Where Have All the Leaders Gone? Read Online Free PDF Page A

Specifically, the commission cites:
     
No headway on federal agencies sharing intelligence and terrorism information.
No improvement in airline-passenger prescreening.
No improvement on nuclear power plant security. (In mock terrorist incidents, over half the plants failed.)
Little improvement in border security.
     
    If I’d brought home a report card like that, my father would have taken me to the woodshed. He insisted on straight As and accepted no excuses. He taught me that striving for excellence was my ticket to the American dream. Maybe that ideal has been lost.
    For most of us, the only experience we have with the Department of Homeland Security is when we go to an airport. After 9/11, air safety was job one. Right? Well, they took away our nail clippers and our liquids. They reinforced cockpit doors—which was actually a smart thing to do. And they put air marshals on planes. We all feel safer knowing there might be an air marshal on our plane.
    But wait a minute. According to a group of air marshals who publicly complained about the program, it’s so transparent that even little kids can identify them. Maybe it’s the dress code. Or maybe it’s the fact that air marshals have to publicly check in and show their credentials twice before they get on the plane. First at the metal detectors, and then at the gate. And once they get on board, they have to visit the cockpit and show their credentials to the pilot. They do everything but personally introduce themselves to the passengers. By the time an air marshal takes his seat, the only people on board who haven’t pegged him are either zoned out on their iPods or asleep.
    The biggest problem with airport security is that it’s reactive, not proactive. Threat of shoe bombs? Everyone takes off their shoes. Threat of liquid explosives? Everyone dumps their mouth-wash and deodorant. I hope nobody tries to get past security with explosives hidden in a book, or you won’t be reading this on your flight to Cincinnati.
     
    PLENTY OF RHETORIC, LITTLE ACTION
     
    I’m starting to get the suspicion that maybe the point of government is the bureaucracy, not the results. I started thinking about all the great crusades we’ve had in the last forty years. Politicians like to wage these so-called wars with great fanfare. We’ve declared war on poverty, war on drugs, war on big government, war on crime—just to name a few. That’s in addition to our real wars. But have you ever noticed that once the big campaign is rolled out and the politicians have all patted each other on the back, we never hear about it again? Did we win? Did we lose? Does anybody know?
    The war on drugs was launched thirty-six years ago. If they’re not careful, it’s going to turn into the hundred-year war. How’re we doing? We spend around $40 billion a year fighting the war on drugs. A conservative estimate of the total amount we’ve spent would be around one trillion dollars. So, are we winning? Well, we lock up about two million people a year—mostly drug users. But every expert analysis of our progress shows the same thing: After thirty-six years, we have not reduced the quantity of drugs or the consumption of drugs one lousy percentage point.
    Wake up, fellas. We’ve lost the war on drugs. But let any politician even suggest that we try a different strategy and he gets accused of being soft on drugs. It’s a hell of a way to run a war.
     
    A RADICAL PROPOSAL
     
    In Congress they pass law after law. They never really stop to look at the effects of the laws they pass. They just pass another one. They keep grinding out that sausage, and no one goes back and says, “Last year we budgeted $2 billion for that program. Did it work? Did we get a bang for our buck?” There’s no time for oversight. They’re already moving on to the next $2 billion. Is anyone surprised that 80 percent of Americans say our government is broken ?
    So I have a proposal, and I know it’s a little radical, but