By Michelle
Malkin
� 2003 Creators Syndicate, Inc.
My famous local police chief, Charles "Still waiting for the white van"
Moose, seems to have little time to take care of business here at home.
Montgomery County, Md.'s top cop is busy slapping together a tell-all
book, polishing off a movie deal, and preaching his purported "crisis
management" wisdom abroad.
Moose's highly sought-after wisdom is, of course, derived from his
gross bungling of last fall's sniper attacks by accused killers John
Muhammad and Lee Malvo. But never mind his Keystone Kop hunt for the wrong
vehicle while the snipers' Chevy Caprice (spotted by several witnesses and
stopped at least 10 times for license-plate checks during the shooting
spree) got away. Pay no heed to his oversight of nonsensical roadblocks,
botched hotline operations, and the deadly politically correct assumption
that the snipers were crazed white militants in a non-existent white box
truck.
Yes, despite these fatal missteps, gushing and gullible audiences
outside Maryland are warmly welcoming Chief Moose as a spotless role
model. A local ethics investigation into his side efforts to capitalize on
the brutal slayings, such as the for-profit crisis management and conflict
resolution consulting firm he formed with his wife just six weeks after
the "Beltway" sniper saga ended, will likely do little to slow the
jet-setting Moose's pace.
Why any group would want to host or hire Chief Moose as an exemplar of
effective, responsible public leadership is beyond me.
This six-figure-salaried public servant refuses to disclose the amount
of his book advance from Dutton Books. He remains similarly tight-lipped
as county ethics authorities mull this week whether or not he and his wife
are "intentionally (using) the prestige of office for private gain." He
dismisses criticism of his judgment as "attacks."
Chief Moose's office told me this week that he has not yet accepted any
honoraria for his sniper-related speaking engagements. But by his own
admission, Moose has already broken clear county government rules
requiring him to have gotten permission to pursue the book deal and other
off-duty, paid endeavors. He claims he and his wife "haven't made a single
penny" from the private consulting venture. But he remains defiantly
"hopeful" that he will start turning a profit while keeping his day job.
Moose doesn't make his travel schedule available to the public on the
county police department website. But my research shows that he is
apparently already racking up some major frequent-flyer points, room
service and invaluable pre-book publication schmooze time, as an anointed
Leader in Times of Crisis.
In December, Moose was scheduled as the featured guru at an advanced
professionals seminar in Braintree, Mass., where attendees learned how
Moose "coordinated one of the biggest manhunts in history." In March,
he'll do breakfast with the Virginia Press Association in Norfolk. In
April, he's headed to San Francisco to address the National School Board
Association for a talk on developing "effective crisis response plans" as
demonstrated by his leadership in capturing the snipers.
He'll take the same message to Los Angeles that month, at the annual
leadership development conference of the National Center for Women and
Policing. In May, he'll be the special keynote speaker at a Toronto
Crimestoppers convention. The group says that "Chief Moose's skillful
management of the Washington sniper events" will make his presentation
"particularly meaningful and relevant." In June, he's trekking to
Winnipeg, Canada, for the International Police Association's "Aboriginal
and Diversity Law Enforcement conference."
Chief Moose was closer to home this week for his regular appearance on
a softball Beltway radio show called "Ask the Chief." It was a typical
exercise in evasion and idolatry. The fawning host apologized for raising
questions about the ethics investigation and concluded the interview with
a giggly query about which actor would be playing Moose in the
sniper-attack movie.
Moose wouldn't respond to that question either. Seems there will only
be three ways to get any straight answers from the book-writing,
movie-making, speech-peddling Moose about his ethical lapses and
management bungles: cash, check or credit card.
Michelle Malkin's
column is syndicated by Creators Syndicate and appears in about 100
newspapers nationwide. Her book, "Invasion:
How America Still Welcomes Terrorists, Criminals and Other Foreign Menaces
to Our Shores," is a national best seller and now available at
ShopNetDaily. All copies of the book sold at ShopNetDaily are personally
autographed.
