< Changing Worldviews.Commentary >

Words are powerful - Thoughts shape - Ideas have consequences

Gary Aldrich

Patrick Henry Center
Posted October 6, 2003

Washington Wood Chipping Machine
Cutting to pieces President Bush's choice for EPA Director

Utah GOP Governor Mike Leavitt will soon become President Bush’s administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency, but not before Democrats in the Senate – acting as if they are still in the majority – get a piece of him. He’s currently being grilled by those who clearly have a political ax to grind.

For example, Hillary Clinton, serving on the Environment and Public Works Committee, wants to know what was in the dust created from the destruction of the World Trade Center towers. Seems that Mrs. Clinton suspects Bush’s EPA hid some information about what might be contained in that dust that rescue workers were forced to breathe.

Hillary seems like an odd choice to talk about the environment, especially when everyone knows she helped turn the Clinton White House into an ethical swamp, highly toxic to the truth.

What would Senator Clinton propose; that the firemen and cops stood a few miles away while studies were conducted on lab mice to determine if it was safe to rush in and look for survivors? The fact is, more than a dozen studies were submitted – along with the one from the EPA – and all said that the environment was suitable for rescue and later demolition. But Senator Clinton sees a chance to zing President Bush; therefore Governor Leavitt will serve as her punching bag.

I met Governor Mike Leavitt last weekend in Salt Lake City at a conference for the National Federation of Republican Women, where I had an opportunity to speak to the group. I learned that he is a well-liked, respected governor who has served with distinction and enjoyed more than a decade in that post. During his time as governor, Mike Leavitt gained a state-wide reputation for paying particular attention to the environment of Utah, while still being friendly to business development. That’s why President Bush has chosen him for the job of administrator for the EPA, and that’s why Hillary’s friends hate him.

How do Hillary and her Hard-Left environmental whackos really see him? Listen to the kind, tolerant words of a former Clinton Administration EPA official Eric Schaeffer as he recalls Leavitt’s record, “When I worked for the EPA, Utah was a difficult state to deal with because they were very ideological about states rights.”

Imagine that? Here’s a state governor who cares about the rights of the citizens of his state. Apparently the Hard-Left thinks this is wrong, but that’s not all they think. Says Schaeffer, “It was to the point you almost had to negotiate a treaty with the state if you wanted to do an enforcement action there.”

What a jewel! He’s a state governor who won’t simply stand by while the feds run rough-shod over his citizens. I don’t know about you, but I’m really beginning to like this guy!

Never mind what I like, because environmental whackos like Schaeffer view Leavitt’s Western courage in another way: “Utah was like crossing the border into Bosnia.” There you have it – Hard-Lefties like Schaeffer think Americans who believe that the Constitution includes states’ rights are illegal aliens, I guess.

Governor Leavitt will be bumped around, I am sure of that. But in the end he will be confirmed after Hillary and her friends finish using him to get to President Bush.

Governor Leavitt’s “fun” is just beginning. Wait until he tries to manage the EPA – a typical federal bureaucracy with all the usual dysfunctions, along with hundreds of business-hating environmental zealots who will absolutely despise working for him.

Think of a conservative like Governor Leavitt trying to manage the Democratic Party. Better yet, imagine what it might be like to try to run an occupying force’s bomb factory with prisoners of war. That should give some idea of what it’s going to be like for this caring, ethical man to attempt to manage this agency. Governor Leavitt will likely wonder what ever possessed him to leave his conservative state to come back to Washington – home of the politics of personal destruction.

Reprinted by permission by Gary Aldrich

Gary Aldrich is a 30-year veteran of the FBI, Gary specialized in white-collar crime, including fraud and political corruption, and for five years prior to retiring, he served under former Presidents Bush and Clinton in a national security role. In addition, he was assigned to the U.S. Senate and House, working closely with elected officials on a variety of security issues. He is also the Founder of The Patrick Henry Center for Individual Liberty, which dedicated to promoting the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. Mr. Aldrich has made thousands of radio, TV and personal speaking appearances, including This Week with David Brinkley, Good Morning America, Dateline, Hannity and Combes, The O'Reilly Factor, Inside Edition and others. Mr. Aldrich has also authored editorial pieces for distinguished publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Human Events Magazine and Insight Magazine. In addition, he writes for WorldNetDaily.com weekly and Townhall.com bi-weekly. You can contact him at www.patrickhenrycenter.org