Seems like the only qualifications for heading the Department of the Interior under Dubya are thinking ANWAR drilling is neato and wanting to drill for oil and gas off the coast of Florida.
WASHINGTON, May 26 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate confirmed President George W. Bush's nominee, Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne, as interior secretary on Friday, after several lawmakers lifted procedural holds that allowed the vote to proceed.
Kempthorne replaces Gale Norton and will be the 49th interior secretary, charged with overseeing federal lands.
The Senate confirmed Kempthorne in a voice vote after voting 85-8 to suspend debate on his nomination.
More on the flip...
Yes, having this punk overseeing 1 out of every 5 acres of land in the U.S. is a fucking dandy idea. I doubt that if Landrieu hadn't been trying so hard to get some royalties for LA, that it would have even taken this long. (Although I am sure it would have happened on a Friday.)
I understand that the "big news" of the day is Hayden and Kavanaugh, but this was yet another fight worth fighting that the Dems just caved on. When is my party going to stand for something other than fear of the shrub and his minions? You would at least expect that a few more Dems would have voted against cloture just to pretend they had a backbone. It's not like it would have meant too much more than voting for cloture on Alito, then against him for confirmation, but it's something for pete's sake. I wonder if bullies even had to take their lunch money from them in school, or if they waited in line, bought the bully lunch, and then wiped his fucking chin for him as he ate it.
I haven't done much research on votes before, but all I can find currently are the records of the vote for cloture, which a paltry 8 Dems voted against. (On a side note, since I am sure someone here knows - Do they even record "voice votes" on the senate site, and if so, how long does it take for them to show?)
Cheney and his pals are laughing their asses off just a few minutes longer today. As if Hayden and Kavanaugh weren't enough to make them spit 20 year old scotch out their nose. I don't know why Democrats even show up to the Senate chambers. Well, 5 of them didn't for this cloture vote today, but I ask you: What the fuck good did it do for the 31 that did? Please someone tell me, because I can't figure it out. Was there free cake? Or milk and cookies?
Kempthorne might as well be Paul Bunyan on crystal meth for all the good he will do our national forests. Every group whose opinion you would want to consider on a matter like this opposed him, except the democrats, of course. Let's go down the list:
National Resource Defense Council- opposed nomination
Center for Biodiversity - opposed nomination
Sierra Club - opposed nomination
League of Conservation voters - opposed nomination
(Gives Kempthorne a 1% rating - how quaint)
The Democratic Party - "Woo Hoo! We Love this guy!"
I'll share a choice quote and the best link from my reading and then I'll sign off as writing this diary is making me want to go out on my porch with the pooties and enjoy the wilderness so I can describe it to my grandchildren in the future. Maybe I'll burn some pictures of glaciers to CD for them while I am at it.
"President Bush could not have made a more anti-environmental choice for his new secretary of the Interior. Dirk Kempthorne surely will continue this administration's 'drill first, ask questions later' approach to public land stewardship. His abysmal environmental record as a senator and a governor speaks for itself. Dirk Kempthorne is Gale Norton in pants."- Chuck Clusen, NRDC Land Program Senior Policy Analyst
Sierra Club Fact sheet
(a must read)