We'll need more than stars brightly shining to get to the bottom of what's going on inside the Interior Department….

Let's start with today's Washington Post in which Al Kamen reports that former DOI #2, Steven Griles, who has left to do, what else, lobby (in the early days of the Clinton administration, didn't we pass new rules requiring at least the appearance of a waiting period for such departures?)  was apparently the guest of his former boss, DOI Secretary Gale Norton at the agency's Christmas party (shouldn't that be Holiday Party?)  Although one could infer from Al's column that Griles' friend Jack Abramoff lobbies for the crack industry, perhaps he meant that Abramoff is a darned-good lobbyist.  But since the latter doesn't seem to be true anymore, perhaps the former is more likely.  We digress….
The point is that Griles is in some hot water over contacts he's had with Abramoff concerning gambling and four Native American tribes ….
How many of you at Interior rushed to wish him well, or ask after his friends?

Then there are  reports that have appeared on The Forum and elsewhere about the National Park Service and what appear to be nothing short of loyalty oaths to the Bush agenda required of NPS middle managers? 

Further, as reported by PEER (Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility):

Paul Hoffman who spent the last 10 yeears running the Arabian Horse…..sorry, the Cody Chamber of Commerce (Wyoming), is described as one of a “network of former aides and cronies” that VP DCheney has emedded “throughout the federal bureaaucracy.”  Hoffman recently rewrote the complete book of “National Park Service management policies.”  According to PEER founder and Executive Director, Jeff Ruch, “Hoffman's draft would gut the conservation mission of the Park Service….”

More insidious: Hoffman struck every reference to “evolution” in the document.  No more “naturally evolving ecosystems” or “naturally evolutionary processes.” 

Maybe he's running for school board.

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