When will the government start being held accountable for these school shootings? Such is the question asked by John Fund in National Review as he savages the FBI and other law enforcement agencies for their failure to take warnings of mass murder seriously. Backing the Blue doesn't mean butt-kissing the blue. Mr. Fund writes:
In the wake of the Florida school shooting, can we now have a real conversation about what is wrong with the FBI?
Howard Finkelstein, the Broward County public defender whose office is representing Nikolas Cruz, the suspect in the mass shooting in Parkland, Fla., puts it bluntly:
This kid exhibited every single known red flag, from killing animals to having a cache of weapons to disruptive behavior to saying he wanted to be a school shooter. If this isn’t a person who should have gotten someone’s attention, I don’t know who is. This was a multi-system failure.
Specifically, the FBI admits that it received two separate tips about Cruz. Last fall, a frequent YouTube vlogger noticed an alarming comment left on one of his videos. “I’m going to be a professional school shooter,” said a user named Nikolas Cruz. The vlogger alerted the FBI and was interviewed. But the agency subsequently claimed its investigators couldn’t locate Cruz, despite the highly unusual spelling of his first name.
Then, just six weeks ago, a person close to Cruz warned a call taker on the FBI’s tip line that the expelled student had a desire to kill and might attack a school. The bureau said that the information was not passed to agents in the Miami office. Florida governor Rick Scott has called for FBI director Christopher Wray to be fired. So has NRO’s Kevin Williamson in a powerful piece: “Fire the FBI Chief.” Other officials are calling for FBI heads to roll, but at a level below Wray’s. Florida attorney general Pam Bondi told Fox News, “The people who had that information and did not do anything with it, they are the ones that need to go.”
For his part, Director Wray is promising that his agency will conduct a full probe.....
Nor is the Parkland shooting the first time the FBI has fallen down on its most basic job: assessing threats and acting on them. Look at what has happened just in Florida in the last two years. FBI agents investigated as a suspect the man who gunned down 49 people at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando in 2016, but concluded the agency couldn’t act against him. The FBI also had an unexpected visit from the mentally ill man charged with killing five people at Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport last year. He had walked into an FBI field office and made bizarre, though not threatening, statements.
Of course there should be a housecleaning at the FBI. But there is a larger issue. I call it America’s 9/11 Syndrome. I was across the street from the World Trade Center the day the terrorists flew two planes into it. I will never forget what I saw that day, including people holding hands jumping from the burning towers before they collapsed and killed 2,606 people.
I retain a mixture of feelings about that day, ranging from deep sadness to pride that my fellow New Yorkers played against stereotypes and helped each other so much that day and afterwards. But what also sticks in my mind is a simple fact: Not one person in the federal government was fired on account of 9/11.
I’m not the only one who feels that way. During his presidential campaign, Senator Rand Paul (R., Ky.) noted that the FBI had caught the “20th hijacker” a month before his comrades launched their deadly carnage on 9/11. “The FBI agent who caught him wrote 70 letters to FBI headquarters saying we should look at this guy’s computer — get a warrant — and they never did.” Senator Paul told CNN’s Jake Tapper in 2015. “That was a huge failure, and I never quite understood why no one was fired over 9/11. . . . And there were some mistakes. We also had a report out of Arizona of people trying to fly planes but not learning how to land them.”
As bad as those mistakes were, the Bush administration made them worse. It took 411 days for it to finally agree to form a commission to look into how 9/11 could have happened. Compare that with the six days it took to form the Warren Commission, which investigated the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The 9/11 commission ultimately did a credible job, but it was hobbled early on for lack of money. The government initially allocated only $3 million for its work, later raising it, under pressure, to $11 million. Compare that with the commission that investigated the explosion of the space shuttle Columbia in 1986. That was a tragedy that killed seven brave Americans, and we spent $50 million to find out what happened.
Since 9/11, we have seen many tragic events fueled by bureaucratic bungling, followed by a complete lack of accountability. The cycle has repeated itself over and over. That’s why I exploded last month when the immediate response of Hawaii officials to a state employee who issued a ballistic-missile alert was so blasé. The alert caused mass panic for nearly 40 minutes.
