IF YOU WANT A PROMOTION, CAUSE A CATASTROPHE | 2002-03-16
We have all heard that the Immigration and Naturalization Service has just approved visas for the two dead terrorists who piloted the planes that hit the towers in New York on September 11. So what are we going to do about it?
In the last half of the nineteenth century, the death rate in American railroad accidents was horrendous. A much higher percentage of Americans were killed in trains smashing into each other than are killed today in cars. And that was in an age when most people never traveled at all.
Over a hundred and thirty years ago, Mark Twain noticed that while America took train crashes for granted, they almost never happened in France. He quickly found the reason. In America, he said, nobody was ever to blame. In France, if there was an accident, somebody high up got fired and probably prosecuted. To repeat, the result was that France almost never had a train wreck.
To repeat, we have known this for over one hundred and thirty years.
So on September 11, 2001, three thousand people were killed in an attack of which there was not the slightest hint from our numerous and expensive security agencies.
Our response to September 11 has been to make huge increases in security agency budgets. Many of the people in charge were promoted.
By the way, one little bit of news was missed in the rush of reports on the September 11 disaster. It would have been front-page news if the attack had not occurred.
The week of September 11, THE TOP CUBA ANALYST FOR THE DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY WAS ARRESTED AS A SPY FOR CASTRO!!!
To my astonishment, they actually stopped the actual spy's paycheck. Guess how many other people were punished for this security catastrophe?
Nada, senor.