>>Hall, a wildlife biologist who told the IG he had had a "running battle" with MacDonald, said she did not want the range to extend to California because her husband had a family ranch there.

Guess there's no shame in outright conflict of interest when it's the entire MO of the executive branch. Par for the course.

That IG better be prepared for a poor performance review. He doesn't seem very supportive of administration policies.

W-E . F-*-*-K-I-N-G . T-O-L-D . Y-O-U . S-O....

Is anyone keeping a list of how often this pattern repeats itself in the Bush administration? Here's Thomas Friedman two days ago:

Sometimes you read something about this administration that is just so shameful it takes your breath away. For me, that was the March 20 article in this paper detailing how a House committee had just released documents showing “hundreds of instances in which a White House official who was previously an oil industry lobbyist edited government climate reports to play up uncertainty of a human role in global warming or play down evidence of such a role.”

The official, Philip A. Cooney, left government in 2005, after his shenanigans were exposed in The Times, and was immediately hired by, of course, Exxon Mobil. Before joining the White House, he was the “climate team leader” for the American Petroleum Institute, the main oil industry lobby arm.

The Times article, by Andrew Revkin and Matthew Wald, noted that Mr. Cooney said his past work opposing restrictions on carbon dioxide emissions on behalf of the oil industry had “no bearing” on his actions at the White House. “When I came to the White House,” he testified, “my sole loyalties were to the president and his administration.” (How about loyalty to scientific method?) Mr. Cooney, who has no scientific background, said he had based his editing on what he had seen in good faith as the “most authoritative and current views of the state of scientific knowledge.”

Let’s see, of all the gin joints. Of all the people the Bush team would let edit its climate reports, we have a guy who first worked for the oil lobby denying climate change, with no science background, then went back to work for Exxon. Does it get any more intellectually corrupt than that? Is there something lower that I’m missing?

http://select.nytimes.com/2007/03/28/opinion/28friedman.html

Like the DOJ problems and many preceding it, we are concentrating on the short term rather than the long term. These Bush hacks are chasing out the career pros. Do you think the openings will be filled by non-partisan new pros? Of course not. We will have Loyal Bushies deeply imbeded in the Civil Service for decades. The damage they will be able to inflict will be tremendous.
Normally I wouldn't worry, the gov't doesn't pay well enough for the true Republican greed heads, but as we can see over and over, the Loyal Bushies are too incompetent to get a job anywhere else.

Hey, nothing wrong with that. Give that woman a Presidential Medal of Freedom! —Kevin Drum

Her BA is probably from City University, but she really loves Jesus!

And people criticized the Clinton administration for being "too wonky."

Voodoo economics.

Voodoo foreign policy.

Voodoo science.

At least the neocons are consistent!

Click the link, Kevin. Always click the link.

The investigation was triggered by "an anonymous complaint from a Fish and Wildlife Service employee". sounds like a disgruntled liberal smearing his boss to me.

Then the article uses quotes from various sources, including "the advocacy group Center for Biological Diversity".

Did the reporter seek out viewpoints from the other side? No, of course not. That would be so "fair and balanced", wouldn't it?

Step One: Get a family ranch.
Step Two: Marry Deputy Assistant Secretary.
Step Three:

Nothing new. This stuff has been going on at Interior and EPA for the last 6 years. That dept and agency has been gutted of competence.

I want to stick the heads of these yahoos into a dry cleaning bag and tell them to engage in some faith-based breathing.

It's small details like this which are perfect examples for the "American Idol" watching public to realize how totally corrupt this administration is. This tidbit about changing the nesting range seems inconsequential, but if it can be corraborated with emails or other evidence, it is a perfect jewel of corruption and conflict of interest and should be plastered across the media for days until it is legendary. It should also run with a cute and cuddly picture of the Willow Flycatcher. This needs to be drilled into American heads over and over. It's like the anti-Midas touch, every damn thing this Administration touches turns to shit.

Jeez, can we just simplify things and highlight anyone in the Bush Administration that is competent. Anyone? Anyone? Hellooooo?

When scientists wrote that the bird had a "nesting range" of 2.1 miles, MacDonald told field personnel to change the number to 1.8 miles. Hall, a wildlife biologist who told the IG he had had a "running battle" with MacDonald, said she did not want the range to extend to California because her husband had a family ranch there.

