A Stitch in Haste

Care to guess why Flora, Mississippi, after having been ranked 14th out of 17 potential sites for “a $451 million national laboratory to study some of the world’s most virulent biological threats,” is now one of the five finalists for the facility?

The answer is the Three Stooges.

Stooge #1: Senator Thad Cochran, “the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee and the subcommittee that oversees DHS money.” Oh, and from Mississippi.

Stooge #2: Representative Bennie Thompson, “chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, which oversees DHS.” Oh, and from Mississippi.

Stooge #3: DHS Undersecretary Jay M. Cohen, who personally culled the list of 17 locations down to five and who met with Thompson at least twice. Oh, and one of those meetings was in Mississippi.

(Cohen, a retired admiral and political appointee to DHS, spent part of his later military career as the Navy’s chief lobbyist to Congress. So he certainly knows how this game is played. Chairman Thompson also knows how this game is played: He initially denied that any such meetings with Cohen took place. Unfortunately for them, DHS underlings did not know how this game is played and acknowledged, after whistleblowers cried foul, that the meetings did indeed take place.)

And the reference in my headline to “alma maters”?

Flora is not in Thompson’s congressional district. But the consortium of public and private organizations working to attract the lab includes Tougaloo College, where Thompson received his bachelor’s degree, and Jackson State University, where he was awarded his master’s degree.

Yes indeed, whenever I hear the words, “virulent biological threats” or “homeland security,” my first thought is always, “I’m sure glad that Tougaloo College is out there protecting me.”

All politicians are, by definition, moral defectives. Apparently so are some retired admirals.

Previously:
–Gasbag Politician Fuels Pork-Powered “Prizes”

Filed under: Politics, Updates