Jonathan Turley summarizes the situation well:
The symbolism is perfectly exquisite. President George Bush, who has given out fewer pardons than any modern president, felt that he could not leave office without releasing Leslie Owen Collier of Charleston, Mo., who pleaded guilty in 1995 to unlawfully killing three bald eagles in southeast Missouri. Bush is generally viewed as the most hostile president to environmental protections in modern times. His pardons seemed to reflect that profile with a number of environmental felons rescued in the fourteen pardons issued this week.
Collier is a real charmer. He explained that he was only trying to kill coyotes by lacing hamburger meat with pesticides — a trap that is widely denounced by environmentalists around the world and well-known to be a danger to bald eagles and other animals. Collier was appropriately convicted for unauthorized use of a pesticide and violating the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act.
What is particularly galling is that Collier received a light sentence: two years probation, $10,000 in restitution. Yet Bush believed that even that was too harsh for an environmental crime.
Bush Pardons Man Who Killed Three Bald Eagles
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3 comments:
How exactly is this good news? I think this belongs on the other blog.
The good news is that we have to tolerate this anti-science ideologue for only 55 more days.
Not to mention that they are a symbol of our country. I mean come on! The prez of a country pardoning someone that killed a symbol of the country.
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