Thursday, March 12, 2009 | Wow! Hearing that President Obama is contemplating placing Alan Bersin at the head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection is about the most disturbing news I’ve heard come out of Washington in a long time. It just kind of stomps on the feelings of hope for a better world I’ve carried inside me for months now. This definitely isn’t the “change” I signed up for.
A former colleague says Bersin is the right person for the job because “he’s good on crime and good on commerce.” And terrible in human relations, with a capital T. If Obama truly wants in his administration, a spirit of collaboration, a spirit of people working together in a “Yes ‘WE’ Can” atmosphere of human respect and understanding, then he wouldn’t let Bersin anywhere near this job. Bersin doesn’t do “WE.” This better world we all seek has a better chance of happening without this man browbeating border patrol agents and customs officers who then have to relate with people struggling to survive in a troubled world.
Please, somebody give Obama my phone number.