Jaunted

Dammit, Janet! Janet Napolitano faces Senate confirmation on Tuesday amid the revelation that the former governor of Arizona created but did not finish a homeland security master plan for her state. "Securing Arizona," an initiative Napolitano brought into office with her in 2003, addressed biological warfare alerts and border control and created one of the first counter-terrorism centers in the nation, but Arizona never got its new emergency communication system or criminal records database. Of course, it probably isn't the only state lagging behind on security, but the discovery has Republicans questioning whether Napolitano can handle 50 of them at once.

Meanwhile, on TV... The premiere of the much lamented ABC reality series "Homeland Security USA" drew 7.77 million viewers for a third-place finish. This week promises to be much worse for ABC; last night's airing went up against the first night of "American Idol" this season. We've never rooted for Simon Cowell to take someone down before, but we'll make an exception this time.

Related Stories:
· Bush, Obama Officials Hold Security Drill [Reuters]
· Homeland Security Pick Didn't Complete State Plan [AP, via Google News]
· Four Must-Implement Ideas for Janet Napolitano [Jaunted]
· US Visitors Don't Get in Quite So Easily Anymore [Jaunted]

[Photo: isriya]