Posted on 05/05/2010 3:33:13 PM PDT by Bigtigermike
Though his agency was charged with coordinating the federal response to the major oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Department of the Interior chief of staff Tom Strickland was in the Grand Canyon with his wife last week participating in activities that included white-water rafting, ABC News has learned.
But Strickland’s participation in a trip that administration officials insisted was “work-focused” raised eyebrows among other Obama administration officials and even within even his own department, sources told ABC News.
Strickland, who also serves as Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, was in the Grand Canyon with his wife Beth for a total of three days, including one day of rafting. Beth Strickland paid her own way, Obama administration officials said.
The Stricklands departed for the Grand Canyon three days after the leaks in the Deepwater Horizon pipeline were discovered. Ultimately, after the government realized that the spill was worse than had been previously thought, officials decided that Strickland was needed in the Gulf so Strickland was taken out of the Grand Canyon by a National Park Service helicopter.
One government official, asking for anonymity because of the political sensitivities involved, told ABC News that some Interior Department employees thought it was “irresponsible” for Strickland to have gone on the trip, given the crisis in the Gulf, which was fully apparent at the time he departed for the Grand Canyon.
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.abcnews.com ...
“Also, that explains why they’ve just build an environmental testing boat to patrol the coastal waters, looking for interesting stuff, instead of building the special booms they needed to contain an oil spill. And which they said they needed many years ago.
Because it’s a lot more fun for greenie scientists to travel around in a fancy boat exploring the environment than it is to build a bunch of dumb booms to contain oil spills—and to pay redneck oil workers to put them to use. “
The irony did not escape me ;-)
LOL!
An administration of corrupt incompetents..first last and always taking care of themselves at public expense. Run ‘em ALL out!
What a huge surprise. Thanks Bigtigermike.
That’s dedication!
Tom Strickland is a two time rat loser in Colorado. Perhaps the rats should have kept him in Colorado. It probably does not matter who was running the agency. One rat is as arrogant and incompetent as the next. The rat solution is to keep the boot on the throat of BP.
Globalist elite: Working hard to transform the United States into a fascist police state.
Because they are bought and paid for by the globalist elite...
Did they open the dam and release billions of gallons of water as was done for Al Gore's photo op?
That is just what is expected from mac daddies plantation slaves.
On it from day one.
Nice that the guy could take a break from his porn habit (on the taxpayers dime) to take his wife on a trip (/snix).
He wouldn’t have done any good anyway. I hope they all go on vaction.
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