02.13.13
The SOTU Shoeshine Moment
The President took a few moments in last night’s State of the Union to address infrastructure and cybersecurity. It was the usual shoeshine, assertions that something terrible will happen if steps aren’t taken, allegations of a looming menace that means nothing when stacked up against major economic issues.
The mythology of cyberattacks turning off the power, poisoning the water, and — most laughably — attacking the financial system (ie, Wall Street) have been piled so deeply over such a long time, a substantial number of people now believe them.
However, there’s reality-based analysis. And so there is this from Homeland Security Today:
President Barack Obama on Tuesday signed the long-awaited executive order designed to enhance the security posture of the nation’s critical cyber infrastructure. Obama made the announcement during the State of the Union address.
“America must also face the rapidly growing threat from cyber-attacks,” Obama stated. “We know hackers steal people’s identities and infiltrate private email. We know foreign countries and companies swipe our corporate secrets. Now our enemies are also seeking the ability to sabotage our power grid, our financial institutions, and our air traffic control systems. We cannot look back years from now and wonder why we did nothing in the face of real threats to our security and our economy.”
The new executive order, however, does not have the force of law. And some analysts see it simply as the latest attempt by the administration to increase pressure on Congress to pass meaningful cybersecurity legislation.
“The administration has been building up to issuing an executive order on this for months,” said George Smith, a senior fellow at Globalsecurity.org. “And, no, it won’t have any impact on infrastructure cybersecurity. None of the Obama administration’s executive orders, in anything for that matter, have any teeth or any practical consequence. They’re essentially blandishments and suggestions that are ignored or meant for window dressing. It’s an attempt to shape the debate and push legislation.”
And that’s exactly how Obama left the issue in his State of the Union speech.
Pabulum.
The country would be better served by the President helping to reduce the power of the minority culture of gun nuts with real steps in new law and control. At the end, that was easily the most powerful part of his speech.
On Ted Nugent at SOTU, from Slate:
Nugent was shepherded over to a standing MSNBC camera. Two police officers looked on, confused by the mobile media herd.
“Who’s that???? asked one cop.
“It’s Ted Nugent,??? said the other cop. “He’s a rock star, he talks about guns.???
“Really? Never heard of him.???
[The] cable news networks have, so far, maintained a near-blockade on Nugent clips, and according to Bill Press, wasn’t featured in any of the crowd shots from the speech. The only exceptions, so far, have been CNN and MSNBC, who each aired Nugent snippets during the 5 am hour Wednesday morning, one of which, naturally, contained the word “fecal.???
It wasn’t as if Nugent didn’t make himself available, either. Politico (Oh no! They couldn’t resist either!!) reported that Nugent held court with reporters, telling them that Rep. Jim Langevin (D-RI), who was paralyzed in a shooting accident, had “Shit for brains??? because he was critical of Nugent’s attendance at the address. He also denied threatening President Obama.
NBC News’ Luke Russert later asked Nugent if he thought that was “an appropriate thing to say about a sitting member of Congress who’s in a wheelchair????