Wow! I really feel safe now that...

Wow! I really feel safe now that I’m stocked up on plastic sheeting and duct tape. I wanted enough to seal the nearby Mexican border and paper over San Onofre, but Home Depot didn’t have that much. I sure hope there’s enough left to seal our seaports and other infrastructures.

I feel a bit guilty, though, knowing that the police, firefighters and other emergency workers don’t have the necessary protective equipment to shield them against hazardous materials that I’m so easily “sheeting out.” And sometimes I wonder if the country may be facing the same dangers a general would face when going into battle with his flank exposed.

But not to worry. After all, Bush learned only on Sept. 11 that this country was no longer protected by its oceans. With a little more on-the-job training, he’ll probably learn what to do about it.

Bette Balliet

Mission Viejo

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Tom Ridge, head of our Department of Homeland Security, has dusted off an old slogan from the Cold War era of elementary students crouching under desks as air raid sirens heralded the arrival of nuclear-tipped ICBMs from the Soviet Union. The new slogan? “Duct and Cover.”

Stephen C. Lee

La Habra