Rove under fire

Turd Blossom is under fire again. Karl Rove testified in front of the grand jury on Wednesday this week on "a matter", according to his lawyers "voluntarily and unconditionally", but it presents a new angle on how the new Chief of Staff Joshua Bolton will conduct White House affairs. Rove's removal from his policy-making position, although he remains in a political role, suggests that Bolton is not as passive as Andy Card, in getting between Bush's brain and his body. Well, good. Rove is a schemer, and a nerfarious one at that and should be allowed no access to the body he controls (Bush). I am almost at the end of my rope with Bush at this point. With gas prices as high as after Katrina, Bush announced that to halt further increases in gas prices, he had instituted a few measures. He told the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate price gouging and suspended environmental regulations of the additives to gasoline. While in the NY Times' words Bush noted that "high gasoline prices are like a hidden tax on consumers and businesses", his remaining energy was spend extricating the oil companies from any further burden relating to the effect of gasoline prices on the economy, which he claimed was strong (have you been unemployed recently? I have). The main solution Bush proposed was "[e]asing the environment rules will allow refiners greater flexibility in providing oil supplies since they will not have to use certain additives such as ethanol to meet clean air standards."

What!?! That's bullshit! We should be raising the emissions standards on cars and industry to combat the furtherance of global warming towards the "tipping point" at which we will not be able to reverse it. Reducing emissions will also hurt those living in cities with high air pollution like Salt Lake City, Utah, Los Angeles, California and Houston, Texas. They already have many (over 30 at least) days a year where the air is so polluted that they urge citizens not to do exercise outdoors. What the fuck? That's not how this country should be run.