Kentucky gov. moves comm system funding from city to rural areas

In Kentucky, there's outrage that the governor is freezing Louisville's MetroSafe program -- a huge,  multiagency emergency communications system -- out of the state's Dept. of Homeland Security allocation and spread the money -- some $22 million -- to "less vulnerable, less endangered and less populous areas," in the words of the Louisville Argus-Courier.

Getting the $71 million system up and running is clearly among the nation's high-priority security initiatives.

It's a high-priority initiative because Louisville, with its concentration of chemical and power plants and its hub of air, river and ground transportation infrastructure, is a high-risk target.

And it's a high-priority initiative because, as both the New York terrorist attacks and the Gulf Coast hurricanes have tragically demonstrated, the fragmented and outdated communications systems on which America's cities depend haven't kept pace with the scope of devastation that emergency forces must be prepared to confront.

 If we're going to spend bazillions of dollars on homeland security, shouldn't we at least protect the  major cities that are most critical to national interests?