That's just ridiculous, especially given MacDonald's resources. She should have first traveled to her husband's family ranch and killed any Southwestern willow flycatchers she saw. Then she would have had some scientific standing with Hall. Nothing like first-hand evidence of decreased nesting range.

methinks that the GSA, Lurita Doan, is the new front runner for a Presidential Medal of Freedom! cleve

Voodoo economics.
Voodoo foreign policy.
Voodoo science.

Voodoo ethics.
Voodoo morals.
Voodoo scruples.

Al: "sounds like a disgruntled liberal smearing his boss to me."

No doubt those same "disgruntled liberals" who so viciously smeared Jack Abramoff and his pal Steven Griles at Interior.

Life is so unfair.

Republicans will retire the Lysenko epithet and replace it with a MacDonald.

ckelly: Jeez, can we just simplify things and highlight anyone in the Bush Administration that is competent. Anyone? Anyone? Hellooooo?

The fired USAs, of course!

Heckuva job, MacDonald!

"Jeez, can we just simplify things and highlight anyone in the Bush Administration that is competent. Anyone? Anyone? Hellooooo?"

Given how incompetent the Bush administration is, it is almost a statistical certainty that they hired someone competent somewhere, if only by accident. I can't think of anyone, though.

Oregonian,

You left out the part of Friedman's column that came after "Is there something lower that I’m missing?" It reads:

"Perhaps. On the one hand, it makes me pig-biting mad that an administration official seems to be in cahoots with Big Oil. On the other hand, you can't help but admire the uniquely American spirit that finds opportunity in the midst of conflict. On the third hand, it's a shame that we lost him to the private sector. Somebody with his kind of business & government know how is just what we need to tackle global warming. Think of the innovations he could've brought with just six to nine more months of hard work."

The stunning damage to the morals of the United States by the conservative Republicans and this Administration has reached historic proportions. It now appears that the Justice Dept. was being used to prosecute phony "voter fraud" in order to disenfranchise the political opposition, i.e. the Democrats.

A just world would see wholesale resignations and impeachments.

But the plunder and privateering at Interior is perhaps the saddest of all, since much of the wildlife damage is irrecoverable, and much of the crookedness is still hidden. (E.g., no one has explained why Gale Norton, James Watt's protege, took such a quick powder; speculation is she was wrapped-up with Abramoff.)

We know that the plunder has been going on, because the few government biologists who have managed to get their stories out over the last six years, all tell the same rotten tale of reports ignored, scientists cashiered, files locked-up and destroyed. Many more have been stopped by job threats and gag orders. Occasionally stories have broken into the mainstream newspapers, and a bit more has been told at sites like http://www.peer.org/

Let's hope that Waxman finds a little time in the glut of Bushian crookedness and incompetence to investigate Interior. Some of our natural heritage has been destroyed by the most vile and despicable people this country has seen, all for short-term profits. Worse, the damage comes at exactly the historical moment when wildlife ecosystems are all going onto deathwatch.

Presidential Medal of Freedom

Would not a science award be more appropriate? Perhpas the L'Oréal Women In Science Award would please Julie.

Smear the source, Al, always smear the source.

Make sure it's all unsupported innuendo, and never address the main point.

Al wrote:

Did the reporter seek out viewpoints from the other side? No, of course not. That would be so "fair and balanced", wouldn't it?

See paragraph 11.

Oh, wait, do you mean that the reporter should have tried to find any scientist agreeing with the revised 1.8-mile range? But wouldn't MacDonald have been the best way for the reporter to learn the source (given the assumption that she had one other than herself)?

And when the investigation does come back with evidence of wrongdoing, how could that now be construed as one individual's smearing (presumably the verb smear implies inaccuracy or unfairness)?

Shouldn't it be spelt Schmience??

2.1 mile nesting range? Cccchrist. How many pairs? Are they done for? And she begrudges 520 yards.

What is wrong with these people?

Put the wrong person in the wrong job and you've got exactly what you planned for. A party hack with no knowledge and no empathy, just loyalty to the cause and blind loyalty to personal and corporate interests and the rewards promised.

