EP 369: Janet Napolitano on Homeland Security Since 9/11

Janet Napolitano served the 4th Secretary of Homeland Security less than a decade after 9/11, and on today's podcast, she reckons with the critics who call it a Frankenstein's Monster of government run amok and takes a hard look at the challenges we'll be facing as it evolves to fight terrorism 2.0. She likens the job to finding a needle in a haystack and describes how she used methods like "pushing the borders" and TSA-pre-check to shrink that haystack. She says it takes a "dark imagination" to be Secretary of Homeland Security, but even in her darkest imagination, she never envisioned a hostile foreign government like Russia would interfere in a US Presidential election. She takes to task politicians who engage in "security theatre," and this former border state governor has a few choice words about President Trump's zero tolerance policy toward illegal immigration. Plus Janet Napolitano weighs in on the college admissions scandal and outlines what she's doing to address the issue as President of the University of California Board of Regents.

Order Janet Napolitano's new book How Safe Are We?: Homeland Security Since 9/11 on Amazon, Audible or wherever books are sold. Today's podcast was sponsored by Kronos, SiriusXM radio, and the new Hulu original series RAMY. Subscribe to Kickass Newson Apple Podcasts and leave us a review, follow us on Twitter at @KickassNewsPod, and take our short listener survey at www.podsurvey.com/kick.