The Huffington Post
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano gave a farewell speech Tuesday to praise her department for its achievements and to defend it — and herself — from the criticism over border security, immigration and preparedness that plagued her four years leading the decade-old agency.
“In any disaster or crisis, there are always challenges,” Napolitano said at the National Press Club. “Problems arise. The unexpected happens. … But flexibility and agility aren’t only about being operational. Sometimes they are about establishing common-sense policies and priorities, using the resources you have.”
Napolitano announced in July that she would step down and take the helm of the University of California system, and will serve her last day Sept. 6. Her announced departure was met with disappointment from some and “good riddance” from others, those who had long criticized her job performance as lackluster on the border and immigration and overzealous in other ways. The Drudge Report and other conservative sites called her “Big Sis” — a play on the intrusive government “big brother” phrase — and left-leaning groups depicted her as the symbol of the Obama administration’s record deportations.