Jeez, can we just simplify things and highlight anyone in the Bush Administration that is competent. Anyone? Anyone? Hellooooo?
Posted by: ckelly

Diogenes with his famous lamp could not have found a single honest person.

"The water won't clear up 'til we get the hogs out of the creek." -- Jim Hightower

Easter is comming, and guns make great gifts.

From the WaPo link:

The report also said MacDonald "misused her position" by disclosing confidential documents to "private sector sources" such as the Pacific Legal Foundation and the California Farm Bureau Federation, both of which have challenged endangered-species listings.

On Feb. 4, 2004, MacDonald sent the Pacific Legal Foundation a 147-page document on Interior's critical habitat policies. In an e-mail exchange with one of the foundation's lawyers, MacDonald wrote: "I will send you a copy of the draft but please do not share it with anyone else. It's still undergoing revision, although the fundamental legal/policy approach will not change. Does that work for you?"

EUGENE,OR (12/15/05) -- The Pacific Legal Foundation has filed a lawsuit challenging 16 Endangered Species Act listings of salmon spanning four western states, charging the federal government with illegally distinguishing between hatchery and naturally spawned fish. PLF says NOAA Fisheries Service's new hatchery policy and the listings violate the ESA, and contradict PLF’s 2001 landmark federal court victory in Alsea Valley Alliance v. Evans...

...PLF filed the lawsuit on behalf of a broad coalition of property owners, farmers, and business groups representing tens of thousands of citizens in Oregon, Washington, California, and Idaho, including Alsea Valley Alliance, Oregon State Grange, Jackson County Pomona Grange, Washington Farm Bureau, Washington Association of Realtors, Building Industry Association of Washington, California State Grange, Greenhorn Grange, Central Coast Forest Association, Coalition for Idaho Water, Idaho Farm Bureau, Idaho Water Users Association, Pioneer Irrigation District, and Idaho State Senator Skip Brandt.

Today the WaPo also reports on two items involving our robust embrace of maize: that farmers are to increase planting of corn by 15% this spring and that the price of milk will be going up by 9%.

Can anyone guess the connection? Think of what milk cows eat.

mike cook must be James Inhoffe's alter ego.

Re: job losses in the Pacific Northwest lumber industry, your point ignores the fact that there was already considerable erosion of jobs in this industry due to diminished old-growth forest harvests & the inexorable march of technology in harvesting timber. (Logging jobs declined by 90% between the mid-1940s & the mid-1960s -- long before any public discussion about spotted owls.)

"But don't we at least know for sure that the Bush administration was wrong to pooh-pooh Global Warming... let's wait another couple winters on these dire predictions that Arctic Ice is disappearing at such a rate that by 2050 the Arctic Ocean will melt away completely in the summer."

The increase in the average temperature of the planet is indisputable, and the room for any dispute about its cause is rapidly shrinking -- much like the polar ice caps you mention. Of course, the problem with your wait & see attitude toward this is that once this stuff is gone, it ain't coming back. Besides, mindsets like yours are what cripple scientific innovations that would reduce our dependence on oil and provide the impetus for a resurgent economy. But maybe you like is at the mercy of Middle East despots & terrorists?

Salon: http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/03/27/endangered_species/
index.html?source=rss
Inside the secretive plan to gut the Endangered Species Act

Proposed regulatory changes, obtained by Salon, would destroy the "safety net for animals and plants on the brink of extinction," say environmentalists.

By Rebecca Clarren

March 27, 2007 | The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is maneuvering to fundamentally weaken the Endangered Species Act, its strategy laid out in an internal 117-page draft proposal obtained by Salon. The proposed changes limit the number of species that can be protected and curtail the acres of wildlife habitat to be preserved. It shifts authority to enforce the act from the federal government to the states, and it dilutes legal barriers that protect habitat from sprawl, logging or mining.

The proposed changes fundamentally gut the intent of the Endangered Species Act," says Jan Hasselman, a Seattle attorney with Earthjustice, an environmental law firm, who helped Salon interpret the proposal. "This is a no-holds-barred end run around one of America's most popular environmental protections. If these regulations stand up, the act will no longer provide a safety net for animals and plants on the brink of extinction."

