The System Worked

It is shameful how the Republicans and some in the media, who are either too hyper partisan to care about the truth or to lazy to double check and tell the whole story, have twisted Janet Napolitano's words on whether the system worked or didn't work.

First, I don't know what kind of system they're talking about that will prevent every bad thing from ever happening. If that's the system they're expecting to be in place, they're going to be sorely disappointed every time. (I should say, in regard to the Republicans, to them any kind of terrorist attack is good news; 1) because they want to turn everything against President Obama (that's the kind of folks they are); and 2) because with fear mongering they hope to retake power, why? So they can fear monger us into keeping it, like they did in the Bush years.)

It's not too hard to actually see or read what Napolitano said. And anyone who knows how to read won't read it differently, unless, again, it's simply partisan spin you're after and not the truth.

Once this incident occurred, everything went according to clockwork, not only sharing throughout the air industry, but also sharing with state and local law enforcement. Products were going out on Christmas Day, they went out yesterday, and also to the [airline] industry to make sure that the traveling public remains safe. I would leave you with that message. The traveling public is safe. We have instituted some additional screening and security measures, in light of this incident, but, again, everyone reacted as they should. The system, once the incident occurred, the system worked.

First, there was an incident. That's the breaking in of reality against any system that is not perfect. How can any system be "perfect" against the countless variables that life presents? It looks like what she's talking about there is the system as it "reacts" to the incident ... in the phrase "everyone reacted as they should." Then the last sentence only says "the system worked "once the incident occurred." There's no other way to read it, except for ne'er-do-wells like the Republicans.

(If they can't read a couple sentences and get the actual gist of them, how is it we would trust us to keep us "safe" in a complex and dangerous world? Bush would actually be at war with Timbuktu by now!)