Two excellent articles by staff writers Kathryn Skelton and Lindsey Tice (Sept. 9) document what can only be described as pork-barrel spending and leads to the obvious conclusion that politics has totally corrupted homeland security.

Are these expenditures considered priority by our government? If homeland security spending is based on risk, as it should be, than cities such as Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., etc. should each be receiving trillions of dollars.

Is it theoretically possible for Maine to be the victim of a terrorist attack? Yes. But it is also theoretically possible for the sun to explode tomorrow and engulf us in a nuclear fireball. Both events are of approximately equal probability.

If we don’t get our act together and put priorities on where we spend our limited resources based on risk and not politics, we will spend ourselves into oblivion. Although most of the items purchased as described in the two articles will, I hope, ultimately prove useful in some way, items such as cargo inspection at our ports and on our aircraft and Internet security should rate far, far higher.

Paul H. Danis, Sr., Oquossoc