In recent months, the Fish and Wildlife Service has gone to extraordinary efforts to keep drafts of regulatory changes from the public. All copies of the working document were given a number corresponding to a person, so that leaked copies could be traced to that individual. An e-mail sent in March from an assistant regional director at the Fish and Wildlife Service to agency staff, asking for comments on and corrections to the first draft, underscored the concern with secrecy: "Please Keep close hold for now. Dale [Hall, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service] does not want this stuff leaking out to stir up discontent based on speculation."

Many Fish and Wildlife Service employees believe the draft is not based on "defensible science," says a federal employee who asked to remain anonymous. Yet "there is genuine fear of retaliation for communicating that to the media. People are afraid for their jobs."

Chris Tollefson, a spokesperson for the service, says that while it's accurate to characterize the agency as trying to keep the draft under wraps, the agency has every intention of communicating with the public about the proposed changes; the draft just hasn't been ready. And, he adds, it could still be changed as part of a forthcoming formal review process.

[snip]

Can anyone guess the connection?
Posted by: Hedley Lamarr

$.51 per gallon subsidy for corn based ethanol.

Internationally, locally, in cyberspace and on land and sea, the question of how to calculate the appropriate economic value of preserving such things as the environment and the public domain (not to mention human rights or living standards) is a problem that unregulated markets do not solve very well. Societies need to make those decisions -- but as Boyle notes, with governments increasingly controlled by "stakeholders" with vested interests that do not necessarily coincide with the general public's, society's ability to choose wisely is in great doubt.

- -- Andrew Leonard - http://www.salon.com/tech/htww/2006/02/28/
boyle/print.html

gussie wrote: Step One: Get a family ranch.
Step Two: Marry Deputy Assistant Secretary.
Step Three:

PROFIT!

She blinded me with politics.

POLITICS!

Now all of you will have that tune running through your brains all afternoon.

I said to mr. shortstop the other day, I said, mr. shortstop, look for an Iguazu Falls-sized deluge of reports of this kind of intra-agency politicization. Now that the USA firings story has some teeth, the whole house of cards is coming down. The thread they pulled is going to unravel the whole sweater. That's what I said. shortstop, he replied, you are so right. But your metaphors mix worse than bleach and ammonia, my sweet.

ckelly: Jeez, can we just simplify things and highlight anyone in the Bush Administration that is competent. Anyone? Anyone?

That's easy. Ben Barnanke.

Naming two is hard if you mean competence at one's job. Rove is competent at smearing opponents.

That's Ben Bernanke, of course. Get to know preview. Make it your friend.

Ahem:

Bernanke Lies. Lies. Lies. Lies.
by Stirling Newberry | Mar 29 2007 - 2:28pm |

Ben Bernanke is a conservative inflationist. As George Will said about another bundle of contradictions, both the noun and the adjective are correct. We are used to seeing liberal inflationists, that we forget that conservative inflationists are historically normal for monarchies, and are species against which the original "liberals" as we now think of people like Hume and Smith, railed against their excesses.

And now we know something else about Ben Bernanke.

He lies. Lies. Lies. Lies, all Lies. We should have known this, Ben Bernanke the economist has Ben Bernanke the central banker pegged - a lying cheating discretion abusing political hack willing to risk inflation for short term political gain. That is the picture that Bernanke painted of central bankers as an economist, is it any wonder that is how he behaves? Half of the conservatives in the world - from Foley and Falwell, through Tammy Faye Baker and a good chunk of any hierarchical society want rules to save them from themselves.

[snip}

In short, he has to sit tight, and tell people that no rich people, or at least very few, will be harmed in the making of the current economic slowdown. Again, it is not far fetched or even that unlikely for him to be right. However, the recent durable goods numbers - ex-transportation -.1% when a gain had been predicted - and the recent business investment numbers, plus the increasing numbers of planned mass layoffs - do not point in his direction for the time being.

