On the eighth anniversary of the terrorist strikes, the Coast Guard incident served as an unwelcome reminder of two facts of life in the capital: Homeland security authorities continue to bear an occasional, unnerving likeness to Keystone Kops, and the cable-news-driven, minute-by-minute news cycle has a unique ability to sow mass confusion and misinformation.
It seemed to me the media were more in the role of Keystone Kops than the cops. On the other hand, if the training exercise was using the same (unencrypted) radio channels that would have been used in response to a [i]real[/i] security threat, then I think a serious security flaw has been exposed. Telegraphing your every move to anyone with a scanner seems pretty Keystone Kop style after all.
Get it on the air first – check facts later!
CNN = All the news that’s not true ….
CNN The most busted name in news!
Don’t know if any of you noticed, but Obama had just cut the Defense budget the day before (see Drudge and others). I wonder if the Coast Guard was sending a signal!
Crabby,
One area the Constitution specifically mandates for the President (“Provide for the common defense”) is the one area he cuts? He makes less and less sense every day.
correction: the Constitution mandates ‘Provide for the common defense’ as a duty of the Federal Government, not just the President.
I’m glad I don’t need an infotainment channel to know that bureaucracies don’t provide security.