janet napolitano
Janet Napolitano, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security
resources
The Appointment of Janet Napolitano
Reasons for the Department's Creation
DHS Indiscretions During Hurricane Katrina Disaster
DHS 2010 Budget
Napolitano's Work Experience
DHS Report on Rightwing Extremism
Vets For Freedom React to Rightwing Extremism Report
Napolitano Defends the Report
DHS Rescinds Extremism Dictionary
Additional Links Of Interest
Cabinet Watch: Janet Napolitano
Lawsuit Filed Over DHS Extremism Policy
Michael Savage Sues Janet Napolitano
Janet Napolitano's Sorry Service Terrible Choice for DHS
transcript
Welcome to YOURTRUTH. It's easy to forget that many people surround and influence the President with his decisions and policy making. This YOURTRUTH expose will highlight the biggest names in the Obama administration to understand their pasts and where they may take our country in the future.
Let's begin with Janet Napolitano, who was sworn in as the third Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, or DHS. The DHS is a relatively new department created in 2003 with the stated purpose of protecting Americans from future terrorist attacks. They are also tasked with emergency management, as you may remember the department's gross mishandling of the Hurricane Katrina disaster. The New York times reported that DHS employees were caught using government-issued credit cards to buy things like beer brewing kits, iPods, and plasma TVs when they were supposed to be using these cards to help the hurricane victims.
Despite such instances of poor management, the department's annual budget has been bolstered from $28 billion in 2003 to $42.7 billion for 2010! As it expands in scope and power, every American should be aware of who is in charge of this department. So who is Janet Napolitano? Janet Napolitano is a former governor and Attorney General of Arizona. She was also appointed a U.S. Attorney by former President Bill Clinton.
Recently, Janet came under fire for her department's April 2009 report on rightwing extremism. The report targeted disgruntled returning war veterans as likely candidates for recruitment by radical groups. Veteran groups, like Vets for Freedom, found the report insensitive and unfair. Even though she issued an apology for offending veterans she still stood by the basic tenets of the document.
An even more controversial DHS document came out just weeks before. This 12-page dictionary is a collection of groups and ideologies that constitute domestic extremism. Most shockingly, "Alternative Media" is identified as an example of domestic extremism. The DHS defines alternative media as a forum for interpretations of events and issues that differ radically from those presented in mass media products and outlets. Wait a minute. Isn't that what the right to free speech is all about? But there's more.
The document also targeted people who think animals have the right to life and the freedom to engage in normal animal behavior as "Animal Rights Extremists". Even practicing completely legal civil disobedience is a concern for Homeland Security. Even though the DHS has since rescinded the report, that doesn't mean that its positions on domestic extremism have changed.
Janet Napolitano has an opportunity to do great things in her current position. Yet in light of her department's recent reports she seems to have forgotten that her job is to protect the American people, not target them. Now that we know what kind of ideas Homeland Security has in mind for our country, let's watch Napolitano as closely as she watches us.