So other than lies, lies, lies, what does our Fed Chieftain have to serve up to us? Well to some extent, not much, and it isn't - no wait it is his fault, because he is part of a tightly interlocked political apparatus that has politicized the military, education, the justice department, the department of Homeland Security, the GSA, the CIA and everything else in reach. To expect Bernanke to have independence is, frankly, a faerie tale. The lack of incoming new investment supply is definitely his fault, since he got his position by kissing up to Bush, the front man for a group that pissed an entire decade of fiscal austerity down the hole of Iraq. Honest, the great pumpkin will fly overhead and drop barrels of oil on us. Sure. Right. You do realize that there are fraudulent penny stocks out there that have better stories than Iraq? Right?

[snip]

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/6430

At one point, according to Fish and Wildlife Service Director H. Dale Hall, MacDonald tangled with field personnel over designating habitat for the endangered Southwestern willow flycatcher, a bird whose range is from Arizona to New Mexico and Southern California. When scientists wrote that the bird had a "nesting range" of 2.1 miles, MacDonald told field personnel to change the number to 1.8 miles. Hall, a wildlife biologist who told the IG he had had a "running battle" with MacDonald, said she did not want the range to extend to California because her husband had a family ranch there
*************************************************

Don't know about the rest of this story, but this part can't be correct. I work for a consultant who produces EIRs and EISs for both government and private proponents. Willow Flycatcher habitat is already extensively mapped in California. Biologists working for me on projects have conducted protocol surveys and mapped habitat in California.

This makes no sense. She couldn't keep the WiFl "range" out of the state with something like this - it's already here.

Sounds like the IG doesn't know much more biology than MacDonald does.

Al, it's not enough to "click" the link, it's important to "read" the link. The article is based not on the allegations of a former employee, but on a report from the inspector general of the Interior Department. But, I guess if you are looking for a way to avoid the main point, it's a lot easier to smear "a disgruntled former employee" then the Department's own IG.

Two southwestern willow flycatcher populations are documented within or near the action area, on the South Fork of the Kern River (Kern County) and along the Owens River near Bishop (Inyo County). As of 1999, there were 23 confirmed pairs on the South Fork Kern River and 12 confirmed territories (number of pairs unknown) on the Owens River (USFS 2000). None of the Owens River territories are located on National Forest System lands.

http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/snfpa/final-seis/biological-documents/BO/III/12_4.htm
*************************************************

These are Kern and Inyo County, California populations and habitat that are being discussed.

This is just hilarious:

Sigh. Bush Fish and Wildlife Service appointee not only sends internal government reports to industry lobbyists but also to online gaming 'virtual friend' for unbiased second opinion.

Beware the "Summons to Appear Before Congress" spell though... :-)

$.51 per gallon subsidy for corn based ethanol....

Posted by: MsNThrope on March 30, 2007 at 3:58 PM | PERMALINK

And a $.55 tarrif on Brazilian ethanol, although I don't know why they would export unless they make a profit against buying oil. Just another non-free market distortion and scam to profit lobbyists: farmers, ethanol brewers, gasahol sellers. Talk about greasing the palm. Yeah, and they believe in a free market. Call me a monkey.

"Al, it's not enough to 'click' the link..."

I tell ya, the quality of the trolls has dropped precipitously since November. Couldn't be demoralization from early exit from the majority and a timed presidentail exit, could it?

MsNthrope, I haven't followed Bernanke and his talking points specifically, but he's got himself squeezed in a hard place right now. He's already allowed inflation to float upside of target range and he's taking a bet that this is a blip; and it is a bet because he has no control or a crystal ball for some of the major factors. On the investment front, both government and individuals are running a deficit as is the trade balance; doesn't leave a lot to go around. On the economy, we have the mortgage market getting thumped (more than they thought), personal spending is being sustained by borrowing or savings draw-down, and we have erratic energy prices.

Then you've got the possibility of the unforeseen.

Anyway, it's not just him but the whole reserve board. I'd love to hear their meetings right now. You know the story if you get two economists together....

I bet they don't know which way to turn. This week they punted.

shortstop,

Mr. shortstop is a lucky man.

Damned vicious those flycatchers are. Catching flies, mutilating cattle, shooting your dog. They don't need any protection, least of all in CA.

Ah, Kevin.

So you'd maybe be happy if they gave this bird all of Airzona? Most of these endangered speciels are basically subspeicies anyway.

Environment needs to be balanced with families liveliehoods and economics. Not that any of you leftists would understand that.

