Can government get anything right?
In the latest in the stream of scandals flowing out of Washington, a new report says the Justice Department bungled “the handling of known or suspected terrorists” in its witness-protection program.
Uh-oh.
The report, by Justice’s inspector general, cites “significant deficiencies”: Potentially dangerous witnesses were able to board planes and “evade” tracking. Two fell off the radar completely, at least for a while.
Justice didn’t even know how many people it had in the program.
And all this after Americans learned that:
* The folks at the IRS — the ones who’ll be helping enforce ObamaCare — mishandled applications by conservative groups for tax-exempt status, perhaps criminally.
* Someone in government couldn’t keep his yap shut and leaked national-security info tied to a foiled bomb plot — info President Obama suggested could “compromise” missions or “get [people] killed.” The fallout already: a rare government intrusion into press operations via a subpoena of The Associated Press’s phone records to find the leaker.
* The State Department couldn’t secure US personnel in Benghazi. Or protect them under fire. Or even explain truthfully in the aftermath of the attack just what happened.
* A Justice Department operation lost track of firearms it allowed to be purchased, to wind up in the hands of Mexican drug gangs and to be used to gun down a federal agent.
And President Obama says Americans should be more trusting of government?