I think this is a huge story.  And the SECOND story of the week concerning this whistle-blower in the EPA and the White House.

It looks like, except for AP, this was released late in the day and got lost in the shuffle.  Let's hope it gets more coverage tomorrow (Wednesday).

The reason Cheney's office is trying so hard to remove any US government declaration that CO2 emissions lead to global warming, which is a threat to human health, is that this would force the EPA to regulate CO2 emissions.  Obviously, this link will eventually be declared by the US government, and the EPA will be forced to regulate CO2 emissions, but delaying this allows big Republican donors to reap billions of dollars by polluting without penalty.

In my opinion, those VP Cheney is trying to protect are the same people that Republican policy is designed to benefit, and it continues to amaze me why the common man keeps supporting the Republican party even though it is directly against their best interests.  It is sort of like arguing about family values while your house is being burglarized.  I console myself by repeating the mantra: America is a democracy, so gets the government it deserves.

We must be really bad.

For several years, Jason Burnett spewed the Bush Administration company line, but now he relishes the excessive praise that everyone has been giving him lately.  He has given EPA staff a ridiculously difficult time.  He does not deserve Senator Boxer's gushing.  He is not our savior here to free us from our climate worries.  It is not particularly brave of him to finally stand up to them now.  Everyone else has come out against the Bushies, and both Presidential candidates support climate change regulation.  He is independently weathly, and the only reason that Democrats have a crush on him is because he has donated generoursly to them.  

"it continues to amaze me why the common man keeps supporting the Republican party even though it is directly against their best interests"

The Republican Party has been very successful in identifying and exploiting issues that caused people to vote for them (and often against their own interests).

They've used the Communist threat, racism, sexism, homophobia, abortion, and fear to gain votes.

Now Communism is dead.  Racism dying out (the Helms generation is going).  Women have largely reached parity.  People are no longer afraid of gays.  The most objectionable types of abortion are outlawed.  And the current Administration has hollered "WOLF" so often that people no longer pay attention.

Even wealthy Republicans are starting to understand that we need foreign workers if we're going to get our crops picked and our meat processed.  

What issues that concern working people are left for the Republicans to exploit?  

Well, there is the fear of Islam taking over the world.  They're pushing that one at the moment.

None of this suprises me.  Personally, I hope Cheney invites Bush & Burnett out to go hunting with him one day.
And yeah Burnett, its easy to have courage once you left the job instead of standing up and doing the right thing while you had it.  Coward.

It is unhelpful in many ways to bash Burnett.  There are at least 3 other ways that he could have handled it that would have been much, much worse -- including capitulation.  

By the way, this story is DEAD today.  WTF????

What PermieWriter said.

Also, for anyone who is actively trying to make positive change from within the system (as opposed to standing on the sidelines, slinging mud and insults), there is a constant tension between the compromises required to remain within the system, and the potential to do good by remaining within the system.  It's a tough decision, and it's one that must be revisited frequently, and the "right" answer is never obvious.

I don't know the details, but I don't get the impression that Burnett is a Scott McClellan, i.e. a disillusions former believer.  Instead, he seems like someone who was trying to do the right thing and make change from within the system, and eventually got fed up and left.  He may not have gone public while still employed by the EPA (very possibly because it might have opened him up to prosecution), but he did refuse, on principle, to honor the White House's (absurd) request for truthiness while still employed by the government.

As far as I can tell, this guy is a hero.

Ya'll are right, of course, there's no need to call names and negative bashing.  That serves no purpose except to lean with the dark side.  So, I stand corrected.  A whistle blower, whether in our out of office is to be commended.  We all know how hard it is to change within the system.  Sometimes the only way is to leave and sing like a canary.

also recognize that taking action while in office is exponentially more effective than admitting wrongs afterward.  Lyndon Johnson admitted that the Vietnam War was a mistake after he was out of office.  Lotta good that did!  Ditto for Al Gore, who did NOTHING for the environment during the eight years he was in the White House.

That said, it's good that these people come forward at some point.  Or it's at least not as bad as not coming forward at all.

I don't know about all you, but I didn't need a Stanford-educated economist to tell me this administration is dirty, manipulative, underhanded, and captured by powerful special interests. As if this is going to make a difference.

Do we really want this White House and this EPA to create sure-to-be-cozy-to-industry rules on greenhouse gas emissions anyway?

Are you drunk?  This is very powerful testimony that helps establish a pattern beyond a reasonable doubt.  Get it?  Its a fact instead of innuendo with this testimony.

My suspicion is that you do not believe in the ability to right the whole situation, is that right?   I do.  Many of us do.  You sound like you have given up.

This is not new!They are called bandwagon jumpers.They don't have the nerve or are afraid for their jobs or whatever,but they will jump on the bandwagon when it is to their interest.While I don't care for some of these people on a personal level.I do like that they have information that can be used to send bush/cheney to jail(yeah,right.Can only wish)and most of their cabinet.I will take help from where ever to convict these felons,these criminals of mass destruction(iraqi citizens,american citizens,global warming,endangered species,etc.).

Why not ask why!?