THIS IS A GRACIOUS EXIT?

During Bush's last days, there has been no shortage of compliments on how graciously he handled the transition. To be sure, he was polite, cordial, and maintained the expected decorum. Norman Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute said in the New York Times that Bush's "Gentlemanly Goodbye" earns him "a big gold star for the way he is leaving his office."

The Bushes offered up a formal White House tour for the Obamas that even featured an opportunity for Malia and Sasha to jump on the White House beds. Too bad, though, that the Bush graciousness didn't extend to accommodating the Obama family's request to move into Blair House, the official guest residence, in time for the girls' first day of school. It was apparently more important that John Howard, former Prime Minister of Australia, have the full run of the 14 guest bedrooms, eight staff bedrooms, 35 bathrooms, four dining rooms, kitchen facilities, laundry and dry cleaning facilities, exercise room, flower shop, and fully equipped hair salon for his single night stay.

High fives though for the Bush people's efforts to set up a formal transition council, and for helping to expedite security checks for the Obama nominees. Make a few formal gestures, and everyone glazes over with warmth at the graciousness of the departure.

But in giving Bush his transition score card, how can we focus on the menial cordialities, while completely ignoring his utter abandonment of his duties to the country during the gravest economic disaster in all of our lifetimes? Instead of making even the most rudimentary attempts to lead our country, to calm the market jitters, or to convene insightful economic advisers, Bush was either sitting with friendly interviewers making his public relations case to outline his successes to the cameras, or traveling abroad (and dodging flying shoes) in an attempt to wallpaper over the deep fault lines in our foreign relations.

But Bush can't be accused of failing to govern these last few months -- to the contrary, Bush has been extremely busy laying hundreds of regulatory land mines in the form of last minute regulations to booby trap the incoming administration, and create far reaching damage long after Bush is history.

It will take months to uncover the extent of the fallout from Bush's de facto laws resulting from these rule changes. The outgoing administration ramped up their efforts beginning last May to pull together this package of executive branch legislation in order to have it in place by November 1, 2008 - the last date to ensure they cannot be easily reversed by the incoming administration. Obama has devoted a number of full time staff who have worked for months culling through the mess. Here's a sampling of Bush's bighearted exit activities, otherwise known as "midnight regulations":

• health care providers may deny treatment, including contraception, to anyone for moral or religious reasons;



• the Endangered Species Act will no longer require scientists to assess impact on species before permitting logging, mining, drilling, or building roads;



• limitations on truckers' driving hours will be lifted to permit up to 11 hours of driving per day;



• loaded firearms will be allowed in National Parks;



• changes in Family & Medical Leave Act will make taking leave more difficult;



• millions of acres of wild lands will be opened up to mining activities and miners' royalty obligations slashed;



• coal miners may dump waste from mountaintops into neighboring streams and valleys;



• air pollution standards near National Parks will be relaxed (despite dissent from 9 of 10 EPA regional administrators);



• uranium mining will be permitted near the Grand Canyon;



• restrictions will be lifted allowing factory farms to permit animal waste seepage into water;



• 100 major polluters exempted from monitoring lead emissions;

There are many dozens more.

Bush has been extremely industrious these last few months. In our direct line of vision, but completely outside of our reach, democracy has been sidelined while the Bush Administration has been enacting hundreds of politically controversial last minute regulations -- the kind that will have the new administration devoting hundreds of hours attempting to defuse, reverse or neutralize. Notwithstanding our remonstrations, and despite the profound impact sure to be created by many of these controversial regulations, we will be sentenced to accept the long term fallout from Bush's gracious goodbye.

cartoon printed with permission Stephff