The initial response of Vern Miyagi, who oversaw Hawaii’s Emergency Management Agency, was beyond boneheaded. He told a news conference that the employee who pressed the alert button “feels bad,” and he didn’t know whether any disciplinary action would be taken. Miyagi added, “This guy feels bad, right. He’s not doing this on purpose — it was a mistake on his part, and he feels terrible about it.” As I noted at the time, Richard Rapoza, the official spokesman for EMA, declined to identify the errant employee and added: “At this point, our major concern is to make sure we do what we need to do to reassure the public. This is not a time for pointing fingers.”
It was ultimately the Federal Communications Commission that forced Hawaii officials out of their lethargy. FCC investigators found that the employee, who had worked at the agency for more than ten years, had a history of confusing drills and real-world events. On the day of the alert, he listened to only part of a drill recording and thought a real attack was occurring. The employee had made similar mistakes twice before. He was finally fired, still with no identification by name, and Miyagi resigned as director of the Emergency Management Agency.
It's time something like that happened at the FBI. When only small fry are let go, the complacency among upper management remains and problems are swept under the rug. Only with new blood and a fresh approach can systemic problems within a bureaucracy be addressed....
It’s time for the 9/11 Syndrome to be purged from the FBI. Rest of column.
The sad truth is that in no one gets fired for not doing his or her job in America today. Make a misguided post on Facebook, tell the wrong joke around the wrong person, or shoot off at the mouth at the wrong time and pity the poor offender. He will lose his right to work or even exist in society today, repentance be damned.
Not one damn person was fired after 9/11. The Russians, of all people, warned us about the Boston Bombers. We ignored them. The Obamacare website rollout was a complete disaster yet no one was fired. Can one imagine that taking place at Apple or Amazon? A bumbling bureaucrat in Hawaii activates a nuclear alert system and is merely "reassigned" until the feds intervened. He was a good boy and was remorseful. A jihadist goes on a killing spree at Fort Hood after the government ignored repeated warnings of what he might do because it didn't want to be called racist. The police were called to Cruz's home 39 times yet did nothing. The Sheriff, of course, refuses to resign and blames everyone else. In another culture in the not too distant past, he would have been expected to make the ultimate apology.
Closer to home, things are no different. Politicians drop hundreds of millions of dollars on pie in the sky projects that go belly up. Judges and prosecutors repeatedly refuse to do their jobs yet get re-elected in overwhelming margins as blood runs in the streets. Doctors at local hospitals make sweetheart deals with their friends to rip us off for millions of dollars and they are feted by the creme de la creme of Jackson society. A culture of corruption paralyzes the state while voters snore.
Our weakness and moral laziness are literally killing us. Civilization is built by brains, brawn, and backbone. The willingness to say no or hold people accountable for their mistakes are disappearing concepts as we are paralyzed by a straightjacket of weakness.
There were warning signs for most of these atrocities, warning signs that were passed on to law enforcement yet ignored. Unfortunately, no one will be fired but we will continue to live in fear. We simply don't have the courage to make our leaders lead. We are literally killing ourselves through kindness and that, my friends, is the bottom line.
36 comments:
You're spot on, and notice the one thing in common with folks never being held accountable - GOVERNMENT..The source of our problems.
It's almost impossible to get fired from the government. You can thank the public sector unions, the EEOC and the shitty employment laws in this country for most of this foolishness.
Personally, I think people like Epps, Lois Lerner and many others should have their pensions withdrawn and all benefits revoked if they are convicted of committing a felony while in a position of trust.
This is, of course, nonsense. Leaving aside whether the FBI even had jurisdiction, what's an LEO supposed to do? Call up and ask Mr. Cruz if he's really going to shoot up a school?
The kid legally purchased a device designed for exactly what he used it for: gunning down a large number of people quickly. No other civilized country allows that, if indeed our country deserves to be called "civilized" when we let gun hobbyists and lobbyists sacrifice dozens of innocent people every year to their fetish.
Other countries have people with mental health issue, cops who drop the ball, etc. What they don't have is recurring mass murders with semiautomatic rifles. We have that because a minority of Americans oppose sensible, responsible gun control, and they've got the GOP bought and paid for.
12:08 where is the "like" button when I need it?
12:18 is 12:08 talking to themselves.
I have an AR-15. I have had it about 5 years now. This morning, as the other 5 years worth of mornings, it has never shot an individual. The AR-15 along with my other firearms have never shot anyone. That said, a guy who told people he was going to do this multiple times, and had the police called to his home 39 times, did in fact do what he said he was going to do.