Kevin, we all know that it's important for someone to step in and tell all those pointy-headed intellectuals that they need to settle down. Sure, all those scientists might tell you something that they learned in a book, but MacDonald knows that real knowledge comes from your gut.

demoralization from early exit from the majority

I remember the Republican majority baiting here at PA. In order to keep the majority, the governing power needs to do more than just cry wolf about a few terrorists and homosexual marriage. It worked for one election cycle, but not two.

Just for fun, I did a search for "loyal Bushies" and came up with 210,000 sources, so to speak.

In our opinion -- from The Anniston Star, P.O. Box 189, Anniston, AL 36202.
03-21-2007

"What about the other 85? That’s one of the biggest questions yet to be fully explored in the growing scandal involving eight U.S. attorneys fired by the Bush administration.

So far the focus has been on the shifting stories from the White House about the eight cut loose for political reasons. Political reasons like Republican-appointed prosecutors losing their jobs for not pursuing Democrats to the liking of GOP politicians.
In 2005, we know from recently released e-mails, the White House was discussing a wholesale firing of all 93 U.S. attorneys. That plan was scrapped. The logic, as communication between one high-ranking Justice Department official to a White House staffer details, was because “80-85 percent, I would guess, are doing a great job, are loyal Bushies, etc.”
“Loyal Bushies.” Now that’s a standard for evaluating federal prosecutors, men and women charged with enforcing federal laws.

It raises the question, as stated above, what about the other 85, meaning the supposed “loyal Bushies” in U.S. attorneys offices? How did they keep their jobs? What was expected lest they end up with a pink slip?

A potential clue lies in a recent study by two college professors, Donald C. Shields from the University of Missouri-St. Louis and John F. Cragan from Illinois State University.

The pair looked at the elected officials investigated and/or indicted by Bush-appointed federal prosecutors from 2001 until the end of last year. Of the 375 politicians’ cases examined, Democrats outnumbered Republicans 7-to-1.

Perhaps it’s time to re-examine the case of a Democratic politician pursued by the Republican-appointed prosecutors. Then-Gov. Don Siegelman lost his bid for re-election by a small fraction of the vote in 2002. After that he was set upon by federal prosecutors, first in Birmingham until that case was tossed out and finally in Montgomery, where he was convicted on bribery charges.

Putting aside the jury’s verdict for a moment, it’s not hard to notice the intensity with which the feds pursued Siegelman, a Democrat who still had a viable political future until his legal problems landed in federal courts.

Could it be going hard after political rivals is what’s expected of “loyal Bushies”?

It’s not so easy to dismiss such speculation given recent revelations. Sadly, confidence in the impartiality of the U.S. justice system is but one more casualty of the growing firing scandal."

A friend of mine was once pressured by a high state official to declare Santa Monica Bay an estuary so it could be eligible for funding or some program or other. My friend explained that it wasn't an estuary to no avail, finally saying, "You can call Lake Tahoe an estuary if you want, but that doesn't make it an estuary!" That was a GOPer as well, but not unique. At least that was for political, not personal, gain.

So Campesino, how are those checks from the RNC ? Do they allow you an email account also ?

Just curious as to how all the astro turfing behavior has changed since the House of Cards aka Bush MalAdministration has begun its collapse. Are they preparing visas for Paraguay for everyone or just a select subgroup ? Maybe you chose Abu Dubai instead.

Keep us up to date will ya ? Oh, and watch out for all those falling cards cause they do have sharp edges.

"A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned to walk forward." - Franklin D. Roosevelt

These conservaturds are unbelievable. What a bunch of delusional, infantile twits. It's obvious that none of them ever grew up, starting with Doorknob Bush.

Thank you for bringing that up, egbert.
Let's do that balancing act:
Number of people who would be forced to move because of a habitat designation: 0
Number of people who'd be forced to change their jobs: 0
Number of developers who will be frustrated in being able to heavily develop the land: a few.

