Pombo calls me "stupid"; Laura Bush cracks a joke

Richard Pombo called me stupid the other day. Well, not directly, but in this SF Chron article on Laura Bush's visit:

Pombo, first elected in 1992, told reporters at his rally Friday that he has been criticized unfairly.

"Anybody saying you're anti-environment is just being stupid,'' he said. "I mean nobody's against the environment. We may disagree on the best way to do things, but that doesn't make you anti-environment.''

Well, Pombo, I ain't stupid and I am calling you anti-environment. How so? Let me count the ways:
* Wants people in factory ships to shoot harpoons at whales, that then explode inside the whales and kill them
* Wants increased oil drilling offshore, in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, in wilderness areas and just about everywhere else ("except in his own hair" as one pundit put it), yet at the same time has voted against EVERY increase in auto fuel efficiency
* Championed Bush's "Clear Skies" fraud that would allow increased pollution in the air
* Has perpetually denied global warming exists or is anything other than a natural occurence
* Has sought to overturn and delay bans on Methyl Bromide, a toxic pollutant and global warming inducer
* Has pushed to increase snowmobile, jet ski, dirt bike, and other mechanized recreational transportation in national parks and reserves
* Publish a report on how mercury is our friend, using data almost exclusively from coal industry "studies"
* Has turned the Resources Committee web site (using taxpayer money) into a campaign against environmental groups
* Released confidential data on the FDIC's case against Charles Horowitz (owner of Pacific Lumber) into the Congressional Record so that a "debt for nature" swap would not go through. This resulted in old-growth redwood groves being harvested and destroyed.
* Pushed Bush's "Healthy Forests" fraud that increased logging in our national forests in the name of "fire protection"
* Members of his staff proposed selling off 15 of our national parks
* Pushed for a revision of Mining Act that would have given away large parcels of our national lands to development interests at very low cost
* Supports the development of oil shale which would essentially stripmine large parts of the West
* Has led attacks on the Endangered Species Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Marine Mammals Protection Act, etc.
* Killed bills for wilderness designation in Washinton state and a bill promoting stewardship of Long Island Sound
* Supported by NRA, Off-road groups, Safari Club ("hunters" of exotic and endangered animals), not to mention the obvious oil/gas, timber, mining industry support

Need I go on? That is just the tip of the (rapidly melting) iceberg. I think "anti-environmental" is too weak. How about "raging ideological lunatic"?

Oh, yeah, in the title, I mentioned Laura Bush cracked a joke. At the rally Friday, she called Pombo an "enthusiastic steward" of the environment. Har, har, har -- that is a good one, Laura! Very funny. She went on to say the Mark Foley is an "enthusiastic" supporter of protecting minor children, that former Rep. Tom DeLay is a strong supporter of bipartisan government, that former Rep. "Duke" Cunningham is enthusiastic about stopping bribery, and that Jack Abramoff is against buying influence.

However, she did not mention how wonderfully well the war in Iraq is going. Gee, I wonder why not?

Enough of the Bush/Pombo bullshit -- Let's go, McNerney people, let's win this one on Tuesday.

Tags: CA-11, Richard Pombo, Laura Bush, environment, Jerry McNerney