alternative hippopotamus

progressive cyberdadaism from our nation’s capital

May 31, 2006

Hacking the Homeland

by AltHippo @ 4:30 pm. Filed under hacks

Did I ever mention that Tracy A. Henke is a cynical hack?

Like today when she defended a proposal to reduce Homeland Security for DC and New York:

Washington and New York will receive 40 percent less in urban grant money compared to last year, with Washington dropping from $77 million to $46 million and New York falling from $207 million to $124 million, DHS officials said. The combined total means that the two areas bear almost the entire brunt of a $120 million cut in the overall budget for the program, the statistics show.

Here’s Henke’s explanation:

“We have to understand that there is risk throughout the nation,” Henke said, adding later: “We worked very hard to make sure that there was fairness in the process.”

Henke is all about fairness. She’s so fair she even “fixed” racial profiling. (see this SourceWatch article for more details)

Yes, I suppose that quantum mechanically speaking it’s possible that terrorists are going to attack Manhattan, Kansas. The probability, however, is vanishingly small. The likelihood that something will happen in Manhattan, NY (not to mention, here in DC) is disproportionally larger, and that’s the threat that needs to be taken care of.

I tend to believe that the real issue has little to do with fairness, and a great deal to do with rewarding, for example, Pat Roberts, who’s done a heckuva job supporting Bush over the last year.

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4 Responses to “Hacking the Homeland”

  1. Tory Says:
    June 1st, 2006 at 11:54 am

    I know the Little Apple isn’t top on your hitlist, but there is a nationally recognized research university (K State) there. And at that nationally recognized research university is the National Agricultural Biosecurity Center which “coordinates interdisciplinary activities focused on protecting America’s agricultural infrastructure and economy.” Now, I agree it’s some crap, and spreading money to the boondocks almost always a way to earn a few extra votes (hello November!), but just because some place is in Kansas doesnt mean that there’s nothing there. (Sometimes there are even really important things there.) And moving resources to soft targets is essential.

  2. AltHippo Says:
    June 1st, 2006 at 1:02 pm

    Thanks for commenting.

    I have two thoughts. The first regards the profile of Al Queda attacks. Places like LA, NY, DC, London and Madrid are on the top of the list. They also target buildings of symbolic importance (WTC, Pentagon, LAX). So, I would argue that the National Agricultural Biosecurity Center would be very different fromt the Al Queda profile.

    Second, it appears that the way that the cuts were arrived at was gamed. As the NYT reports: (this came out after my initial post, or I would have included it)

    “New York officials were given a one-page tally that explained, in part, how the region’s risk-based standing was calculated. The document said the region had no “national monuments or icons,” four banking or financial firms with assets of over $8 billion, 28 chemical or hazardous material sites, as well as nearly 7,000 other possible important, high-risk targets, like hospitals or major office buildings, a tally that some city officials said had major omissions or errors.”

    Apparently, DHS came up with a score that made Louisville, Charlotte, and Omaha al Quesda hotbeds, but NYC and DC not so much.

    And what’s up with Newark, NJ getting the big bump, while next door Manhattan gets slashed?

  3. Art Says:
    June 1st, 2006 at 3:17 pm

    Good post. But how does this grants decision or her role tie in to Pat Roberts? I’m not challenging your
    assertion, just wondering.

  4. AltHippo Says:
    June 1st, 2006 at 3:39 pm

    I didn’t mean to pick on Kansas other than as a metaphor. I have seen nothing linking Pat Roberts specifically to this DHS funding fiasco.

    Kansas has become the new symbol of the antithesis of the blue-state coastal areas, mostly because of Thomas Frank’s book.

    Plus, Pat Roberts has become one of the most predictable Bush defenders, so he’s an attractive object of ridicule.

    Plus, there’s a city in Kansas called “Manhattan.” It seemed to fit together, al least for literary purposes.

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