OTOH:
Number of species helped out: more than 1
Number of Americans who believe wild creatures should be preserved: A couple hundred million
Percentage of children who feel that way: 99%
Generations who will spit on the memory of those who fought--actually fought--to make destroying wildlife easier: Seven times Seventy-Seven

You want to know why the intermontane West turned blue, egbert? It's because those rock-ribbed conservative government-off-my-back folks that people that area have found that, under Bush, the wilderness has been opened up, more and more, to the folks who come in and build strip mines, destroying the wild that they not only love but profit from by tourism, hunting and fishing.
They may not like our Prius-driving, Brie eating hioty-toity liberal selves, but they've learned the wisdom of the old saw that when you're in trouble, don't call a Republican.

TNR.com addressed the administration hackocracy phenomenon back in '05--good snark

"... The Bush era has taken government out of the hands of the hyper-qualified and given it back to the common man. This new breed may not have what the credentialists sneeringly call "relevant experience." Their alma maters may not always be "accredited." But they have something the intellectual snobs of yore never had: loyalty. If not loyalty to country, then at least loyalty to party and to the guy who got them the job. And their loyalty has been rewarded: Even if they fail, they know they can move up the chain until they find a job they can succeed in or until a major American city is destroyed, whichever comes first.
The hackocracy, of course, reflects the virtues of its architect, George W. Bush. Like Michael Brown and lesser known hacks, the president hasn't allowed personal setbacks to stymie him. The old-fashioned values of fortitude and family have given him the strength to rebound from a doomed oil company called Arbusto, a doomed congressional candidacy, and catastrophic failures at Harken Energy. That may be why, while cronies populate every presidency, no administration has etched the principles of hackocracy into its governing philosophy as deeply as this one..."

Yes, Alek, husband of the very lucky Mrs. Hidell, women who abuse language as shockingly I do are not a dime a dozen.

I had this in my notes:

U.S. attorney Carol Lam, who is best known for nailing corrupt Republican Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham and his partners in crime, was replaced on Feb. 15 by Karen P. Hewitt, who according to a Justice Department press release, "will serve on an interim basis until a United States Attorney is nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate."
According to an Op-Ed in the New York Times, Hewitt has a résumé with "almost no criminal law experience" and is a member of the Federalist Society, a conservative legal group.

That may be why, while cronies populate every presidency, no administration has etched the principles of hackocracy into its governing philosophy as deeply as this one..."
Posted by: consider wisely always

It's encoded in their DNA.

'However, we cannot understand the concomitance of the ecological and social crises if we don't analyze them as the two sides of the same disaster. And that disaster derives from a system piloted by a dominant social stratum that today has no drive other than greed, no ideal other than conservatism, no dream other than technology.

This predatory oligarchy is the main agent of the global crisis - directly, by the decisions it makes. Those decisions aim to maintain the order that has been established to its advantage and favor the objective of material growth: the only method, according to the oligarchy, of making the subordinate classes accept the injustice of the social situation. But material growth intensifies environmental degradation.' "How the Rich Are Destroying the Planet" By Hervé Kempf

Take John Travolta (please) who logged 30,000 miles last year and keeps 5 commercial jet aircraft for his personal toys. Those 30,000 miles equal the carbon output of 100 ordinary Britons. 800 tons. And that's just the planes, folks.

An update:
MacDonald confirmed that she also sent the Delta Smelt document to an on-line game friend through his father's e-mail account.
....MacDonald said she is acquainted with the on-line friend through internet role-playing games. ... When asked why she would e-mail an internal DOI document to a private citizen, MacDonald replied, "I was irritated [with what was happening regarding the subject of the document] and tried to explain my irritation over the phone; however, I sent it to him to read for a better understanding."
Agent's Note: The on-line game friend is not professionally or personally affiliated with DOI or any of its entities. MacDonald continues to play games on the internet with the on-line friend; however, she has not sent any internal DOI information to him since her first interview last summer...."

Republicans: Incompetent by Unintelligent Design.

Al "...sounds like a disgruntled liberal smearing his boss to me.

Yes, everything sounds like that to you, because it is impossible for you to grasp that any complaintr about anything other than Bill Clinton's penis might be legitimate.

By the way, is there anything other than a disgruntled wingnut? You guys never stop bitching even when you have all the levers of power. And then you lose some of it so you can bitch some more. Okay, but why do you do it around here, where you are about as welcome as as a turd in a swimming pool?