76 border crossings by a Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis infected Mexican national led the big parade...

With a hundred and ten red-faced Homeland Security officials close behind.

A Mexican national infected with a highly contagious form of tuberculosis crossed the U.S. border 76 times and took multiple domestic flights in the past year, according to Customs and Border Protection interviews and documents obtained by The Washington Times.

The Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency was warned by health officials on April 16 that the frequent traveler was infected, but it took Homeland Security officials more than six weeks to issue a May 31 alert to warn its own border inspectors, according to Homeland Security sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution. Homeland Security took a further week to tell its own Transportation Security Agency.
[emphasis mine]

For the record, here's a description of Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis. And, from this article, we find out that it can cost anywhere from $200,000 to $1.2 million to treat an MDR-TB-infected individual.

But wait, there's more:

Attempts to identify the subject failed "because information provided to Mexican health officials is not accurate" when an alias is used, Mr. Maier said in an e-mail. "Efforts to obtain solid data ... were achieved on May 31."

Translation: the MDR-TB-infected Mexican national lied about his identity. And that threw those DHS guys for a loop! (More detail here.)

But wait, there's still more:

Other documents reveal that the Mexican government had known for more than five years of the condition of Mr. Armendariz, a businessman from Juarez, a city in the Mexican state of Chihuahua across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas. The officials who spoke on that condition of anonymity said, "Information sharing is still at an all-time low, if not nonexistent, in issues such as these."
[emphasis mine]

And just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, here's the stinger:

Homeland Security employees were told in June that they would be fired if the situation with Mr. Armendariz went public. At the same time, DHS officials were preparing to testify before Congress regarding the Speaker case, which had been front-page news across the nation.
[emphasis mine]

Got the full picture now? Let's break it down:

• An MDR-TB-infected Mexican national
  
• crosses into our nation
  
• 76 times,
  
• sometimes using an alias,
  
• putting untold thousands of Americans at risk for contracting MDR-TB themselves.
  
• The cost of treating an MDR-TB-infected individual can range from $200,000 to $1.2 million
  
• and last up to 18 months.
  
• The government of Mexico knew of this health risk
  
• for five years
  
• and didn't tell us.
  
• Our own government knew of this health risk
  
• since June (possibly before)
  
• and ordered DHS employees not to tell anyone about it
  
• probably because they were embarrassed at the ridiculously pathetic job they did in preventing Andrew Speaker from re-entering the country.

I think that about sums it up. Oh, one last thing; Michael Chertoff, please submit your resignation immediately.