Wolves Among the Sheep
So Paul Wolfowitz is to be rewarded with becoming president of the World Bank. And there’s any question that his ideology would influence development aid decisions? I’m sure he’s technically qualified, but I don’t think this is going to go any great distance in making the U.S. appear any less imperialistic.

Meanwhile, in the same press conference where he announced the Wolfowitz nomination, Bush claimed to use rendition to send terror suspects “back to their country of origin with the promise that they won’t be tortured.” This is a blatant lie. Otherwise, why would Mamdouh Habib have been sent to Egypt? His “country of origin” for the twenty years prior to his capture was Australia (who don’t ever torture anyone). And Maher Arar, a Canadian who was sent to Syria? Oh, right, Canada doesn’t use torture either. The extraordinary rendition system was established to put terror suspects into the hands of torturers. We’ve known that all along. That the Bush Administration has increased the use of rendition is something we’ve also known. He promised to do it following September 11, and he did. It’s the shame of the nation, or it would be if George Bush had any shame.

And in the Senate, the oil companies have been set loose upon the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, 51-49, all because oil prices have gone up significantly since the beginning of Gulf War II. Another vote on a different measure has to pass before the ANWR is actually open for drilling, and then the House votes (and they’ve already shown which way they’ll go), but this isn’t looking good for pristine wilderness anywhere, let alone Alaska.