How secure is National security??

Ok everyone......................today I watched President Obama's national address regarding the security review of the breakdown on the attempted bombing of the Delta flight on Christmas Day. So these are my thoughts - and please remember - these are just my thoughts......i'm not a political analyst.......i'm not running for office.......nor do I have any type of political ambitions. I'm just John Q. Public. That being said.......President Obama said it wasn't one particular person that was at fault however it was a systemic failure throughout. It seems the systemic failure happened again the other day (9 days after Christmas) at Newark airport when someone walked through a "secure" area when the TSA agent left his post for just one minute. It only takes a moment. How does that make you feel? That makes me think twice about not only the state of security of our airports but what about other areas such as the bus sytem, train system, borders, etc.?? President Obama said that the Intelligence community was able to "collect" the dots but wasn't able to "connect" the dots. How can that be? How can these "agencies" not utilize the information they had? Now - of course I am not a part of the government nor do I have access to any of these agencies information so one could say I don't have the "whole picture" - however............it seems to me that one BIG reason that the dots couldn't be connected is because of the historic inter-agency rivalries. And what about the congressional oversight? Aren't our elected officials - who we put into office, keep in office, and pay their paychecks - aren't they supposed to be watching these agencies to make sure things are running well? Or at least correctly?? I guess in 2006 there was supposed to be a restructuring of the agencies and an effort to open the channels between the agencies for the sharing of information to avoid situations such as this. Well - how is that working for us?? That was 4 years ago and it seems, though not very well publicized until now, that the channels really haven't been opened. Who was supposed to do the restructuring and who was supposed to be watching to make sure it happened? I got that message today when President Obama talked about removing obstructions from sharing agency information. This makes me ask - what were the people in charge of opening these channels doing for the past four years?? Again, don't we pay their paycheck?? You know - this makes me think back to 1993 and the failed bombing attempt of the World Trade Center in NYC. I'd have to go back and review all the articles written after the fact but I seem to recollect that not only did the agenices zero in on who was responsible for the bombing but was also able to raid a place in Queens - NY that were concocting more bombs for further terror in the mainland. Now - you would think that after some major incidences such as these that the agencies in charge of searching all this out would keep on researching and pursuing this. Afterall this was the first terrorist action on the US homeland in years! Or - at least this was the first that was very public in years! Also - when we look back on this we've got to ask - was it really a failed attempt? Perhaps these extremist groups had a "botched" attempt on purpose to see how the "system" would react? And then - why was there a pause of over 8 years between that and 9/11? Some people may say it was because those groups in 1993 weren't organized, or they had to get more money, or get a leader, etc. Maybe that's not exactly accurate - maybe these groups were so much more organized than our intelligence agencies either knew or were willing to admit and these groups were just watching over those 8 years to see how the governmental agencies would operate and how long it would take to lessen their guard to these incidences? Remember over 8 years passed between the 1993 WTC bombing and 9/11 - and now it's been about the same amount of time since 9/11 and present day. Are we the general public surprised?? And if not then why apparently are the agencies surprised or at the very least caught off guard?? And if they aren't surprised or caught off guard then what were they doing with all that information for the past 9 years?? Even the press was able to see a connection between the suspect in the recent Ft Hood shooting and one of the extremist groups. Maybe Katie Couric should be in charge of researching this information? Now - please don't get me wrong - this isn't a blame game pointed at one administration or another administration. This isn't the fault of the Democrats or the Republicans. This is a "system wide" failure which encompasses all of us - Democrats, Replublicans, Independants, Green Party, etc. All of us!

I could go on and on but its just about dinner time and i've got to get something to eat. Probably chicken and pea soup.

Closing thoughts - am I being an alarmist or am I just looking at what's going on? And for everything that is seen how much more isn't being seen? No - i'm not in a state of panic. I also am not saying that we the general public need to be told about every incident, nor do I think these agencies, those in charge, and those looking over them should reveal sensitive information to the public. As a matter of fact there are many things - probably most - that just need to remain secret. I'm not an idiot. BUT there has got to be some sort of accountability for the work that is supposed to be done through these agencies. The bottom line is this: President Obama said that the buck stops with him - that may be - and if he is ultimately repsonsible for the systemic failure in the system then in the next election the people's vote should reflect that. BUT I don't believe that we the people can blame just him for this failure - and shame on us if we do. This is a failure of the Administration, the governmental agencies and their freakin' stupid bickering, Congress and the bloated egos therein that have only self interest in mind. And also to a degree us - the public - for not being educated about those out there who are looking to harm us, and for not keeping tabs on those we put into office who are supposed to be overseeing these agencies. President Obama said this is not a time for partisanship but rather a time for citizenship. I agree with him. I know that we all have different ideas on how the country should be run and everybody has their own set of values and ideals. That diversity makes our country great and we should respect that. Afterall, we can all learn from a different perspective. But - there comes a time when those in charge need to swallow some pride, agree to disagree, set aside their differences for a while and come together to figure out what needs to be done to fix something that is obviously broken. I'm glad that President Obama is putting on the pressure. It has to be done. I don't think there is an easy fix to this nor do I know how to fix this broken system but this I do know - we MUST fix this. Maybe we should take a lesson from an ally or two of ours - hmmmmmmmmmmm maybe Israel? We don't have to agree with every ideology of theirs but come on - let's face it - Israel has had to deal with terrorism ever since they became a State - so I don't know..........they might know a thing or two about security!

I think that a great place to start would be that we the public should make sure that our agencies in charge of our safety and security as well as the Congressional members in charge of them should swallow their pride, set aside their differences, take a lesson from someone who has to ensure their security levels are effective each and every day (not someone who owns a so-called security company who will get mega-bucks for consultation), and perhaps take a real look at what to do to "Fix" this "systemic failure".

Anyone know how we can do that??