Jurisdiction or not, if someone publicly says they are going to shoot up a school, govt building, church, daycare, whatever the say they are going to shoot up, then their needs to be jurisdiction. I bet a long time ago there was. Then some slapd!ck lawyer made it to where LEO couldn't and now you end up with this. None of these shootings were caused by guns, none one of them, they were cause by sick individuals.
But we do have one thing many other countries do not have.
A Constitution. It has worked out pretty well so far.
My biggest mistake in life was probably not taking a federal government job I was offered. Little did I know as a callow youth I could have had a position that had automatic pay increases, excellent health care, almost no way to be terminated and a retirement plan that had a cost of living factor ( try to find one of those in private enterprise). Looking at the salaries of government employees and their seemingly total lack of accountability only reinforces my bad decision. I am somewhat redeemed by knowing that I was my own man and made a contribution to society however small it might have been.
So when they deem depression, anxiety, ptsd, oppositional defiant disorder, attention deficit disorder, bipolar, and addiction as conditions that prohibit the possession of firearms how are all of you going to feel? It coming. Mark it down.
12:54,
I agree with you...I did the same thing 53 years ago. I have been in business for myself 52 years and do regret that I did not take a state job. My business has declined since 2008 to the point that we can barely keep the doors open. The greatest part of being self employed is the freedom it gives me to enjoy life and the fact that I do not answer to anyone except my wife, my banker and the IRS. Did I do the right thing....NO !!!! To late to worry about it now !!!!
A large contingent of the country is more focused on the how rather than the why. The truth of the matter is, if the kid had used an unplugged 12 gauge shotgun with 00 buckshot, the death toll would have been triple what it was. But let's keep misstating what AR stands for.
When the #MSLEG pass that bill, I don't want to hear any whining when someone gets shot at a Ole Miss Football game.
The one question that I have yet to hear asked or answered is where did this kid get the money to buy the weapons and ammunition. If he didnt purchase them himself it would seem that the blame lies elsewhere. Surely with his known background they would have been kept secured and unable to be used.
12:54 and 1:33 also not in the right state. Today's NY Post - retired NYC sanitation worker receives $285,000 A YEAR pension. As KF said we are sitting back and letting this happen everywhere.
This isn't the FBI of Ephraim Zimbalist, Jr. Back in the day you had to have either a law degree or accounting degree to even apply. That got watered down through affirmative action policies. Today's FBI is of Barney Fife agency. OK, that's a bit harsh, but get my drift. The agency needs reformed and overhauled to restore it to any degree of the prestige it once commanded. A good start would be for the current director to fire the agents responsible for the failure to follow up the tips on the Florida shooter, and to do so publicly and by identifying who they are. Then he needs to resign. That won't cure its ills, but its a solid start.
btw, I'm a retired state court prosecutor with hands on experience with the agency. I wasn't impressed one bit with any of the agents I interacted with. Arrogant and in each case to some degree incompetent. Of course just my opinions...
I know plenty of sorry ass private sector employees that seem to slide by year after year holding onto their jobs. The "sorry ass employee" issue is not limited to government. Don't believe me? Then where do you want to start: Comcast, ATT, retailers (pick any one), car dealers, banks, restaurants, pharma companies, news media, doctors, lawyers, hospitals....... I run into crappy employees from all of these industries (and others) on a regular basis. Try complaining.....you get the same run around that you get in government.
1:55,the gun he used was kept in a locked cabinet.
The people he was living with gave him a key to the cabinet.
I would like to think that along with, in addition to, as a supplementary technique to the FBI and local law enforcement diligently following up on the annual HUNDREDS of documented threats among our population of FOUR HUNDRED MILLION citizen soul, we might want to do more.
It might even be wise to, AT THE SAME TIME as getting the FBI and local law enforcement up to speed, also preventing the HUNDRED OR SO domestic and international manufacturers of assault weapons to stop selling them to civilians. Of course we cannot stop all of them, but at least make it a felony/crime.
Hey here's an even crazier idea. Why not a "War on Automatic Weapon Mass Murder" being created and as generously funded as the war on drugs.
Hey at the same time as insuring better follow up on documents threats by the FBI and local law enforcement, let's make owning an assault, automatic, bumped up, military styled or whatever, weapon a crime/felony/incarceration-able offense?
Granted, NO SINGLE method, technique, regulation or public education program will help us get out of the hole we find ourselves in, but to do NOTHING in the face of overwhelming and growing evidence of our being in a suicidal societal situation is MADNESS of the highest order.
