George W. Bush loves freedom of speech as much as Ann Coulter loves John Edwards. As much as Aaron Burr loved Alexander Hamilton. As much as Godzilla loved Mothra.
“…if there is a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is. And if the person has violated law, the person will be taken care of.” George W. Bush, September 30, 2003
This administration has more leaks than a rusty bucket and only one hole has been plugged. This is the week in which I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, the President’s assistant and the Vice President’s Chief of Staff, was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice. Vice President Cheney and Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove were implicated but not charged. Laws were broken but, borrowing a phrase from Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter, the verdict on Cheney and Rove was “not proved.” At this moment, Cheney and Rove are having the Tuna Nicoise at Bistro Bis on E Street while Scooter is getting a clock face with no hands tattooed on his left arm and The Decider has made no decisions other than to decide to do nothing, at least for the time being.
This is also the week during which it was revealed that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service requires U.S. scientists attending meetings abroad to provide assurances that they will not discuss polar bears or melting sea ice unless their comments agree with the Bush administration’s positions.
“I love freedom of speech.” -- George W. Bush, October 23, 2003
It has been less than two weeks since Al Gore’s documentary on global warming, “An Inconvenient Truth,” won an Oscar. It is possible that someone has seen it. It is also possible that someone has Googled the words “melting polar ice.”
Compared to l'affaire de Plame, l'affaire de nanuq is relatively simple. As sea ice melts, polar bears are forced to swim greater distances between ice floes, and they are drowning. But scientists from the United States travelling abroad have to assure the Fish and Wildlife Service that they understand the administration’s positions before speaking. The Bush administration’s position, borrowing a phrase from Senator Specter, is that human responsibility for global warming is “not proved.”
How’s that for symmetry?
If CIA operative Valerie Plame had been a polar bear--and it is worth noting that the collective noun for a group of bears is a sleuth--discussing her ursine status would have been off-limits and she would be sitting happily on an ice floe eating ringed seals. (Seals are a good source of omega-3 fatty acids.) It’s permissible for insiders to discuss a covert CIA operative with reporters, but it’s not permissible for scientists to discuss melting sea ice and drowning polar bears.
So, does a bear obfuscate in the woods?
“I love freedom of speech.” -- George W. Bush, October 23, 2003
“Scripture teaches us how to go to heaven, not how the heavens go...” -- Galileo Galilei, 1633, before being forced to recant his theory of heliocentrism.
Galileo would be disappointed to see how little has changed in 374 years.
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