Archive
Straight-Talk
It's (Not) The Size, Stupid
January 20, 2011
You'll all be happy to hear that Homeland Security Secretary, Janet Napolitano is back in the U.S., after a grueling, week-long "security-focused" trip to Europe and the Middle East (including a stop in Afghanistan, where she counseled the Afghans on border security, an area of great expertise on her part, which border states such as Arizona and Texas will no doubt confirm).
One of her stops was in Israel, where she received a guided tour and detailed review of security procedures at Israel's Ben-Gurion Airport, widely-considered among the best in the world.
So what were Sherlock Napolitano's findings?
"There are real differences...in size and scale between Israel and the United States," she said, noting that the U.S. has 450 international airports, while Israel has only one major international airport, and what's effective in Israel, a nation of 7.3 million, would not necessarily work for America, with 310 million.
Got it? According to Sherlock Napolitano, it's the size that counts, not the system.
For those interested in hearing/learning more than a simple it won't work 'cause we're big and they're small, check out this radio interview (below) with Israeli airport security expert, Rafi Sela.
Notable Quotables
"Don’t threaten us with cutting off your aid. It will not work. I am not a Jew with trembling knees. I am a proud Jew with 3,700 years of civilized history. Nobody came to our aid when we were dying in the gas chambers and ovens. Nobody came to our aid when we were striving to create our country. We paid for it. We fought for it. We died for it. We will stand by our principles. We will defend them. And, when necessary, we will die for them again, with or without your aid."
~ Israeli PM Menachem Begin, in June 1982 at height of Lebanon War, responding to then Senator Joe Biden in front of Senate Foreign Relations Committee, after Biden had attacked Israeli settlements in Judea and Samaria and threatened to cut economic aid to Israel (more here).
And Then Some
Rutgers & Anti-Semitism
September 13, 2018
Willingness To Be Offended
August 10, 2018
"Shut Up" Or Make Peace
August 5, 2018
