"I am ashamed of my government." (International Boundary Commissioner says NO to bush firing him)

[uppityperson]

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003785546_border12m.html

Firing by Bush rejected by Whatcom County boundary official

A dispute over a backyard wall in Whatcom County has reached all the way to the White House, with President Bush firing International Boundary Commissioner Dennis Schornack over his handling of the matter. But on Wednesday Schornack rejected his dismissal by the commander-in-chief.

In a strongly worded letter to Bush, Schornack said the International Boundary Commission (IBC) is an independent, international organization outside the U.S. government's jurisdiction. Schornack wrote that according to the 1908 treaty that created the IBC, a vacancy can only be created by "the death, resignation or other disability" of a commissioner.

Thus, Schornack said, the president cannot fire him. "I am unable to recognize the authority of this communication because I don't believe that you would knowingly act beyond your authority, outside the law or to otherwise jeopardize the national security of the United States," Schornack wrote.

A dejected Schornack said Wednesday: "I am ashamed of my government." Bush nominated him to the IBC in 2001....(more@link including reason for the attempt at firing.)

[seemslikeadream]

1. "the death, resignation or other disability"

stay off small planes



:P

[SoonerPride]

3. ....or even big planes.

Any means necessary.

[Bandit]

2. Bush* believes Treaties are made to be broken

Same as American Law..

[seemslikeadream]

6. The Haitians should know about THAT

[Richard Steele]

4. Wow. I can't wait to see how this plays out.

Nice to see SOMEONE actually standing up
to the Little Dictatortot.

I wonder if he had to call an Aide to explain
what that word "no" means.

[uppityperson]

9. "what do you mean, I can't? I'm the _____er!"

[msongs]

5. "...I don't believe that you would knowingly act beyond your authority..." the guy is delusional

if he thinks that statement is true.

Msongs
www.msongs.com/political-shirts.htm

[uppityperson]

7. It sounded like something I might write as sarcasm.

It will be interesting to see what happens with the. Telling the Decider no? Or what is his current title? I forget.

[Norquist Nemesis]

8. Ah...southern charm is what it sounds like to me

:shrug:

I once wrote a resignation letter 'thanking' the Executive Director for the lessons I'd learned during my tenure, and a few other honest "truths". He liked it so much that he read it in full before the Board of Directors. The staff snickered in the background.

[uppityperson]

10. Sometimes it is difficult to tell. I wish him the best and good for hiim for saying no.

Brave man doing his job.

[DavidDvorkin]

11. Southern? This is in the Pacific Northwest.

[uppityperson]

12. And how many of us up here were born/raised here?

I know a few, but many transplants. I keep running Dick and Jane books through my mind:
No bush No. See bush cry.

[Richard Steele]

13. I supect that was intended as a polite rephrasing of "screw you, monkeyboy". nm

[krispos42]

14. He he he! He're some help for Bush...

Adjective
no (not comparable)

1. Not any.

There is no water left.
No hot dogs were sold yesterday.

2. Not any possibility or allowance of (doing something).

No smoking
There's no stopping her once she gets going.

3. Not; not properly, not really; not fully.

My mother's no fool.
Working nine to five every day is no life.

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/no#Etymology_1

As in "No, you can't fire me."

As in "No, your problems don't go away that easily, beeyatch!"

[starroute]

15. The Pacific Legal Foundation is involved -- not surprisingly

From the article: "The IBC in February told the Leus that their recently constructed cement wall lay within the 20-foot 'vista' that buffers the U.S.-Canada border (10 feet on the Canadian side, 10 feet on the U.S. side). The IBC said if the Leus did not remove the wall, the agency would take it down. The Leus contacted the Pacific Legal Foundation and in April filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction to keep the IBC from removing the wall."

The Pacific Legal Foundation is one of those extremist free-market legal non-profits that are always pulling crap like this. They've been closely tied in with both the oil companies and the anti-environmentalist movement. According to the LA Times article quoted below, however, they're less influential these days now that the Bush administration has endorsed most of their agenda, so they're looking for new worlds to conquer -- of which this is apparently one.

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Pacific_Legal_Foundation

The Pacific Legal Foundation is a Sacramento, California-based legal organization that formed in 1973 to support pro-business causes. In recent years, it has taken a lead in pursuing anti-affirmative action policies.

It is the key right-wing, litigation-happy, public interest law firm in a network of similar organisations funded initially by Scaife Foundation money across the USA in support of un-restrained capitalism, and opposed to environmental and health activism and government agency regulations. . . .

The Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) was established in 1973-74 by a group of attorneys from California's Justices Department (then under the control of Attorney-General Ed Meese) to counter reform of the welfare system, and the liberal public interest legal groups who were pressing for better environmental and health regulations. Especially targeted were the Sierra Club and the Environmental Defence Fund.

Governor Ronald Reagan of California appears to have provided the required financial links to Pittsburg billionairre Richard Mellon Scaife who funded the initial office in Sacramento, and his friend and counsellor, Ed Meese (III) became one of the founders and its chief supporter. Its expressed aim was to use its financial and litigation power to "impact the public policy agenda."

http://exxonsecrets.com/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=60

Anti-environmental from the start, PLF's early actions supported the use of DDT, the use of herbicides in national forests, and the use of public range land without requiring an environmental impact review. They also supported at least six pro-nuclear power cases before the early eighties while accepting funding from Pacific General Electric (PGE), a utility which has gained a great deal through the development of nuclear power in the Pacific Northwest. In the nineteen-eighties PLF won several cases that are considered land marks by those working on property rights issues today: Nollan v the California Coastal Commission and First Church, both Supreme Court victories which provide precedence for the takings litigation pursued today (Oliver Houck, "With Charity For All," Yale Law Journal, 1993). In October 2003, PLF Vice President M. David Stirling had an Op-Ed published in which he defended President Bush's environmental record and condemned former President Clinton for endorsing the Kyoto Protocol.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-tushnet7jul07,0,231244.story?coll=la-opinion-rightrail

July 7, 2007

THE SEATTLE school integration case decided by the Supreme Court last month was brought in the name of a group called Parents Involved in Community Schools on behalf of Jill Kurfirst and her ninth-grade son. But it was a little-known, Sacramento-based organization called the Pacific Legal Foundation — a conservative public interest law firm involved in the case from the beginning — that developed many of the legal arguments five justices ultimately found persuasive.

[uppityperson]

16. Interesting, thanks for the information, will have to check up on them.

[AnnInLa]

18. Good lord, the EVIL.....it boggles the mind

[uppityperson]

17. kick for the evening crew and for a guy who stood up and said "no"