Via
rawstory comes a
link to a claim by "Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility." I don't know who these people are, and I can't say it's confirmed, but I swear I'm not making this up. If they aren't, I do declare, George Bush has announced his Secession from the United States of America.
Bush Declares Eco-Whistleblower Law Void for EPA Employees
Stealth Repeal of Clean Water Act Protections by Invoking "Sovereign Immunity"
...The Bush administration has declared itself immune from whistleblower protections for federal workers under the Clean Water Act, according to legal documents released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). As a result of an opinion issued by a unit within the Office of the Attorney General, federal workers will have little protection from official retaliation for reporting water pollution enforcement breakdowns, manipulations of science or cleanup failures....
...Citing an "unpublished opinion of the [Attorney General's] Office of Legal Counsel," the Secretary of Labor's Administrative Review Board has ruled federal employees may no longer pursue whistleblower claims under the Clean Water Act. The opinion invoked the ancient doctrine of sovereign immunity which is based on the old English legal maxim that "The King Can Do No Wrong." It is an absolute defense to any legal action unless the "sovereign" consents to be sued.
George Bush has declared himself a Kingdom, through a secret opinion not even published by his Attorney General. I say "Preserve the Union!" and call upon forces loyal to it rush to its defense, and to compel George Bush to rejoin the Union, and submit to its laws.
What it is the nobly-born George, King of the Water and the Air, wishes to no longer protect? Why, the Water and the Air, and the people who try to serve the people, of course. Who does he desire to protect? Why his vassals, of course.
...These actions arose in the case of Sharyn Erickson, an EPA employee who had reported problems with agency contracts for toxic clean-ups. After conducting a hearing, an administrative law judge called EPA's conduct "reprehensible" and awarded Erickson $225,000 in punitive damages but the Labor Secretary overturned that ruling. ...
Let's see which candidates in 2006 stand with or against:
* The President should be able to invalidate laws by decree, whether openly or in secret.
* It is good for the public if whistleblowers can be punished for exposing failure and corruption.