Woodsier and woodsier

George Bush is woodsey. Despite destroying acres upon acres with clear cutting, cheapening the notion and value of public land, and just being pretty terrible environmentally in general, I do have to hand it to the man. Somehow he combined wearing plaid shirts and sitting on his ass in Crawford to create an almost impenetrable aura of woodsiness.
But the president, a man of almost unequalled woodsiness, has been out woodsied by a man from Idaho, Dirk Kempthorne, who has been perfecting his woodsey image for years in the 208 (Idaho.) This man IS woodsey. Ultimately, though, the image is all we're getting.
The reason Bush gave is "Dirk understands that those who live closest to the land know how to manage it best, and he will work closely with state and local leaders to ensure wise stewardship of our resources." The problem is that this is nothing more than double-speak for selling off our public land to the highest bidder. Kempthorne has an atrocious record for protecting the forests of Idaho from their greatest threat, predatory, rapacious clear cutting.
This isn't to say that loggers are bad, but clear cutting is not a way to save the forests. Clear cutting destroys forest rather than protecting it, and the damage isn't just in the trees. The effects of clear cutting spread to Idaho's rivers, hurt Idaho's fish, destroy the integral microorganisms that make forests livable, and mars the otherwise healthy forests that we owe the future citizens of the country.
But it's about more. The "close to the land" argument, when divorced from the actual quality of the oversight results in nothing more than decisions that seem nice. It's superficial opportunistic appointing at its worst, something the Bush administration seems obsessed with. (Case in point, Brownie.)
No to fake woodsyness, no to selling off the US forests.

My Little Sister vs. Don Goldwater

As I am wont to do when I am sad, tired, or just down in general, I decided to check out Don Goldwater's web site. To my surprise/chagrin, I discovered he actually had supporters now. Oh dear, that was the only funny thing I had to say. I was looking at long, lonely months of boredom and an unoriginal desert free of humor.
Luckily, I actually looked at his list of endorsements. Funny. He has four endorsements from his family. My little sister (age 11), looking over my shoulder at the time, looked over it, and made fun of him for only having family members. Still, my 11 year old sister who lives in Idaho has a better chance of being elected governor of Arizona than Don Goldwater does. I don't know her beliefs on alt-fuels, though.
Anyway, on a more serious note, what happened to Darfur? Did congress really think that a few joint memorials and a sound bite or two on C-SPAN would resolve all of this? More importantly, why do Americans not care anymore? That's all kinds of scary.