Endangered Species: Chickens?

These are two really good articles in Working For Change. Way too many good quotes, so I'll just give you a tease from each one.
Molly Ivins

Henhouses overstaffed with foxes
Condi Rice says we should leave the questions to the experts

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice helpfully explained it all for us. The problem is that we are living in an alternative reality. What we think we know is not true. We have always had enough troops in Iraq. There are 120,000 trained Iraqi soldiers ready to take over. The president has condemned torture, so what else is there to say? Why torture happened, whose fault it is and why it is still happening at Guantanamo is not a problem because the president has condemned it. Secretary Rice also condemns it, so why raise questions about the fact that she wrote a letter to get an anti-torture clause in the intelligence appropriation bill taken out?

What, do you want to insult her integrity?

Secretary Rice did say that mistakes were made, but she does not know who made them or who should be held accountable. And, of course, as we all learned during the last election, no matter what happens, it is never, ever President Bush's fault.

Gee, Molly, thanks for clearing that up. She goes on with her thoughts on Jonathan L. Snare, new head of OSHA:

No, he's not an expert in health or safety, but he used to be the lobbyist for Metabolife, the ephedra diet pill that attracted so much unpleasant attention. Ephedrine was finally barred in 2003 after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decided it had caused 155 deaths. I guess we're lucky Bush didn't put Snare at the FDA. According to the Washington Post, Metabolife spent more than $4 million lobbying the Texas Legislature between 1998 and 2000. Snare was also general counsel to the Republican Party of Texas from 1999 to '01 and has extensive experience in election law.

Bill Berkowitz

Claude Allen in the house
Anti-abortion, homophobic, abstinence-only supporting African American chosen as President Bush's chief domestic advisor.

In a post-election letter to the president, Bob Jones III, the president of Bob Jones University, suggested that Bush "put" his "agenda on the front burner and let it boil." With Allen in place as the president's chief domestic policy advisor, and Jim Towey, the head of the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, recently named an Assistant to the President, "a post," writes the FRC's Tony Perkins, "with direct access to the Oval Office," the religious right is ready to rock 'n roll.

That was the last paragraph. That oughta get your interest up.

Remember, folks, readin' makes ya smart.