A madness that not even the FBI and local law enforcement working at its most efficient level can be held accountable
First rule to survive in a hole that your find yourself in?
STOP DIGGING!
Just saying.
The kid broke no federal law before the shooting. There was absolutely nothing the FBI could have done other than talk to him. Do we want to tie up the FBI's time with every kook on the internet? If I'm wrong, show me the law.
If you're blaming the FBI, I'm sure you want to give the FBI the authority to confiscate guns or intimidate citizens.
that article in national review sums it up. when you work for the government it matters not how lazy, incompetent and stupid you may be. you have no accountability . thats why everyone wants a government job.
KF what was wrong with my post about the private sector?
Let's remember it was the Fibbies in Mississippi that dropped the ball, I'd be willing to bet we don't get the brightest ones.
So, they had two separate strong credible warnings that could have easily been run to ground, and twice did nothing.
And we are to accept that in light of the several previous similar horrific events that they were completely insensitive to leads of this nature and their lack of attention and action were just unfortunate bureaucratic snafus?
What could they have done to stop this? Be specific.
I have noticed that the people who want to take weapons from citizens are the same ones who want law enforcement to be lenient on criminals are the same who virtue signal about racial things but have their personal lives segregated from darkies unless in public where accolades can be received from others. Funny about that.
When are we going to do something about this White on White Crime!
Can we please have Common Sense restrictions like no sale of an AR-15 to a teenager? How about universal background checks? Wake up people! Don’t let the NRA (No Restrictions Anytime) rule our Nation. The NRA wants chaos.
NRA: Never Reasonable Anytime
The main reason there has seldom been any accountability for the FBI is they have a file on most every citizen and that definitely include the 3 branches of government, when they have a problem they use their files to intimidate, threaten and bribe to get themselves out of trouble. Scary but true.
Frank, what time does your daily talking points arrive on email?
Oh yeah, nothing the law could do. How about take him in for questioning about making threats? Similar circumstances here, and a shooting was likely averted.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/authorities-california-school-shooting-plot-thwarted-052756375.html
12:03, you have the NRA confused with AIPAC.
Frank, what time does your daily talking points arrive on email?
Do you recall ever seeing Mickens or the other local gun control advocates getting equally as flummoxed about handgun violence in inner city Jackson?
Helloooowwww, Mr. Sessions, Helloooowwww. ref. Andy Griffith in No Time for Sergeants.
Boy it didn't take long for them to can the racist idiot in Madison.
@ 1208 "FBI jurisdiction" bet if he was waving around confederate flag and saying racist crap, the jurisdiction would not have been an issue. The FBI would have picked him up quicker than a Hinds county human resource center gives out free money.
@February 22, 2018 at 10:56 AM"
Frank, what time does your daily talking points arrive on email?"
"""Do you recall ever seeing Mickens or the other local gun control advocates getting equally as flummoxed about handgun violence in inner city Jackson?"""
I whole heartily agree with your very astute observation. However, my apparent loss of "flumoxity" is not based on a hypocritical shortcoming
I have given up on putting a lot of effort in lamenting inner city gun control/crimes/trafficking, etc. My reticence is firmly founded in my realization that for SOME ISSUES no comprehensive and relatively fair solutions will be offered, much less implemented, until the "inner city problem", grows into a "good ol' White folks" problem.
For a current example, when crack cocaine , opium, heroine and grass were introduced into inner city communities by the CIA (thanks Ollie North), as an "off the books" fundraising tactic to pay for the Central America covert activities the majority societies response was the "War on Drugs.
The war consisted of a "lock those coloreds up" campaign that became a new economic capitalistic industry for old guard companies like AT&T, and the newly formed "correctional" services corporations.
Now that drugs are now a plague on the "good ol' White folks", the cry is for understanding, drug treatment, counseling and overdose antidotes.
Getting back to guns, I was so disappointed in myself when I totally misread and underestimated the power of the gun manufacturers and their lackey, the NRA, by assuming that when innocent WHITE TODDLERS were slaughtered in Sandy Hook something would be done.
I wrongfully expected that the public pain and outcry would result in quick and comprehensive legislation to improve gun protections for the public.
To my dismay the result was, once again, the gun lobby using the threat of the NRA running primary candidates against those not getting less than an A rating from the NRA, to kill ANY gun protections for the public.
Am I right or am I right?
Say why can't the general public purchase tanks and anti=tank weapons, just like ISIS?
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