Homeland security?

Yesterday it was Homeland Security Secretary Chertoff, who oversees a department with a pretty large budget, saying he had a "gut feeling" that the US was under increased threat of attack from terrorists this summer.

Today we learn that the problem may not be terrorists, but rather more Bush Administration incompetence:

Undercover investigators, working for a fake firm, obtained a license to buy enough radioactive material to build a "dirty bomb," amid little scrutiny from federal regulators, according to a government report obtained on Wednesday.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued the license to the dummy company in just 28 days with only a cursory review, the Government Accountability Office said in a report to be released on Thursday.

The GAO, which set up the sting, said the NRC approved the license after a couple of faxes and phones calls and then mailed it to the phony company's headquarters -- a drop box at a United Parcel Service location.

"From the date of application to the issuance of the license, the entire process lasted 28 days," the GAO said. "GAO investigators essentially obtained a valid materials license from the NRC without ever leaving their desks."

As far as i can tell, the entire modus operandi of the Bush administration is to sow fear among the people, and then claim they are the only ones who can keep us safe.

Where have we seen that before?

By the way, Chertoff backed off his remarks a bit when he got called out on them.