amSeems like I’ve heard this speech before. Exactly seven years ago today, in fact:
The next morning, a hijacked airplane killed quite 189 of these enemies of America in the Pentagon.
DHS employees – you might want to call in sick tomorrow. Just sayin.
September 10th, 2008 at 11:41 amAnd America’s real #1 killer is still heart disease. Al-Qa’ida and bureaucrats pale in comparison.
September 10th, 2008 at 11:58 amRobert Stephan, Deskbound Warrior.
what a tool…
September 10th, 2008 at 12:04 pmI’m sure Stephan’s underlings are cheering for the self application of that last bullet…
September 10th, 2008 at 12:09 pmWhen the Republicans stop telling lies about Democrats, then I will stop telling the truth about Republicans- Adlai Stevenson
September 10th, 2008 at 12:10 pmAnd what role did Homeland Security have in the thuggish arrests at the RNC? They charged some of the protestors with terrorism.
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2008/091008a.html
They might want to infiltrate Thomas Jefferson’s grave…
September 10th, 2008 at 12:45 pm“Unfortunately“, he continued, “Iran has been supplying the bureaucrats with Manilla-folder body armor and they’ve been using children on ‘Bring Your Daughter to Work Day’ as human shields when they attack me with their rocket-propelled staplers which I’m certain are made in North Korea. If it weren’t for the care packages of Donuts that my personal assistant brings every morning I’d begin to wonder what the mission is really all about.”
Stephan stared out of the window for a moment, his eyes moistened as he struggled to unload his thoughts as if sand in the fire selector of the M4-A4 SOPMOD carbine of his mind was preventing him from engaging full-auto.
“But then I think of the sacrifices my buddies have made like my XO ‘Bushie’ who had to give up golf or the heroism of ‘Darth Cheney’ who had to shoot a guy in the face–you know, he had nightmares for a day and a half about having to apologize for that?–and I think of all the inspiring Power Point presentations and I just can’t dishonor their efforts by just packing it all in and becoming a lobbyist or a director for a paramilitary security company, at least not until I get e-mailed an offer.”
He paused for a moment as though he were trying to decide whether changing the ammo-box on an M-249 Squad Automatic Weapon or switching the toner cartridge on the photocopier would best serve his mission, his buddies and his country. It was a moment apart that briefly revealed the stresses of fighting an elusive enemy that hid behind filing cabinets and in office supply closets before springing ambushes of administrative forms and then scattering amongst the maze of cubicles and disappearing into tribal ‘departments’.
And then the moment passed and the global warrior on terror reappeared.
“You see these?” he said, pointing to the simple depictions of medals drawn on Post-It Notes stuck above his breast pocket. “I don’t fight for these” he said wistfully, “I just fight for freedom. Freedom from the tyranny of accountability, and if the price of freedom is shooting bureaucrats in the back well that’s a price I’m willing to submit on an expense reimbursement form!”
As I left the interview I found myself thinking that in these dark days Stephan would be the ultimate subject of an inspirational poster, mass produced by Kinkos, to be hung just outside the the breaks rooms of corporate America for everyone who still has a job, to see.
September 10th, 2008 at 12:57 pmI think Stephan needs a large dose of Freedhem, the one application hemmorhoidal cream. He seems rather inflammed.
September 10th, 2008 at 1:15 pmhussein toasterhead Says:
——————————————————————————–
And America’s real #1 killer is still heart disease.
America’s #1 killer is the health insurance industry.
September 10th, 2008 at 1:30 pm