Posted by Jonathan Adler: A Kennedy in the Cabinet? http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2008_11_02-2008_11_08.shtml#1225944749
Politico [1]reports that President-elect Barack Obama is considering Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for the post of Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. A [2]prior report suggested RFK was an early candidate for Secretary of the Interior. Tapping RFK Jr. for either post would be a profound mistake, and would almost certainly provoke a bitter confirmation fight. RFK Jr. became something of a spokesperson for the environmental movement with his celebrity name and strident attacks on the Bush Administration's environmental policies. While some of the criticism was warranted, RFK's assaults were [3]factually challenged, and only [4]got worse [5]over time. In 2002 [6]he charged factory farms were a greater threat to the nation than Osama bin Laden, and in 2004 [7]said of the media, "They should all drink poison Kool-Aid and restore integrity to their profession." He's also embraced [8]unscientific allegations of a vaccine-autism link and [9]charges the GOP stole the 2004 election. President-elect Obama is certainly entitled to a cabinet that will support his policy agenda. When it comes to EPA and Interior, Obama can do much better than RFK Jr. References 1. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15320.html 2. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/15142_Page3.html 3. http://www.nationalreview.com/adler/adler200312030840.asp 4. http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YTI3MzU4YWZlOWYwOTg3ZTYxZjcxMGM0NTNkNzM3Njk= 5. http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MTVlOTU4MGYyZDI3NWU2ZWRiZDVjNTk1ZWE5ZmE0OWM= 6. http://overlawyered.com/early-years/april-2002-archives-part-2/#0419b 7. http://commonsblog.org/archives/000189.php 8. http://overlawyered.com/2005/06/rfk-jr-vs-thimerosal/ 9. http://volokh.com/posts/chain_1149520989.shtml _______________________________________________ Volokh mailing list [email protected] http://lists.powerblogs.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/volokh
