(guest blogged by Blue Gal)

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David Stephenson's homeland security blog is a must-read. Stephenson is an anti-war, pro-civil liberties Democrat, and has a perspective on homeland security not currently seen in Washington, namely, intelligence and competence.

If projected cuts this summer go through, the number of Federal Protective Security personnel in New England could be cut nearly in half. Do the math: each would be be responsible for an average of 15 buildings. Are they considering cloning or SecondLife avatars to fill the gap?

It shouldn't be a big surprise that the Bush administration is cutting back homeland security here to fund the war there.

Get this harrowing scenario:

The burglar alarm goes off in the Tip O'Neill federal building in Boston, and the Security detail in Boston is closed on the weekend, so it "rings" in Philadelphia. The agent in Philly reaches the "on call" agent in New Hampshire, who drives down to check out the incident. It takes "homeland security" NINETY MINUTES to respond to an ALARM in a high priority federal office building. Apparently the local Boston police were not contacted. Homeland security? Timothy McVeigh did not need that much time.