Peggy Noonan: Rudy's Duty

Opinion Journal ^ | 06/14/2002 | Peggy Noonan

[Pokey78]

Will President Bush get his proposed Department of Homeland Security through Congress? Yes. Should he? Yes. Why? Because what preceded it didn't work; because it is what we have at a moment when time is of the essence; because an administration that has the responsibility of keeping the nation safe from terrorists must be given the authority, power and structure to do so; because no one--no one--knows if moving boxes on a federal flowchart makes complete sense, but giving the administration what it asks for leaves them fully accountable for its success or failure, and that does make sense; because if defending our nation against the terror threat is the great necessity of the age and the government's No. 1 job--and it is--then a single department dedicated to that function is in order.

[WIMom]

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[Pokey78]

Ping for the PNPL.

[Mo1]

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STOP BY A BUMP THE FUNDRAISER THREAD

[Miss Marple]

Well, Peggy is a little off-base here. I do not think the President is avoiding Guiliani because Guiliani will outshine him...otherwise, we have to think the President is really miffed at Rummy.

Ridge is going to get the job, and that is that. I think Ridge was busy behind the scenes and got a lot of information that way, before the Congress and the bureaucrats knew what he was up to. I heard him speak impromptu the other day and he was quite forceful.

Myself, I was hoping Rudy would get CIA. They could make Tenet the permanent Mideast negotiator and that would suit me just fine.

[Pokey78]

I'll just wait and let Bill Kristol tell me who's going to get the job. ;-D

[MJY1288]

If I had my pick for who was going to lead the new department it would be Rudy also, But I would name the new agency "Department of Profiling & Protection" :-) That should start a riot at the next White House Press briefing :-)

[Miss Marple]

Don't you remember that Kristol got burned on this before? The night of September 20 he was commenting before the speech, and he was absolutely certain that Guiliani was going to get the nod for the new position.

I detected a twinkle in Brit Hume's eye when Ridge was named, and Kristol had egg on his face. Ha!

I still think the White House set him up. LOLOL!

[Miss Marple]

The one thing I do agree about is the name. SURELY we could think of something better. How about Home Defense?

[Pokey78]

I remember it well!

Speaking of Billy, I'm guessing he's all rested from his trip to Italia, hobnobbing with Richard Cohen and his Eurosnot pals, and will pump out a column this weekend chok full of new demands for the White House to follow. Ought to be a juicy one!

[beckett]

Peggy is right --- Homeland is not an American word. One could even say that only a President as uncomfortable with language as George W. would have let such poor name choice slip through unchallenged.

Department of Domestic Security, while not ideal, is better than Homeland. Maybe somebody will come up with something better. In any case, Homeland has got to go.

[Dick Vomer]

OK I've read the article, saw the photo and read the thread.went back to the photo..... looked at the photo again. Now... the correct answer is ..... I'm sorry I was still looking at Peggy Noonan's photo.... I believe it showed up on the weather channel as......HOT. Who cares what she writes.... she's a ....very lucid writer. I guess.....

I'm sorry did she call for Guiliani to head up security or something stupid like that....(does she have red hair?) Is the new Department of Bull Shi'ite bureaucracy going to be better than the FBI/CIA? I don't know... (Does she have green or blue eyes?) Finally when we get "Homeland Security" and Guiliani turns into the gun control bureaucrat he was in New York will all of us with guns be labelled as terrorists? Will we get 8 months detention if "God Forbid", another Democrat gets into the White House and declares that all guns are terrorist tools. (Do you think that she's going steady?) Aw I can't concentrate..... I hope Peggy reads this..... I wonder if Peggy is her real name...???

[codebreaker]

I like the way you think 'Domestic Security' sounds good.

[codebreaker]

The Dems are pushing Rudy for Domestic Security because they might be albe to knock him down a few notches before '04 and '08.

I don't think he will fall for it and might take the CIA post.

[Dratlatl]

Why did the term Civil Defense fall into such disfavor?

[MJY1288]

"Well, Peggy is a little off-base here. I do not think the President is avoiding Guiliani because Guiliani will outshine him"

I was thinking the same thing, George W. bush would of never picked the cabinet he did if he was worried about being "Outshined", he chose his cabinet because of their ability and skill. The thing that makes me respect George W. Bush as much as I do is the way he picked his cabinet. He never once considered who would serve him best, his decisions were based on who would best serve the Nation.

[MJY1288]

I say we call it "Department of American Security"

[beckett]

Why did the term Civil Defense fall into such disfavor?

"Civil" runs into problems, I guess, because you've got the Coast Guard and thousands of sworn officers who'd be a part of this thing. I think we tend to associate "civil defense" with prototypical civilian George Bailey running around in his hard hat during WWII.

[garandgal]

I think that "Civil Defense" makes people think of the "duck-and-cover" days. I vote for another WWII phrase "Homefront" Security...

[A Citizen Reporter]

"It has a vaguely Teutonic ring--Ve must help ze Fuehrer protect ze Homeland!--and Republicans must always be on guard against sounding Teutonic."

Cripes, now Peggy is doing it!