While this is a victory for us who care for the environment, we should ask ourselves would he have done this if he weren't in the bad posisition that he's in? Of course, perhaps, because there's no oil or mining to be done out there. But right now he's being overshadowed by the person who beat him for the 2000 popular vote, Al Gore, and Gore's current environmental campaign on the global warming crisis. This move by Bush is nothing more than a publicity stunt. Maybe it makes himself feel better, but it doesn't make up for the damage Bush has done to the environment as a pro-dirty-industry supporter.
Bush is a competitive actor. Everything his opponents are, Bush has tried to act out and be better at. Everything he has ever been jealous of, he has tried to out-do.
The southern rancher that he is not! Al Gore is a southern man who really worked on a ranch. What did Bush do, he put on a pair of jeans and got into a pickup truck with the cameras rolling.
The president by a fair and popular vote that he is not! His father George HW Bush and Bill Clinton really won elections. What did George W. do? He came up with a plan.
The veteran that he is not! John Kerry is a veteran who really showed up for service in Vietnam. What did Bush do? He put on his flight suit and bragged about his "service."
The responsible environmentalist he is not! Al Gore has spent 30 years really fighting for the environment, a fight that just culminated with the release of a popular documentary film. What does George do? He says he's a steward of the land and announces his ocean preserve.
Remember that this is only the second time that Bush has invoked the 1906 National Antiquities Act. Clinton had used the act to create 19 national monuments and expand three others to set aside 5.9 million acres of land.
But hey I'm not complaining. An ocean perserve is better than the environmental laws he's changed, and the land he's exploited for oil and mining, and the species he's endangered by ignoring data. After all that, we'll take what we can get.
I just hope they don't name it in Bush's honor. It should be called the Al Gore Ocean Federal Ocean Preserve, because that's who we should really be thanking.
