Incompetence

Regarding your recent editorial on the impending across-the-board cuts in federal spending, since the "sequester" plan originally was introduced by the White House, to call it a "GOP sequester" is a misnomer ("The GOP sequester," Feb. 22). If we had any leaders, managers or even decent administrators in the Obama administration, a spending reduction of $85 billion would a walk in the park. But no, we get a bunch of whining, doom and gloom. It can't be that bad if President Obama had time to play golf for a few days (not too mention his continuing campaigning)

This whole scandal over Herman Cain's alleged sexual harassment of women during the 1990s is driving me crazy because the media is insisting on covering this story instead of properly vetting the candidates. Mr. Cain recently was on C-span to debate Gingrich, and it was clear he doesn't know much about government. The guy had to let Newt go first on every question because it was clear he had no clue what they were talking about. Yet the media puts a spotlight on Mr. Cain's alleged sexual misconduct instead.

While Joe Biden may benefit from the less than diplomatic handling of the Benghazi tragedy by Hillary Clinton, possibly making him the front runner for the Democratic nominee for president in 2016 ("Could Biden benefit from Clinton's handling of Benghazi?" May 14), the main winner is the Republican Party. The Benghazi gaffe by all concerned, including President Barack Obama, Ms. Clinton and Susan Rice, has scandalized the American public. At the same time, further evidence of incompetence at many levels of the Obama administration has become obvious with the effort, purportedly unknown to the administration, to deny tax-exempt status to organizations that are critical of the administration.

A former Patuxent Institution inmate who was charged with murder after he allegedly set a fire that induced another inmate's fatal asthma attack was deemed incompetent to stand trial yesterday and committed to Clifton T. Perkins State Hospital in Jessup. Dewayne E. Braswell, 41, will remain in custody of the state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene until he can be found competent to assist in his defense on charges stemming from the Feb. 18, 2000, fire and subsequent death of Joseph Jenkins, a 31-year-old prisoner, court officials said.

Isn't it odd that people will give credence to people with absolutely no credentials but talk as if they did? First there was that guy at the city school system who was given a contract with no defined duties ("Schools employee charged with sex with teen," Nov. 29). Then there was the blogger full of fantasy and hot air who police were afraid of ("Blogger surrenders to police after standoff in Waverly," Dec. 2). The guy in the schools makes you wonder what goes on down at North Avenue.

NEW YORK - In his most comprehensive critique of the administration's foreign policy, Sen. John Kerry said yesterday that President Bush's "stubborn incompetence" has weakened America's national security and left the country less safe than when Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was in power. Kerry warned that Bush's re-election would mean "more of the same" in Iraq. But he stopped short of offering a new strategy for ending the war. Instead, the Massachusetts senator repackaged previous statements that amount to more of an expansion of Bush's plans than a sharp break in policy.

In a contentious and sometimes tearful hearing in federal court yesterday, George A. Dangerfield Jr. -- the slumlord drug dealer and self-styled "King of Baltimore" -- was sentenced to 11 years in prison for masterminding a cocaine ring that employed a dozen convicted felons.In handing down more than double the usual sentence for the crime, U.S. District Court Judge Andre M. Davis cited Dangerfield's record as a scofflaw landlord with a prior drug conviction as "aggravating" factors in the case.

THINKING I MIGHT have missed something while on vacation, I asked a co-worker if there had been a big story out of Washington about hundreds of federal bureaucrats being fired."

An Armistead Gardens man charged with soliciting a carwash employee to murder a Baltimore County judge was ruled mentally incompetent to stand trial yesterday in Baltimore Circuit Court.John T. Klauenberg, 60, is charged with soliciting the murder of ++ Circuit Judge Joseph F. Murphy Jr., who has presided over a dispute involving Mr. Klauenberg's father's million-dollar estate.After finding Mr. Klauenberg incompetent to stand trial, Baltimore Circuit Judge Clifton J. Gordy committed the man to the custody of the state health department.

The government's handling of the sequester is a perfect example of how inept it is ("Lawmakers ease airline delays," April 27). A business would lay off employees who are not essential to its operations. The government lays off the air traffic controllers and keeps the back office people who supposedly are supporting them. This is absurd, but it's how an inefficient, poorly managed organization operates. I wonder how many other layoffs are comparable. Operating in this manner will increase the deficit, not reduce it. Meanwhile, the government is doubling the interest on student loans.