Only the prepared should hold top jobs

Paul Harper, Henderson

Monday, April 27, 2009 | 2:06 a.m.

Twice over two days in the past week I have heard and read comments about government officials “still learning their jobs.”

First, I heard on a news program a guest commenting on the recent gaffes of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, saying she was still learning her job!

Second, I read a David Broder column in Saturday’s Las Vegas Sun in which he wrote that President Barack Obama’s Cabinet members “are still learning their jobs.”

Do you really put people into these positions, with so much at stake, and want them to “learn their jobs”?

Are we going to keep throwing money at businesses such as the failing automakers, only to have them claim bankruptcy or, worse, experience another attack on U.S. soil by a group intent on destroying our country and excuse the officials in charge because they were learning on the job?

These positions should be earned by people who have had their training and know the job, not given to people who help the president get elected to the top position in the country.