.PNG) |
| Janet Napolitano |
(This blog was originally posted by tgdindenmark1, 22 April, 2013)
In the wake of the recent death of England’s Iron Lady, which I join so many to view as a great loss to their nation, but whom have at the same time of the tragedy, reminded us of her enormous contribution to the realm of political history, I can think of no better time than now to show my respect by beginning this blog with my favorite Margaret Thatcher quote:
“If you want something said, ask a man…if you want something done, ask a woman.”
Around the world, we find alpha-females whom, on an everyday basis, seem to prove the statement of which these words reflect. One of those women is one of America’s own Iron Ladies: Ms. Janet Napolitano, known as the head of one of the largest (and seemingly one of the most complicated) U.S government departments: The Department of Homeland Security. Call her what you wish, and disagree all you want with some of the policies of which her department is run by- but anyone who will not agree with me should have their head examined, that it takes a person of steel to get up every morning, and like a BOSS delegates to a staff of more than 240,000 employees a number of impossible tasks, at the same time of being held accountable to taxpayers money in form of a budget of nothing less than 59 billion U.S dollars (FY 2013 Budget for DHS).
Throughout my years of research, I have watched numerous media segments of Ms. Napolitano, as I have done with mostly everyone involved with immigration issues. Whereas, others watching the same segments would probably concentrate on what is said, my primary focus is elsewhere: Simultaneously to listening to what is said, I observe how answers are articulated as well as the demeanor accompanying such answers. And with that being said: Time and time again, she [Janet Napolitano] has proved to wear a professional demeanor as well the elite wears Valentino. In fact, as talented as anyone can ever be, she handles statements coming from the mouths of the royal horses of the political stable of the United States of America with such grace whereas most of us would falter by rolling our eyes while questioning whether certain statements are blown out of another orifice other than their self-proclaimed royal mouths.
The former Attorney General of Arizona (then Arizona State governor) has proven to be a woman who gets things done, something of which a nomination in the year of 2005, by Time magazine, as one of the five best governors of the USA, reflects. Furthermore, she refuses to take the backseat in any event, something she proved by attending the 2000 Democratic National Convention only three weeks after having undergone a mastectomy.
I have decided to include a link to the organizational chart so you, the reader, can get a quick overview of the size of the Department of Homeland Security. Here is the link:
I hope where words may fail to create an understanding of how complicated this department is due to its enormous coverage of administrative areas, the organizational chart will provide a visual image necessary to comprehend the giant playground Ms. Napolitano is supervising, every.single.day…
And, as any other playground attendant, she has to act as the toughest Kindergarten Cop of them all, while having to deal with problem children, in addition to all the other tasks which falls into her lap. And no, by mentioning “problem children”, I am not talking about the 11.5 million undocumented aliens; neither am I referring to politicians whom, at times, resemble spoiled children with a distorted view of belonging to some sort of a special class of entitlement. Rather, I am referring to certain male employees who, while on assignment abroad decided to act like naughty school boys rather than respectable government officials with a primary focus on national security. For any of you with a decent memory will remember the troublemaker employees of the Secret Service while on duty in Colombia were caught with their pants down, and their wallets so tight that even Mr. Scrooge would have been envied of such stinginess! There is a provision of American law pertaining to “Theft of Services”, which defines anyone receiving services of which a person never intend to pay for is subject to criminal charges. Had the act of which the employees were accused of found place on American soil, and should the “service” from the prostitutes in which they received been legal to perform, they could have been charged with theft. As the Secret Service also falls under the Department of Homeland Security, Ms. Napolitano was presented with the honor of cleaning up the mess left behind by these 13 grown men…
So, is there a moral story to this? No. The reason I decided acknowledge Janet Napolitano is to remind all of us that in the midst of it all, and especially right now as we currently are seeing immigration reform in the USA, and while the whole world has been caught off-guard by bizarre events such as the Boston blast (yet another mess partly spilled into her lap), that for every rule and regulation, of which most who write seem to always raise an opinion of how it can be done differently, there are human beings who have to enforce such rules and regulations. They are rarely mentioned, and when they are, it appears to be in a negative tone. We must not forget that, while many of us share a frustration regarding the American immigration problems, the very individuals showing up for work every day in the field of immigration to solve the problems are not magicians, and no matter how much we sputter, the problem as a whole won’t be solved any faster.
I hope that, by portraying Ms. Napolitano for what I believe she is: an American Iron Lady able to stand strong in any administrative storm coming her way (while wearing the ultimate poker face, mind you); and doing so without compromising a human side which seems to be lost with others:
The ability to remain empathetic toward a large group of people who all have problems which are to be solved by her department. If you do not believe me, then I suggest that you visit various media sites, in particular C-SPAN and watch numerous segments where Ms. Napolitano discusses with senators the very issues surrounded immigration. Among such issues, her concern regarding the conditions of deportation detention centers and the quality of treatment of which the deportees receive while detained seem to be as genuine as any activist raising the same concern.
Furthermore, I have personal testimony of employees of the DHS: While struggling with my own immigration issues, I experienced nothing but professionalism by each and every agent who dealt with my case. I think that the positive aspects of any difficult and negatively perceived problem deserve public recognition. For any writer, analyst, politician, activist, legal counsel representing either side of immigration legal issues, as well as any immigrant out there who may at one point read this: I challenge you to publically state something positive regarding immigration and/or the individuals devoting countless hours to solve the problems therein. Only when we break down the barrier of the damaging “us against them” concept and start following the fundamental concept of which democracy was created, “rule by the people”, thereby realizing that a problem as complicated as U.S Immigration can only be solved when everyone works as a team with the same goal in mind. As for the Honorable Janet Napolitano, we can only hope that she, much like the late Margaret Thatcher, is paving the way for the next generation of iron ladies…
Kindest regards,
TheGreatDane
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