Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Two senior House Democrats launched an inquiry today into reports that a Bush political appointee may have improperly removed a California fish from a list of threatened species in order to protect her own financial interests.
Julie MacDonald, who resigned this month as Interior Department deputy assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks, was actively involved in removing the Sacramento splittail fish from the federal threatened and endangered species list at the same time that she was profiting from her ownership of a farm that lies within the habitat area of the threatened fish, according to an investigative report published Sunday by the "Contra Costa Times" newspaper.
MacDonald's financial disclosure statement shows that she earns as much as $1 million per year from her ownership of the 80 acre active farm in Dixon, California.
In another era, a story like this would be screaming from the headlines as an example of a public official who was wildly corrupt. In a way, I am not blaming anybody from getting scandal fatigue these days. The GOP is on a path to self-immolation with their unethical behavior. It is tolerated, condoned, and defended. Everybody knew Tom Delay had less moral scruples than a cuttail fish, but nobody cared.
They still don't care. While some conservatives tilt at windmills demanding an end to the culture of corruption, the party just keeps steaming away into oblivion.
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