I read they were sending potential volunteers home and others were told to get off the beach.

The whole mess is just so sad.

Must we use the phrase *homeland*?

I was out of town when this happened, avoiding my inbox, phone and computer with hopes of actually relaxing on vacation. I got wind that there was a spill but that was all I really heard. We had been wondering and worried about the details. Thank you for your wonderful article and analysis. It was a good one -- posing what are critical questions I think we have the responsibility to answer.

I quite agree, Annie, but I'm thinking that the *security* part bothers me more than the *homeland* part...

You feel secure? Knowing that these DHS guys will show up -- eventually -- to let industry know that they are responsible to clean up the mess? Sounds tough, doesn't it? It's not, though...

Where are the timelines? Where are the standards? What are the consequences? The "industry" couldn't give a toss so long as it doesn't interrupt carrier operations or disturb the bottom line too much...

And my guess is that the monkeys from Washington DC couldn't give a toss, either. The last DHS guys are out of California on a flight next week only to return 4 days after the next disaster...

Homeland? Security? That's b*llsh*t on both counts...

I used to work for an oil brokerage in Irvine called Petro Diamond. I was there only about one year but was able to monitor many incidents of unrefined oil being spilled into the ocean. These spills never made the headlines. It was inside industry info. I wish I would have kept a journal documenting these spills. But I didn't.

Annie has a good point in the terminology we use. "Homeland" rings echoes of the focus on the "fatherland" that the Social Democrats were known for. And Kurk is more than right that the "security" part of the moniker is an outright joke.

The planet Earth is my homeland, and America's so-called "Homeland Security" has virtually nothing to do with the welfare or security of the planet.

They seem to exist solely as a convenient target for public rage over our government's response to catastrophies like Katrina, the CA fires, and this oil spill.

The government screws up yet another disaster response, and the HSD takes the heat; while the real culprit, one Mr. George Walker Bush (maybe you've heard of him?) lies low in his Washington hideout composing another propaganda diatribe for the radio audience.

I've had it.

Impeach.

Impeach now.

Sorry Danno.

That's "OFF The Table".

And if the Repubs try to help Kucinich put it back ON The Table, why we'll just have to jerk it and send it back to committee "for further study".

Now, if you'll just send us lots and lots of money, vote us to a 100% majority and put a Clinton back in the Oral Office in 2008, I PROMISE you we'll do whatever is necessary to impeach both Bush and Cheney!!

I agree with Annie and Kurk... I just can't hear the term "homeland security" without waffling between nausea and laughter. My reaction is either "NOBODY could come up with a more jingoistic and orwellian term if they tried" (and I'm quite sure they did try just that) and "OH SHIT they really mean it!" Sadly the latter invariably wins out while the first is only a defense against the appalling truth. And that's without them even saying "homesec"... Minipax anyone?

War is Peace; Freedom is Slavery; Ignorance is Strength... could there be a more appropriate motto for the results of bushcheney's Project for a New American Apocalypse?

In a society constantly in a hurry it's sad the circumstances of this situation wasn't this, to contain something worth so much value to those who depend on the income.

God Bless, and pray for Peace.

I work at the University of Bradford in the UK and I believe that some of our scientists developed a new technology for containing oil spills that when poured on the water makes the oil spill solidify into a 'blanket' that can easily be collected out of the water. Why have I not heard of this being used on oil spills? Cost? The cost to the earth which is the home for all of humanity is far worse.Pray not only for peace but that we come to our senses in time. Warmongering has always been a technique to get people to forget their real problems!

California should be grateful that it's fire services are of a higher quality than its coast guard.
The fact that an environmental disaster has happened that would have been so easily avoided if they had just done their job properly is a shame on their service.

The Republican party has been hanging its hat on "privatization" throughout every aspect of its existence. Guess what? It doesn't work, but then they already knew that. The only thing they want from every aspect of our lives is not what is good for us, but what is good for them--profits. This is yet another in a long line of reasons why the Republicans should never be allowed to be in charge of this country--never, never, never.

I am a bit confused here...about the response part of this story.
I am ex-Coast Guard an there was a time when a spill would have had the C.G. emergency spill response team rushing with blue lights flashing and sea booms to contain the oil and leaking ship pronto!
This is shameful!!
What happened?? I'm shaking my head in disbelief.

Does anybody care about what the future generations of humanity is going to think of the current generation of humanity when they look back on us in history books ten, twenty, and who knows how long we have left in the future? I wonder what a possible son or daugther of mine is going to think when he of she learns in history class about the extreme disregard my generation has for Mother Earth's well-being, and funtions. I think it will make everybody sick. to their stomachs.

>>What happened?? I'm shaking my head in disbelief.<<
Posted by: James Turnage

Response: Jim, it's simple. The United States Coast is just the most over-committed and under-funded branch of the military at the moment...

If U.S. military personnel in the Middle East aren't getting the resources they need to do their job, then how much support should we imagine a handful of boat crews in that Left Coast hot-spot battlefield -- San Francisco -- to be receiving?

The Coast Guard is quite literally a public service back-water and will take a thumping for incompetence. It won't surprise me much that Congress will place a lot of blame on the Coast Guard...

But Congress has its own issues and interests to hold in the shadows of this affair: Just for fun, try a google on

Diane Feinstein + Richard Blum + Cosco

and follow what comes up...

There's enough blame and embarrassment here to go around for everyone, folks. But mostly it's our fault for not holding any of our, uh, leaders (?) accountable...