Son of Bush Adm. Official Charged in Anti-Gay Hate Crime

File it under the "big surprise" category. I guess now we know why the Bush Administration has threatened to veto the federal hate crimes bill!

Philip Anderton Cooney, a sophomore at Georgetown University, was charged September 27th in connection with the anti-gay assault of a fellow Georgetown student.

From the Washington Blade:

Cooney is the son of Philip A. Cooney, who served for four years as chief of staff of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. The senior Cooney resigned from his White House post in June 2005 after the New York Times reported that he had made changes in government reports on climate change. Critics said the changes were intended to downplay potential evidence of global warming.

More after the jump...

Cooney's role in editing the documents was referenced in Al Gore's 2006 documentary "An Inconvenient Truth."

From Wikipedia:

During a March 2007 congressional hearing, Cooney conceded his role in altering reports to downplay the adverse effects of man-made emissions on the planet's climate. "My sole loyalty was to the President and advancing the policies of his administration," he told the United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Notably, the elder Cooney now works for Exxon-Mobil, the only corporation in the Fortune 500 Top 10 that does not have a non-discrimination policy protecting gay employees. An unfortunate coincidence, I'm sure.

Really, it's just hard to believe that something like this could happen to such a fine family, isn't it?

One can only hope that some "activist judge" throws the book at the young Mr. Cooney.

More info on this story can be found at:
http://washingtonblade.com/...