The more I read up on the Intelligence Community and Homeland Security the more at least one point becomes abundantly and undeniably clear: the President should fire Tom Ridge and abolish his job.
The point is not that Tom Ridge is a bad guy or even that he has failed at his job. The point is that he has no job and to the extent that one can infer what his job might be he has been given no resources or powers or support to succeed at it.
Having him there — as well as his largely bogus Office of Homeland Security — is simply an impediment to any real and thorough reorganization and coordination of the country’s homeland security apparatus.
In the war on terrorism, there’s no room for comic relief.