I wanted to say thanks to the folks at DHS Public Affairs for inviting me to participate in a Blogger’s Roundtable with Secretary Michael Chertoff yesterday. Whether you agree with him or not, it was refreshing to see a man willing to answer some tough questions directly and honestly. There was no agenda or preset topic, everything was fair game. For about an hour, the Secretary covered a broad range of subjects (immigration reform, emergency preparedness, cyber security, REAL ID, transition planning, etc.) and went into great detail explaining his and the Department’s position on each topic.
It’s clear to me that this man is passionate about what he believes in, and he has endured a tremendous amount of scrutiny and criticism during his tenure as Secretary. What was also clear to me is how much the media misses or how biased they are in reporting their side of the story. I know that’s nothing new in this town and some issues probably doesn’t even warrant a reaction, but an event like the one hosted today does make me appreciate more what Secretary Chertoff has accomplished in his four years at the helm. It’s too bad that the rest of the country only gets to see or read about a small fraction.
