Conservatives Finally Remember How to Conserve

I admit, I have been very critical of the Democratic Congress as many readers of Phat Phuque already know, just because it seems that they are not accomplishing anything we elected them to do - i.e. get us out of Iraq, re-regulate Wall Street, hold investigations into the oil market manipulation, etc. However, I have to give them kudos for a rare Sunday session vote yesterday in the Senate that vastly expanded protection of America's wilderness areas and added more protection to already established National Parks and Forests. Although the Senate is controlled by Democrats, praise must be given to the 9 Republican Senators that signed onto the bill which will go to the House, soon.

Believe it or not, the Republican Party used to be the party of nature and resource conservation. Beginning with Teddy Roosevelt's (one of my favorite presidents) establishment of the National Park system and continuing into the 70's with the banning of DDT, designation of Earth Day, and the clean-up of America's waterways. Somewhere along the line in the 80's they were bought out by big oil and other energy company lobbyists and abandoned their care of America's resources. I like to think that Teddy Roosevelt turned over in his grave when Bush abandoned the Kyoto Protocol. So good for you 9 Republicans, I hope that you can forward the Republican support into the House for a bill to put on President Obama's desk. See Schoolhouse Rock for the process ; )>

And while I'm praising the Republicans (which won't happen again for a long while), I'm going to give a rare "atta boy" to Dubya for his designation of 195,275 square miles of reefs and atolls in the Mariana Islands and America Samoa as a national marine monument. Despite his recent lift on off-shore drilling, Bush has protected more unique areas in the ocean than any other president or leader in the world with this new designation and the one off the Hawaiian Islands in 2006. Also thanks for the happy jigs you've been performing Dubya, you make me smile when you try to dance. And today, for his last press conference, he delighted us with another new word – misunderepresented. Awesome.